Industrial parks: Catalysts of growth in Southeast Missouri

Southeast Missouri contains several industrial parks, employing tens of thousands of workers and helping to drive the economies of local towns.

The influence of industrial parks stretches across the region. In Perry County, its park includes TG Missouri and Gilster-Mary Lee, which employ more than a quarter of the county’s population. The Jackson Industrial Park boasts companies such as Rubbermaid Home & Family Products, American Railroad Industry, Midwest Sterilization and Signature Packaging & Paper. Sikeston has two industrial parks. Poplar Bluff’s industrial parks fall under and other the Ozark Foothills Regional Planning Commission.

This story is a snapshot of three of these industrial sites — Perryville Industrial Park, Sikeston Industrial Parks and the new SEMO Industrial Park located near the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport.

Perryville

Among Perryville Industrial Park's tenants are Perry County's largest and second-largest employers. TG Missouri, an auto parts manufacturer, employs 1,600 people. (Photo courtesy of Crystal Jones.)

The Perryville Industrial Park is around 400 acres, nestled around Interstate 55, U.S. Route 61 and Missouri Route 51, with easy railroad access. Many of the community’s workers have found employment there.

“These are good-paying jobs, manufacturing jobs with benefits. It’s crucial for us here in Perryville,” Crystal Jones, the executive director of the Perry County Economic Development Authority, said. “With 100 acres currently vacant there’s definitely room to grow. There’s room for our current manufacturers in the industrial park to expand, which would be great … and there’s also room for future industrial development.”

The park’s tenants include auto parts manufacturer TG Missouri, Perry County’s largest employer. It has had a presence there since 1987.

“A group of businessmen from the Perryville Development Corporation, along with city leadership, flew to Japan and recruited TG,” Jones said. “They’re headquartered in Japan. They were looking for an expansion location here in the United States and we were able to land them here in Perryville.”

The manufacturer employs some 1,600 people. The other businesses at the park — among them companies in the packaging, molding and construction industries — employ more than 1,000 additional workers.

Jones said Perry County is business-friendly, with its leadership priding itself on the good work ethic of its workforce.

All utilities at the industrial park are already in place, making it ideal, she said, for companies looking to start out or expand.

Sikeston

Sikeston has two industrial parks, one located north of the city and another located directly south. Carlisle Construction Materials became the Sikeston South industrial park's first tenant in June 2023. (Photo courtesy of Marcie Lawson.)

Sikeston has two main industrial parks. The Sikeston Business, Education and Technology Park is located just to the north of the city along U.S. Route 61. The Sikeston South Industrial Park is located just to the south across U.S. Route 60.

The southern location is especially new, having opened in 2022 with its first tenant, Carlisle Construction Materials, moving in earlier this year.

The two locations have approximately 465 acres between them.

“I don’t think [the economic impact] can be overstated … I would say you’ve got 2,000 employees coming in and out of the north industrial park, you’ve got 80 to 100 coming out of [the south],” Marcie Lawson, president and chief executive officer of the Sikeston Regional Chamber and Area Economic Development Corporation, said.

Some employees live in Sikeston and some travel there from other communities, but many buy goods and spend significant time in Sikeston, she added.

“It keeps our community pride going. We’re proud to have these industries, employers and really community partners in these industrial parks,” Lawson said.

Both locations are Missouri Certified Sites, having been pre-qualified through a standardization process by the state’s Department of Economic Development to meet industry requirements.

Lawson said the certification proves the site is shovel-ready to interested tenants.

She added the city being willing to invest in infrastructure and utilities proves that it’s serious about growth.

“We’re willing to do what we can to make sure that, when they [businesses] get here, they can start construction,” she said.

She said Sikeston officials are just as focused on industrial expansion with their tenants as they are in recruiting new ones.

SEMO Industrial Park

SEMO Industrial Park is an upcoming facility located in Scott City along Interstate 55. Co-owner Gregg Erb said tenants at the 390-acre location could include health care, manufacturing and agricultural businesses. (Photo courtesy of Gregg Erb.)

The SEMO Industrial Park in Scott City is still in development, but its owners have plans to attract manufacturing, health care, education and agriculture to their location.

Gregg Erb and his sister Carrie Roider, who own another real estate holding company together, bought the site in 2016.

“It was always our intent to develop the park at a later date,” he said, “and that later date is now.”

Erb said he’s received plenty of interest about the different lots, with possible tenants waiting for the infrastructure to be finalized. There are 33 lots currently available for sale, each between five and 20 acres.

“We’re anticipating different individuals owning the 33 lots, so the property is set up for multi-use tenants,” Erb explained.

Erb and Roider will develop about 380 of the 390 acres on the site, which is located between Nash Road, Interstate-55 and the Ramsey Creek Diversion Channel.

They started to accept bids for 200 acres at the end of November, and in 2024 will start taking bids for most of the remaining space.

The industrial park is directly to the east of the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport and Interstate 55, as well as within easy access of rail and river transportation. Its location between Memphis and St. Louis, Erb said, is another benefit for interested tenants.

Erb credited Scott City administrator Dustin Whitworth and Shad Burner, a management consultant with SE MO Redi, with helping to get the industrial park up and running. He said he’s looking to improve economic development within not just Scott City, but the entire region as well.

SEMO Industrial Park also worked with St. Louis-based Steadfast City Economic & Community partners to complete an in-depth study of the project and assist in implementing an economic development strategy.

Employers at Industrial Parks

Here is a look at the makeup of local industrial parks and some of the companies located within each. Industrial parks often incorporate various types of businesses from numerous different industries.

Perryville

-TG Missouri

-Gilster Mary-Lee

-Robinson Construction Company

Sikeston Business, Education and Technology Park

-Carlisle Construction Materials

-Unilever Ice Cream

-Atlas Storage

Poplar Bluff Industrial Parks 1 – 3

-Briggs & Stratton

-Conway Trucking

-Gates Rubber Co.

Cape County business cluster

-Procter & Gamble

-Mondi

-Neeto

-Pratt

Jackson Industrial Park

-Rubbermaid

-American Railcar Industry

-Associated Sheet Metal

Doniphan Industrial Parks 1 – 2

-American Stave Co.

-Gray Farm Service

-Missouri Forge

*Information taken from industrial park

websites and other reporting.