STRICTLY BUSINESS: PSL: FAMILIAR ACRONYM TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPERS

The Mississippi County Industrial Development Authority may join Plant Site Locators (PSL) in the near future.

"We have talked with the Mississippi County group," said Craig Throckmorton, president of the PSL group of Oklahoma City. "We'll be looking forward to hearing from them."

PSL is a familiar acronym to industrial recruitment and development groups throughout the nation.

The PSL, which works with the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), which is composed of thousands of small and mid-sized manufacturers, has been successful in locating factories with 40 to 100 jobs in a number of rural communities.

"We provide communities with a cost-effective method for participating in a continuous flow of new business opportunities," said Throckmorton.

Mitch Robinson, executive director of the Cape Girardeau Area Industrial Recruitment Association agrees.

"We feel that our membership in the PSL is a good use of our advertising dollar," said Robinson, adding that the cost was less than the cost of a half-page ad in a typical monthly trade magazine for a year.

The PSL has provided a half-dozen leads for Robinson's group here.

"One of the six didn't pan out," said Robinson, "but, we're still working with five of them."

Carbondale, Ill., and Paducah, Ky., are also lined up with PSL.

PSL is in position to provide communities a large source of site searches. "We handle the tire-kickers," said Throckmorton. Communities get involved only after the company has selected them as a primary candidate for relocation or expansion.

The PSL service is good for any community with available buildings, noted Throckmorton.

There are a number of empty buildings in Southeast Missouri.

The Mississippi County IDA counts two large buildings, the 144,000-square-foot Brown Shoe Building at Charleston, and a large building at East Prairie, which previously housed Prairie Manufacturing.

Two more large buildings are available in Southeast Missouri, the 90,000-square-foot Brown Shoe Co. factory at Caruthersville, and the former Purolator Products building at Dexter, a 221,000-square-foot structure of masonry and metal construction. The Purolator building is located on 17 acres.

Four large buildings are available in Cape Girardeau County, a large speculation building under construction in the Nash Road Industrial Park, the 85,000-square-foot building, which previously housed Central Hardware Inc., and two warehouses of more than 200,000 square feet north of Cape Girardeau.

Another 100,000-square-foot facility will be available early in 1996. Tri-Con, which manufactures seat covers for new automobiles, announced recently it was moving to Mexico in January, vacating a 104,000-square-foot structure.

"We have had inquiries on most of these buildings, said Robinson.

FDIC warehouses available

The two warehouse buildings north of Cape Girardeau are available from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), which rejected a $2.3 million offer for them during a recent auction.

Jerry Lipps Truck Service, which purchased a service station/convenience store facility near the same location on Highway 177, was high bidder for the warehouse properties, at $2.3 million.

"We're still interested in warehouses," said Lipps last week. "We send a lot of trucks into Procter & Gamble every day, and the warehouses would complement our trucking business."

The warehouses were appraised for the FDIC at about $3.6 million, noted Lipps. "But, we felt that $2.3 million was a reasonable bid, considering the site. The warehouses, identical in size, were constructed in late 1986 and early 1987.

Meanwhile, the 6,010-square-foot truck stop-convenience store will be reopened soon, said Lipps.

The facility was built in 1987 by Lenertz's Trucking Co. of St. Paul, Minn., operating under the name of Your Store and featured grocery items, a deli, restaurant and truck stop. it included showers and changing rooms for truckers, a built-in cooler, six fuel tanks and two canopies. Lenertz of Lenertz Trucking Co. also used the warehouses for public warehousing.

"We hope to lease the service station and convenience facility for reopening," said Lipps.

Sheldon Good & Co. of Kansas City and the Resolution Trust Corp. (RTC) conducted the October auction for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. as efforts continue toward a final disposition of the First Exchange Corp. A number of other properties financed by the now defunct bank holding company, which owned banking operations in Cape Girardeau, Jackson, Fredericktown and St. Louis, were auctioned.

The five subsidiary banks owned by First Exchange closed more than three years ago. The state commissioner of finance ordered all the banks closed and liquidated May 7, 1992.

New jobs mean more jobs

New businesses mean more businesses."

The economic spillover from one business flows to other businesses and the entire community, state and nation, claim surveys which reveal what new manufacturing jobs mean to a community.

A recent Consumer Expenditure Survey conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reveal how 75 new manufacturing jobs impact the general income of an area.

"Those 75 new jobs will create five or six additional retail outlets, and an additional 48 jobs in the area," says Craig Throckmorton, president of PSL, which specializes in helping communities land small to mid-sized manufacturing companies, employing from 40 to 75 people.

Increased economic activity from 75 jobs created total new spending of $2.5 million during the first year. A breakdown of employee spending the first year follows:

-- Groceries and food, $319,000; restaurants, $171,000.

-- New cars, $229,000; gasoline and other vehicle related costs, $318,900.

-- Home rentals, $237,000; Utilities, 230,000; home furnishings and equipment, $206,000.

-- Health care, $189,000; life insurance, $31,000.

-- Apparel and related services, $237,500; personal care products and services, $45,000.

-- Reading and education, $47,000; entertainment, $144,000;

-- Tobacco and alcoholic beverages, $72,000.

-- Cash contributions, $91,000; other spending, $143,000.

Asia a world growth leader

Asia will lead the world in growth well into the next century.

Austin Kiplinger, who produces "The Kiplinger Washington Letter," tosses out some staggering figures concerning the Pacific Rim countries.

-- By 2000, output of these countries will exceed $13 trillion, up from $10 trillion now. The size of U.S. economy is now $7 trillion.

-- By 2015, seven of the world's 10 largest cities will be in Asia, Tokyo, Bombay, Shanghai, Jakarta, Karachi, Beijing and Dhaka, Bangladesh.

-- By 2020, four of the world's top five economies will be in Asia, Japan, China, Indonesia and India. The United States will continue to be the largest.

-- 2025, there will be 700 million middle-class consumers in Asia, people with European-level purchasing power, which makes it a huge and growing market.

These are facts that you can't ignore if you're in business. China, India and Indonesia will be a market as big as the United States, Europe and Japan are today.

Any wonder why marketing people are focusing on Asia?