A few million here, a few million there adds up

As the Southeast Missourian's business editor, I often report on fiscal matters such as sales tax revenue, municipal budgets, construction contracts, corporate earnings, government grants and household expenses.

Earlier this month, an avid reader shared a copy of Sen. Holly Rehder's latest newsletter in which she itemized some of the expenditures in the state's 2022 fiscal year budget, recently passed by the Missouri General Assembly.

I'm not on the senator's mailing list, and you may not be either, so I thought I'd share the information here and give you an idea of how the state spends about $35 billion of our tax dollars.

Roughly 40% of the state's operating budget, the senator said in her newsletter, funds Medicaid and other direct benefits to Missouri residents. The budget also fully funds the state's K-12 education foundation formula, increases funding for colleges and universities and includes budget increases for roads, ports, and rural broadband networks.

In Rehder's 27th District, which includes Bollinger, Cape Girardeau, Madison, Perry, Scott and Wayne counties, FY22 appropriations are as follows:

• School Foundation Formula -- $111,892,021
• Southeast Missouri State University -- $47,577,009
• Southeast Correctional Center -- 15,907,356
• Capital Improvements/Maintenance -- $12,910,447
• Missouri Veterans Home (Cape Girardeau) -- $9,541,788
• Three Rivers Community College -- $5,629,323
• Sikeston Regional Center -- $2,256,570
• New Dawn School -- $2,082,197
• Parkview State School -- $1,510,318
• State Parks & Historic Sites -- $1,462,519
• Division of Youth Services Facilities -- $1,429,000
• Taylor Institute -- $200,000

Grand Total -- $212,399,548

Mall ownership still a mystery

I spoke briefly last week with an attorney who represents River City Centre LLC, the investment group that purchased West Park Mall earlier this summer with a bid of nearly $9.8 million in an online auction.

Lucas Haley, who practices with The Limbaugh Firm in Cape Girardeau, said investors in the group aren't ready to "go public" yet.

"I think that will probably be a little bit yet," he said. "They're a quiet group, and when they've got something to say, then they'll talk. That's sort of the way they operate."

All he can confirm at this point, he said, is that "it's a local ownership group, and the mall will continue to operate as a mall for the foreseeable future. That's the extent of it."

Missouri jobless numbers declining

Although the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations probably won't release July's county-by-county unemployment numbers until this week, I think its pretty certain Cape Girardeau County's jobless rate -- as well as unemployment rates throughout the region -- dropped significantly in July.

I'm basing my forecast on statewide statistics that show there were about 8,000 fewer unemployed Missourians in July than there were in June.

According to labor department data, there were 43,536 unemployed workers in the state in July, down from 51,331 in June. That's a decrease of nearly 15% and far below the state's peak unemployment level of 261,645 reported in April 2020, the first full month of the COVID-19 pandemic.

July was also the first month since March 2020 that the number of unemployed men in Missouri's workforce fell below 20,000, dropping from 24,940 in June to 19,450 in July.

However, the number of unemployed women in the state's workforce has averaged 23,500 for the past eight months, and in July it was reported at 24,052.

(For those of you who added July's male and female unemployment numbers and realized the total wasn't 43,536, that's because the state labor department didn't have gender information for 34 unemployed workers.)

New businesses planned along Kingshighway

A reader emailed me the other day asking about dirt work underway along Kingshighway just south of Hobby Lobby on a lot once occupied by a Pizza Hut restaurant.

Having just included a note about it in my weekly list of commercial construction permits, I knew the site is being prepped for a new car wash business, and I passed the information along to the reader.

"Goody," the reader replied. "We need another car wash."

I'm not sure exactly how many car wash businesses there are in Cape Girardeau, but if my count is correct, this will be the seventh car wash either along or adjacent to Kingshighway.

I'm no expert, but perhaps this says something about how people are keeping their vehicles longer before trading them in, and they want to keep them looking new for as long as possible. This seems to be a nationwide trend as the car wash and auto detailing industry in the U.S. has grown an average of 2% annually between 2016 and 2021 and is expected to grow at a 9.4% clip this year, generating about $13.1 billion in revenue in the United States (and $29.4 billion worldwide).

In addition to the new car wash, I also learned last week from Tom Kelsey of Lorimont Commercial Real Estate that Kinghighway will soon have another drive-through coffee business.

Tom said it's his understanding a Ziggi's Coffee franchise is planned on a vacant lot Lorimont recently sold in the 1400 block of North Kingshighway near Cape County Private Ambulance's home base.

Founded in 2004 in Longmont, Colorado, Ziggi's began franchising in 2017. In April of this year the company signed its 100th franchise agreement and is ranked among the nation's fastest-growing franchises.

I have reached out to Ziggi's corporate offices in Colorado to find out if there is a timeline for the Ziggi's here, but have not yet heard back.

Christmas comes early at the Yule Log Cabin

The Labor Day weekend isn't quite here, the thermometer is pushing 100 degrees, and the calendar says we still have more than three weeks of summer left, but Christmas has already arrived at the Yule Log Cabin.

Now in its 34th season, the Christmas shop off Highway N south of Scott City opened over the weekend for folks who want to get a head start on their holiday decorating (as well as anyone who just wants to get in the Christmas spirit a few months early).

Don't look now, folks, but there's fewer than 120 shopping days left before Christmas!

Looking for more business news? Check out B Magazine, and the B Magazine email newsletter. Go to semissourian.com/newsletters to find out more.