Economic development alliance to hold fall conference

Business Today

The recently formed Southeast Missouri Economic Development Alliance (SMEDA) has announced plans for its first big event, which is hoped will move the group closer to its goal of attracting business to a six-county area in the Bootheel.

At a meeting Sept. 8, SMEDA representatives said the conference, called Show Me The Future, will be held Oct. 29 at Casino Aztar in Caruthersville.

Representatives from similar economic development alliances will tell those at the conference about their experiences and the benefits that come with alliances.

"We're trying to organize on a regional level so we can be more effective at attracting jobs," said Steve McPheeters of St. Jude Industrial Park and Noranda Aluminum in New Madrid. "And we're going to benchmark other regional partnerships and the successes they have, most notably the Ozark partnership out of the Springfield-Branson area."

Representatives will also be present from economic alliances in western Tennessee, western Kentucky and northeast Arkansas.

The Tennessee alliance was cited as a good example. McPheeters said that alliance attracted 2,400 new jobs and $300 million worth of investment in 2002. For the same period, a 10-county region in Southeast Missouri showed $30 million in new investment and only 25 to 30 new jobs.

The keynote speaker will be Jack Schultz, the author of the book "Boomtown USA," which informs readers on how to attract economic development to small towns. U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson will also speak at the conference.

"You can define this really as a working seminar," said McPheeters. "What we'll try to do is get cities, counties, chambers, economic development groups to agree in principle that what's good for one is good for all in this region."

Dexter Chamber of Commerce executive director Janet Coleman gave details on the conference, which will be a one-day event ending in the early afternoon.

Participants will get a chance to network in the morning before hearing speakers and trying to develop a marketing strategy for the region.

The cost to participants is $20, with the rest of the cost being paid for by a Workforce Development Grant from Southeast Missouri State University.

McPheeters explained the purpose of SMEDA: "We're going to be doing some marketing and branding of this region to try to get people on a national and international basis to look at all the economic development assets in this region and let us take a customer perspective."

One key aspect of the alliance is the funding, said McPheeters. "We're going to ask for funding from the private sector," he said. "We're not going to ask for any funds from chambers, economic development, people like that."

SMEDA has already received support from a few businesses as well as office space for its to-be-named director at the offices of the Bootheel Regional Planning Commission.

"Creating more jobs is our real focus," said McPheeters. "We hope to give business a better feeling of the region at first glance."

For more information on how to register, contact the Dexter Chamber of Commerce. Deadline for sign-up is Oct. 19.