A look at Southern Illinois employment

Business Today

Southern Illinois University in Carbondale is the largest employer in the Southern Illinois region.

SIU-C, including the School of Medicine and Springfield campus, has a total of 4,668 full-time and 1,932 part-time employees, according to Chancellor Walter Wendler.

Prisons in Southern Illinois provide more than 4,000 area jobs, headed by 1,100 jobs at Menard Prison and the psychiatric unit at Chester. More than 400 employees work at each prison facility in the following list: Tamms Correctional facility, Big Muddy, Pinckneyville, Vienna and Shawneee corrections facilities, and Marion Federal Prison.

Menard Prison is fourth on the list of largest employers in Southern Illinois. Assisting in compiling the numbers were the Illinois Department of Employment Security office at Marion and regional planning and development commissions throughout the area.

One of Southern Illinois' largest employers is Gilster-Mary Lee Corp., headquartered at Chester with more than 3,200 employees -- about 1,000 in Missouri where the company has manufacturing facilities at Perryville and McBride, manufacturing packaged cake mixes, stuffing mixes, hot cocoa drink mix and popcorn.

Also among the top five is Harrah's Riverboat Casino at Metropolis with more than 800 workers. Other large employers in Southern Illinois: Choate Mental Health Center, Anna, 640; Veterans Administration Hospital, Marion, 540; UNI Distribution, Pinckneyville, 590; ADL Construction, at Olmsted Dam project, 500; and Pepsi Cola, Marion, 500.