STRICTLY BUSINESS: CAPE WAS IN RUNNING FOR CATERPILLER

You may have heard by now that Caterpillar Inc. will open a new manufacturing facility in Dyersburg, Tenn.

The plant, which will make machine clutch housings for uses in transmissions for the company's earth-moving and construction equipment, will bring some 140 skilled production and management jobs early next year. What you may not know is that Cape Girardeau was among the sites considered for the plant.

Mitch Robinson, executive director of the Cape Girardeau Area Recruitment Association, said he was first contacted in February by Caterpillar. But he didn't know it at the time.

Many companies keep their identities a secret as they look at different building sites and properties. They don't want to give their competition a step up, and they don't want to be inundated by interested cities and counties across the United States.

The Caterpillar folks made a second visit to Cape Girardeau to scope out the town. Other communities received the once-over as well, including Sikeston, Farmington and West Plains.

Robinson said Cape Girardeau's low unemployment wasn't a deterrent.

Caterpillar felt like its pay scale and name would draw in sufficient workers. While the unemployment rate remains low in Cape Girardeau County -- 3.4 percent this month -- area counties in Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois have much higher rates and would offer an employment source.

The company, Robinson said, was impressed with the area's job training capability through the Cape Girardeau Vocational-Technical School and Southeast Missouri State University.

But Caterpillar apparently was more concerned about a shortage of trade people trained as machinists, because another major employer here hires machinists for auto parts work. Even though Caterpillar would make component tractor parts at its new plant, the workers would require similar backgrounds and training.

Robinson said his office learned about six weeks ago Cape Girardeau was not among the finalists. The search was narrowed to West Plains and Dyersburg. It was at this time Cape Girardeau officials learned the courting company was Caterpillar.

The news was disappointing, but it was also encouraging, Robinson said. It felt good that a Fortune-500 company seriously considered moving to Cape Girardeau. That says a lot about the quality of the region.

The decision may also have come down to one of incentives. Tennessee has been tight-lipped about what it offered Caterpillar. Cape Girardeau put its best package on the table, but the area hasn't been known for offering a lot of freebies. Should communities try to buy an industry? Those decisions are often based on unemployment rates and the need for new jobs.

Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce President John Mehner said the news about Caterpillar was disappointing, but he, too, thinks the fact the city was seriously considered is a good sign about the city's standing in the eyes of major industry.

Mehner said the chamber has seen a real increase in activity in terms of recruitment.

"We have a number of top quality companies looking at this area," he said. "It's a numbers game like anything else, and eventually we're going to land somebody."

One company looking here is VisionAire, which has narrowed its sites to two for a jet plane manufacturing facility, which include a 120,000-square-foot structure. The company will provide employment to 150.

VisionAire officials were in Cape Girardeau recently to discuss its product -- a five-passenger jet plane -- with officials and potential investors.

Gary Pluth, chief financial officer at VisionAire, headquartered at Spirit of St. Louis Airport in Chesterfield, said a final decision should be made within another month to six weeks.

VisionAire is looking for a site near or adjoining the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport.

"We're moving ahead on the VisionAire project," Robinson said, adding that another meeting will be arranged soon at the company's headquarters.

Another positive factor in the area's search for industry is a project designed to provide a 50,000- to 60,000-square-foot building.

National and state numbers show the first thing a business looks for when it considers moving is a building, Robinson said.

Architects are currently preparing a bid package for a new building, Robinson said.

Meanwhile, the site of a new 170,000-square-foot Caterpillar Inc. manufacturing facility at Dyersburg could prove to be a plus for nearby Southeast Missouri, thanks to I-155, which carries surface traffic from I-55, across the Mississippi River, to Dyersburg.

Caterpillar hopes to open its facility during the first quarter of 1996, and will initially employ 140 workers. Undoubtedly, some of those workers will come from Missouri and Northeast Arkansas.

The equipment manufacturer is a Fortune 500 company, with $16 billion in assets and more than 54,000 employees around the world.

Caterpillar products are made in 40 plants throughout the world. The plant at Dyersburg will be the 41st in the world and the 28th in the United States.

Caterpillar was founded 70 years ago by C.L. Best and Daniel Holt to develop steam tractors for farming purposes. The Best and Holt families collectively pioneered track-type tractors and gasoline-powered tractor engines.

Over the next two decades, Caterpillar's product line included motor graders, elevating graders and electric generation set.

The rest is Caterpillar history. Dyersburg, West Tennessee, Southeast Missouri and Northeast Arkansas will be a new phase of that history.