Local economy noted at industrial meeting

Board of directors selected

STE. GENEVIEVE -- Incumbents were re-elected to four board of directors seats when the Ste. Genevieve Industrial Corp. held its annual meeting Jan. 24 at the Hotel Ste. Genevieve. One new member will take office on the board to replace long-time member Roy Panchot, who did not seek re-election after 15 years.

Incumbents re-elected to three-year terms are Bob Rottler, Mark Shaughnessy, Dave Weber and Herb Fallert. Dan Rodamaker, Citizens Electric CEO, fills the vacant seat of Roy Panchot who retired. Nominees to the IDC Board must be dues-paying members of the Ste. Genevieve Area Chamber of Commerce.

The IDC Board of Directors re-elected its 2001 slate of officers to serve another one-year term. President Mark Shaughnessy will again lead the organization, with Tom Greminger as vice president, Bob Rottler as treasurer and Dave Weber as secretary.

Economic Development Director Marv Harman addressed the group, commenting on recent successful projects of the Economic Development office and highlighting points of interest in the recently released 2001 Progress Report for the Southeast Missouri Economic Development District.

Harman noted that Ste. Genevieve County's population increase of 11.3 percent over the past decade was surpassed only by Cape Girardeau and St. Francois counties in the seven-county region. The median household income of $44,200 in Ste. Genevieve County (2000 Census) is up nearly 25 percent since 1996, and the county trails only Cape and Perry counties in this category.

Harman said the average unemployment percentage for January through September 2001 was 4.7 percent, bested only by Cape and Perry counties. This compares with an average unemployment rate of 8.3 percent in the county in 1993. He added that the civilian labor force in the county was 6,956 in 1993, compared with 8,705 today.

"What we always have to take into consideration," said Harman, "is that 36 percent of the county's workforce each day travels to positions outside the county, which means, for example, that unemployment in our county is directly related to downsizing and layoffs in the St. Louis area."

Harman said activities for his office were outlined in the January report made available to IDC members and guests later in the meeting.

Mike Seabaugh, project manager for the Business Expansion and Attraction Division of the Missouri Department of Economic Development, was guest speaker. Seabaugh, whose office is in Dexter, serves 19 counties in Southeast Missouri.

Seabaugh said the recession is being felt across his 19-county area. He said that last year he was actively involved in 25 viable industrial projects in the region, compared with only five today.

Seabaugh explained that Missouri Economic Development offers incentives to expanding industries as well as new or start-up companies. He said the two major considerations are new capital investment for the company and creation of new jobs above the job number from the company's last year of operation.

He said state incentives basically fall into three categories: grants and loans, tax credits and job training. He said companies anticipating expansion should contact local Economic Development Director Marv Harman. Seabaugh and Harman would investigate each situation for possible incentives available.

Seabaugh said the Business Expansion and Attraction Division is being combined with Workforce Development. He will have less counties to cover, but his scope of work is being expanded from strictly industrial to retail and service involvement.

He stressed teamwork in job retention in Missouri, citing the Emerson Electric manufacturing operation in Kennett. When Emerson was about to lose its 400 employees to a proposed relocation to Mexico, Emerson management, Department of Economic Development, Workforce Investment Board, University of Missouri Extension and Three Rivers Community College teamed to develop a plan to enhance productivity and employee re-training. Seabaugh said result was keeping the plant in Kennett and ultimately adding 150 jobs.