Tourism, construction and community highlight progress in area

This is our annual Progress Edition of B Magazine where we highlight companies doing innovative work in the area and some of the big projects moving the region forward.

There have been several significant construction projects over the past year, ranging from municipal infrastructure to the Houck complex (a sports and academic space on the SEMO campus) to health care construction at SoutheastHEALTH.

Tourism continues to be a major driver of sales tax and hotel-motel tax receipts.. And more specifically, sports tourism is driving big business for this area. The Cape Girardeau SportsPlex is a crown jewel in the city, attracting many people every weekend and even during the middle of the week for various tournaments and practices.

While all these things are good, I’d be remiss to not mention one of the more significant events in the area that on its surface doesn’t seem like progress.

On April 5, an EF-2 tornado ripped through Bollinger County, Missouri, killing five people, destroying 12 homes and damaging 87 structures.

The storm didn’t meet the threshold for federal aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) based on damage to public infrastructure. Many homes also did not have insurance. (On April 18, however, the U.S. Small Business Administration approved Gov. Parson’s request for assistance, which will make low interest loans and other funds available for rebuilding efforts.) It’s a challenging situation, to put it lightly.

So where’s the progress in this story?

In the days following the storm, many people from the region stepped up to lend a hand. The United Way, among other organizations, is raising funds to help the victims. And many volunteers, churches and businesses began to help with the cleanup efforts.

Jordan Carver, general manager of the Cape Girardeau EquipmentShare location, sent employees and large equipment to the town of Glen Allen, Missouri, where much of the damage took place.

“We’ve been pulling trees off houses and getting them cut up and hauled away,” Carver told the Southeast Missourian. “Then we have three woodchippers on-site that we’ll be feeding limbs and turning them into mulch that can be hauled off or reused or recycled.”

Ryan Rawson, owner of Rawson Excavating out of Murphysboro, Illinois, has also been helping in the cleanup efforts.

“Glen Allen is just a dot on the map, but people came together and showed up to help,” Rawson told the newspaper. “Sometimes small towns get forgotten about in a lot of aspects, but that wasn’t the case this time.”

These were just two of the many businesses and organizations to volunteer their time and resources. Though the loss of life and property remains devastating, there’s progress in seeing a community come together to rebuild and move forward.

We hope you enjoy the 2023 B Magazine Progress Edition, and thank you to all those who help make our region a great place to live.

Lucas Presson is the publisher of B Magazine.