NEW BUSINESS: BARGE FIRM TO OPEN

Midwest Grain & Barge will open operations in December.

"We're about three weeks from opening," said Dennis James, general manager of the new business, which will open at the Southeast Missouri Regional Port on the Mississippi River between Cape Girardeau and Scott City.

Russ Mothershead, president of Midwest Agri-Chemico, the first tenant at the Port, is owner of the new business.

The new facility should be ready for a Dec. 1 opening, said James.

"We'll be buying and selling grain here," said James. The company is buying grain -- corn, soybeans, wheat -- at its Whitewater grain facility.

James, who joined Midwest Grain earlier this year, has seven years of experience in agribusiness. He previously managed the Madison County Farm Supply at Fredericktown.