Local briefs

BRPC director named

Tyrone Thompson has been named executive director for the Bootheel Regional Planning and Economic Development Commission (BRPC).

Thompson replaces Leon Steinbruek, who announced his intention to retire near the end of last year.

Steinbruek had joined the commission in August 1990 as director of economic development and became executive director in January 1996.

The BRPC, established in 1968 to promote economic and community development in Scott, Mississippi, New Madrid, Stoddard, Pemiscot and Dunklin counties, is one of 19 metropolitan and rural regional planning commissions in Missouri and provides both assistance and advice with regional and community comprehensive development planning.

Community development programs through the BRPC have included infrastructure and transportation projects, job training, services for the elderly, solid waste and recycling programs, tourism programs and a revolving loan fund for manufacturing-warehousing type industries and micro-enterprise loans for smaller businesses.

Fred's expands with new Illinois store

Southern Illinois is one of the newest markets for Fred's Stores of Tennessee, headquartered in Memphis.

Fred's, which operates 337 stores and 200 pharmacies in 11 states, recently opened a 14,000-square-foot facility in Chester, Ill., and has announced plans for construction of a 16,000-square-foot store to be constructed in McLeansboro, Ill.

Brant Tanner is manager of the Chester store, which employs about 30 workers.

Fred's already operates stores at Anna, DuQuoin, Eldorado and Benton. Fred's also operates a store in Cape Girardeau.

Fred's was founded in Coldwater, Miss., in 1947. Since that time, Fred's business has spread throughout the South

Perryville company awards corporate grants

TG Missouri Corp. of Perryville has awarded corporate grants totaling $18,900 to seven organizations from Perryville, Cape Girardeau, St. Louis and Chester, Ill.

The auto parts maker, which employs more than 1,200 workers, recently passed out checks to a number of groups. TG Missouri contributes about $100,000 annually to numerous organizations and charitable causes.

Latest grants announced:

-- Perry County School District No. 32, $10,000, to fund education programs.

-- Entertain Series, $1,000 grant to help fund the 2001-2002 season, which includes nine concerts and/or theatrical performances held at the Perry Park Center and in Chester, Ill.

-- Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, $4,000 to help fund annual Japanese Festival.

-- Humane Society of Southeast Missouri, $300 grant for its annual "Bark in the Park" fund-raiser.

-- Storm Softball program for Chester, Ill., $1,000 grant for softball program.

-- City of Perryville, $1,500, for fireworks on July 4.

-- Perry County Recycling Center, $2,000, for recycling equipment.

Plaza Tire opens new location in Rolla

Plaza Tire Service, headquartered in Cape Girardeau, recently opened a new facility at Rolla.

The new retail store, at 2311 Bishop St., has 6,406 square feet and seven service bays. The Rolla operation is one of 39 Plaza Tire stores located throughout Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and Arkansas.

The January 2001 issue of "Tire Business" magazine listed the family-owned company as the 33rd top North American tire dealership based on number of retail stores operated.

Plaza Tire offers a number of tire liens, including Dayton, Bridgestone, and Michelin.

Sam's Club in Marion to offer gas at pump

Sam's Club in Marion, Ill., has joined the growing list of Sam's Clubs nationwide offering gasoline for purchase to its members and the general public.

Sam's Club at Marion has a dozen pumps at its new service station.

Marion is one of 106 Sam's Clubs now serving gasoline.

The first Sam's Club service station opened in 1997 in Wichita, Kan.

Wal-Mart keeps spot on Top 10 retailers list

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., headquartered in Bentonville, Ark., retained its position as the largest U.S. retailer in terms of annual sales. Kroger Co. remained in the No. 2 spot, and Home Depot Inc. moved to third place, dropping Sears Roebuck and Co., to the No. 4 spot. Kmart was No. 5 on the list of top 100 retailers, compiled by the National Retail Federation and Triversity Inc.

The second five on the list were: Albertson's Inc., Target Corp., JCPenny Co., Costco Wholesale Corp., and Safeway Inc.

Retail industry sales as a whole in 2000 rose to $3.4 trillion, up 7.1 percent from 1999.

Business counseling sessions offered

The Small Business Development Center will conduct counseling sessions at Cape Girardeau and Perryville.

The counselor, Gil Degenhardt, will be available from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Aug. 18 at the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce office. The counseling sessions, which last about an hour, are free. Call 335-3312 for an appointment.

He will hold sessions from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Aug. 16 at the Southeast Missouri Regional Planning office in Perryville. Appointments are available by calling (573) 547-8357.

Rice breeders to headline field day

MALDEN -- Two rice breeders will headline the 11th annual Missouri Rice Field Day on Aug. 22 at the Missouri Rice Research Farm, located 7 miles west of Malden.

Dr. Donn Beighley, a University of Missouri rice breeder, and Dr. Anna McClung, Texas A&M rice breeder, will report on rice variety development.

Updates on markets and policies, weed control, fertilization, water and weather will be presented. Registration starts at 8 a.m.

Grant to help Jackson business

A state grant will aid the city of Jackson in making public infrastructure improvements that will make possible a sterilization company's plan to expand its operations here.

The Missouri Department of Economic Development (DED) has approved a $149,125 industrial infrastructure grant through its Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program.

The city will use state and local funds to make road improvements necessary for the expansion of Midwest Sterilization Corp. The company will make a significant private investment in this project and create 15 new full-time jobs within two years.

Midwest Sterilization predominantly contracts with major medical device manufacturing companies to sterilize pre-assembled and packaged medical kits. The company also contracts with food production companies to sterilize dairy cartons and spice containers. After sterilization, the packages are shipped to distribution centers, which ship them to the appropriate customers.

The company continues to see strong annual sales growth and must expand its operations to meet the increased business demand.

Missouri labor force passes 3 million mark

The state's labor force passed the 3 million mark for the first time in Missouri history in June. The labor force grew by more than 50,000 people between May and June.

The bad news is that the number of employed Missourians grew by only 30,000, resulting in an increase in state's unemployment percentage, to 4.3, the highest rate since July 1998.

Part of this jump is the usual seasonal increase that occurs in June, as some students and others entering the labor force for the summer don't immediately find jobs. However, this June's increase is larger than that typical for the month.

Total employment in Missouri was 2.89 million.

Unemployment also increased in most Southeast Missouri counties. Only one county in the region -- Bollinger -- reported a decline in unemployment, from 5.5 to 5.3 percent, in June.

The Cape Girardeau County workforce increased by 68 workers from May to June, from 37,119 to 37,187. Meanwhile, jobs decreased, from 35,843 to 35,671, resulting in a 4.1 unemployment percentage, the first time the county has been under the 4 percent mark since 1996.

Perry County, traditionally the lowest in unemployment in Southeast Missouri , jumped from 2.8 to 3.5 percent. Twelve of the 15 southeast counties recorded increases in unemployment.

Outlook dim for goose industry this fall

Goose hunting is big business in Southern Illinois, but the outlook for Canada goose hunting this fall could be dim if preliminary spring survey results for the Mississippi Valley populations hold up.

Brent Manning of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources says the number of birds were down drastically from last year's totals.

The populations estimates from the northlands reveal about 468,000 birds, down more than half from the count of a year ago. A fall flight forecast is 697,142 geese, down 46 percent from the 2000 forecast, and the lowest forecast during the past 13 years -- second only to 1998.

If these numbers hold, Illinois could face a goose season even more restrictive than 1998. Illinois' statewide quota for Canada geese in 1998 was 40,8000, compared to last year's 127,000.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources will determine season dates and bag limits later this month, following recommendation of waterfowl hunting advisory committees.

The goose-hunting industry generally funnels as much as $10 million to the area's annual economy.

Alexander, Williamson, Union and Jackson counties make up the four-county "quota zone" of Southern Illinois, which includes clubs in the zone area offering goose-hunting facilities that range from primitive, with just a bench, to the plush, with heated pits, telephones and guides up to 70 days each year.

The flight forecast for Canada geese last year was about 1.3 million geese.

Every goose is worth $10 to the economy, according to the Williamson County Tourism Bureau, which keeps track of the economics of goose hunting in the four-county area.

Tourism surveys show that goose hunters bring more money into an area than any other type of hunter. The Williamson Tourism Bureau survey uses a hunter-day system. During a recent year, the survey found that more than 80,800 hunters sought out the Canada geese, with about 75 percent of them coming as "visitor hunters." This tabulates into about $9.4 million annually. Throw in the expenses of 25 percent of local hunters and the total exceeds $10 million in the four counties.