Officials want to make use of Dana building

Cape Girardeau city and economic development officials are working on a deal to finance the purchase of the Dana Corp. building, the 150,000-square-foot industrial building sitting idle as a result of Dana's closure due to a bankruptcy-mandated contraction.

No formal application has been received for the city to participate, city manager Doug Leslie said last week. And Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce president and chief executive officer John Mehner said, "I can't tell you anything but we are close."

The closure of Dana's Cape Girardeau plant, which made gears and other parts, threw about 200 people out of work. The property, which includes 15 acres at 2075 Corporate Circle, is listed for $2.7 million by Lorimont Place Ltd. Realty.

The financing mechanism most often mentioned by sources are what are commonly called Chapter 100 bonds, which allow a municipality or county to issue revenue bonds, become the owners of the facility and then lease it to a tenant.

Interest on the bonds is generally exempt from federal income taxes, and a community that issues the bonds becomes the owner of the property, leasing it back to the user for payments that will retire the bonds. Many deals, according to the Missouri Department of Economic Development's Web site, www.ded.mo.gov, include some provision for a payment in lieu of property taxes, since the property is exempt from taxation because it is owned by a public entity.

One big local deal that was accomplished with Chapter 100 bonds helped land a new Procter & Gamble paper products facility in 2002. Those bonds were issued by Cape Girardeau County.

Those who know the details are keeping tight-lipped about who's interested in the Dana building. "We try to treat this in a fashion that people won't be worried or concerned about coming to us," Leslie said.

Leslie said the amounts of bonds would be subject to negotiation but that everything is in the early stages. "We have not received any written applications that would trigger the council" to consider a proposal, he said.

* Auto parts store opens: Advance Auto Parts will open its new Cape Girardeau location at 257 N. Kingshighway on Thursday, store manager Jerry Dancer said.

Dancer, who has two years under his belt with Advance Auto Parts, moved to Cape Girardeau from Eddyville, Ky., to take over the store. He said he has 22 years' experience in retail auto parts and 25 years' total retail experience.

For Dancer, it is a return to Cape Girardeau, where he worked about seven years ago. "At that time, I worked for one of our competitors," he said.

Within a few blocks of the new location, consumers can find auto parts at O'Reilly Auto Parts, 370 N. Kingshighway and Auto Tire and Parts-NAPA at 212 S. Kingshighway. Asked what Advance will offer that will get customers to turn into their lot instead of a competitor's, Dancer said, "You could say customer service. That is our No. 1 priority, that is our main priority. Honestly, it is basically help the customer, having the customer come in with a problem and fixing the problem."

All Advance Auto Parts stores are corporate-owned stores, not franchises. Dancer said he expects the company to roll out some specials for the grand opening, but hadn't been told exactly what when we spoke Friday.

The store will be open seven days a week, 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday. The store will start with a staff of 12 and all jobs are filled, Dancer said.

* Earthquake insurance panel: Developer Stacy Mansfield of Jackson and insurance agent Charlie Brown of Kennett, Mo., are the two members of a new Missouri Earthquake Insurance Task Force who live close to the New Madrid fault.

Gov. Matt Blunt appointed Mansfield and Brown and 15 others to the task force that will be led by Doug Ommen, director of the Department of Insurance, Financial Institutions and Professional Registration. Legislative leaders will appoint another four members, two from each chamber.

Blunt directed the panel to form recommendations on structural safety, how to insure public and private infrastructure and promote continued economic growth in the region threatened by a major earthquake. The panel will also examine the availability and affordability of earthquake insurance.

Seismologists estimate that a quake along the New Madrid fault similar to the shocks of 1811-1812 would seriously impair roads, bridges and supply lines through the region from St. Louis to Memphis.

* Safety award: Artisan Contracting Inc. of Cape Girardeau was given the first-ever Mine Construction Maintenance and Repair's Safety Contractor of the Year award, a joint presentation of the U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration and the International Union of Operating Engineers and the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers. Artisans Contracting was nominated by Illinois Cement Co. of LaSalle, Ill. Company president Larry Frankum said in a prepared statement, "While it is gratifying to receive such a wonderful award as this, we must not forget how fragile a good safety record is. We must constantly remain diligent in pursuit of maintaining safe work sites."

* Economic development plan: The Southeast Missouri Regional Planning and Economic Development Commission will consider its revised Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy at a meeting at 2 p.m. Tuesday in Perryville, Mo. The plan sets the tone for the spending of public infrastructure money in the seven-county region of Cape Girardeau, Bollinger, Perry, Iron, Madison, St. Francois and Ste. Genevieve counties. It also calls for, among other things, promoting greater regionalism to market the area to both manufacturers and tourists, as well as focusing on housing that is affordable for young families and fixed-income retirees. "The construction of affordable units to accommodate people on fixed incomes and 'starter' homes for young families has not kept pace with the construction of upscale housing in many communities," the report states.

The plan will be up for a vote before the 16-member comission.

The strategy is available for review at the commission's Web site, www.semorpc.org.

Rudi Keller is the business editor for the Southeast Missourian. Contact him at 335-6611, extension 126