First industrial building tenants in production

Business Today

DEXTER -- In one short month, the Dexter Chamber of Commerce's industrial building, formerly the Paramount Hat Co., has its first tenant up and running.

Venture Products Inc. of Oran began producing caps in its new Dexter facility in early August.

According to Ken Conley, general manager of VPI, the company occupies 5,000 square feet of the industrial building, with all walls and electrical needs completed since construction began on July 7.

Currently, 10 full-time workers are employed and five more will be added this week as more machines are brought from the main facility in Oran.

Many of the employees are still in training under the supervision of Kay Daniels, production manager at Oran. "Right now we're producing 300 caps per day. Our goal is 1,000 caps per day within a month," said Conley.

That figure compares to 4,000 caps per day made at the Oran plant.

According to Chamber Executive Director Janet Coleman, the chamber took possession of the building on June 20 and the progress has been remarkable.

"Everyone -- the electricians, plumbers, construction people -- has cooperated real well. The electricity for the entire building is nearly complete, along with the offices for Media Press (the second anchor business to relocate to the industrial building) and their perimeter walls," said Coleman.

"The city has been a big help, too. They provided a lot of in-kind service in cleaning out the remnants of the former tenants," she added.

Some of the machinery and records for Media Press of Sikeston have already been moved into the building and the offices are expected to be completed next week. A plate room and dark room are also near completion.

Coleman said there will be a common break-room area with four bathrooms at the rear of the building. Four more bathrooms will be located at the front, and the Media Press portion of the building will have its own three bathrooms. Media Press will also have its own two-bay shipping dock, while VPI and five future incubator businesses will share a separate two-bay dock.

Coleman said the two anchor businesses will complete the first phase of the building renovation. The second phase will be to section the remaining space for use by up to five incubator businesses.

"We're looking for people who may be operating a business from their home and are looking to expand but can't quite meet the expense of renting on their own. There are such entrepreneurs out there and we'll rent the space they need - from 2,100 to 2,500 square feet - at warehouse prices," said Coleman.

Eventually, the building will also house the chamber offices and a conference/training room open for use by the tenant businesses and the public.

Coleman said in addition to the work being done on the inside, plans include upgrading of the parking lot being used by VPI at the west end of the building, and sprucing up of the outside with improved landscaping possible next spring.

The industrial/business incubator building was made possible by loans from all seven local banks, a grant from the Stoddard County Industrial Development Authority, matching funds from the city of Dexter and chamber funds.