STRICTLY BUSINESS: OLD TOWN CAPE ON THE MOVE

Old Town Cape is on the move.

During the past week, Old Town Cape's 15-member board of directors elected officers and approved the not-for-profit organization's bylaws. During the same period, an open meeting of volunteers has provided some members to four necessary committees, and a date has been set for another volunteer meeting.

Judith Lang, a downtown merchant who has headed a steering committee organized earlier this year, was elected to chair the Old Town Cape board Thursday. Other officers are Ted Coalter, president of the Haarig Area Development Corp., vice chairman; Greg Williams, executive director of the Regional Commerce and Growth Association, secretary; and Tom Higgins, an accountant, treasurer.

Other elected members of the board:

-- Dave Albertson, architect.

-- Steve Hoffman, historic preservation, Southeast Missouri State University.

-- Dr. Paul Keys, associate provost and dean of the College of Health & Human Services, Southeast Missouri State University.

-- John Mehner, president and chief executive officer, Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce.

-- Daniel North, Arts Council.

-- B. Ray Owen, business editor, Southeast Missourian.

-- Fred Shivelbine, Shivelbine Music.

-- Leola Twiggs, East Missouri Action Agency.

-- Jerrie Wyman, Mollie's and Royal N'Orleans restaurants.

-- Michael Miller, Cape Girardeau city manager.

-- John Layton, attorney.

About 25 people attended an open meeting last week, and a number of volunteers have been named to one of four committees -- design, economic restructuring, organization and promotion.

Old Town Cape is the name selected for a local Main Street program that covers a wide area of downtown Cape Girardeau.

The program encompasses an area from Water Street in the downtown area, along Broadway to West End Boulevard to Highway 74, to Morgan Oak, which leads to the Mississippi River bridge.

The "square" includes the primary downtown business area, the Haarig area, upper Broadway and old St. Vincent's Seminary, the proposed river campus of Southeast Missouri State University.

The Main Street Program is an economic development effort geared toward revitalizing historic commercial districts.

More volunteers are needed for the four committees.

"We were pleased with the turnout of last week's volunteer meeting," said Lang. "We still need volunteers. There is no limit to volunteers on a committee."

The next volunteer meeting will be held next week -- Tuesday, Oct. 5 -- at the Presbyterian Church, starting at 6 p.m.

10 billion pounds

So how much is 10 billion pounds of aluminum?

-- Made into aluminum, it would make 308 billion 12-ounce cans for your favorite cold beverage -- more than 1,000 cans for every U.S. citizen.

-- Poured into an acre lot, the aluminum would reach a height of 1,370 feet, higher than the Empire State Building, at 1,250 feet.

-- Extrude into 3/8-inch diameter rod, it would be 14.7 million miles long, enough for 30 round trips to the moon.

These are some facts revealed at Noranda Aluminum Inc. last week when the giant aluminum reduction complex celebrated its 10 billionth pound of aluminum Friday.

Noranda at the St. Jude Industrial Park south of New Madrid has produced aluminum at its New Madrid plant since 1971. The company has invested more than $80 million in expansions the past two years, including a second rod mill and a special anode project to increase aluminum production by 15 percent.

Noranda is one of the top three employers in the Southeast Missouri area, employing more than 1,150 workers from 40 different communities in five states, with an annual payroll of $40 million.

Noranda is one of several area industries that have announced big expansions over the past two years.

Procter & Gamble Paper Products north of Cape Girardeau, the Southeast Missouri area's largest employer with more than 1,650 workers, is winding down on a $350 million project; BioKkyowa, just south of Cape Girardeau, is in the process of a $90 million expansion project; a new $35 million Good Humor-Breyers Ice Cream Co. at Sikeston; the addition of jobs and production at Lee-Rowan at Jackson with the move of the Memphis operation to Jackson, making the local plant the largest of three Lee-Rowan plants; and the $124 million new Associated Electric Cooperative Inc.-Duke Energy Corp. power plant near Glennonville in Dunklin County.

The $124 million, 250-megawatt, combined-cycle generation plant will be dedicated Wednesday.

Roger B. Wilson, lieutenant governor of Missouri; O.B. Clark, AECI president; Jim Jura, AECI general manager and chief executive officer; and Jim Donnell, president of Duke Energy North America, will be on hand for the dedication.

The facility will have a significant economic impact on the area through the property tax base. The power plant is highly automated and will require only a limited number of employees to operate. Employment is estimated at 20 to 25 people.

AECI, headquartered at Springfield, provides wholesale power to six regional and 51 local electric cooperative systems in Missouri, northeast Oklahoma and southeast Iowa that serves more than 750,000 homes and businesses.

Potpourri

The Regional Commerce & Growth Association will hold its annual meeting Oct. 14 at the Drury Lodge.

The social hour is at 6 p.m., with dinner to follow at 7.

Seating is limited, said Greg Williams, executive director of the RCGA. Tickets are available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Tables of eight are available.

Additional information and tickets are available by contacting the RCGA office.

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Only 95 days left until Y2K and millennium celebrations.

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More than 300 students were on hand to meet with 31 companies during the recent Part-Time Job Fair, held at the university center.

The job fair was co-sponsored by the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce University Relations Committee, Southeast Missouri State University Student Government and career Services.

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Sgt. Brent Davis of the Missouri State Highway Patrol will be guest speaker at the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's First Friday Coffee.

The monthly event will be held at 7:30 a.m. Friday at the Show Me Center.

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Two more riverboat dockings are scheduled in Cape Girardeau -- the Mississippi Queen, from 8 a.m. to 3 o'clock on Oct. 9 and the River Explorer, from 6 a.m. to 2 o'clock on Nov. 2.