ALLOCATION MEANS BOOTHEEL BONANAZA

An influx of federal money could mean new economic prosperity for residents of the Mississippi River Delta region.

Area residents, lawmakers and education officials met at Southeast Missouri State University Friday to discuss how area counties could benefit from two initiatives set to bring millions of federal dollars into the region.

Twenty-nine Missouri counties, along with portions of Arkansas, Alabama, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee, are eligible to receive a portion of $20 million allocated by Congress last year in the formation of the Delta Regional Authority.

And additional money and other resources would be available through the American Heritage River program, which seeks to improve knowledge and understanding about the Mississippi River and rivers in general.

State Rep. Denny Merideth, D-Caruthersville, spearheaded efforts to organize the Missouri Delta Regional Authority Commission, which will work in conjunction with the DRA in planning how to disburse funds in the state's Delta communities.

The bulk of the funding -- about $15 million -- must be used in counties identified as economically distressed to improve economic and community development, historic preservation, environmental protection and basic public service.

All of the Missouri Bootheel counties likely will receive an economically distressed designation.

The money could mean improved public services like water and utilities, better roads and transportation systems, more aggressive business development and job training and education efforts.

Merideth said he is working closely with other Southeast Missouri lawmakers to ensure any plan benefits the entire region.

Commonality' cited

"There's a lot of commonality there," he said. "There are a lot of programs that nickel-and-dime us or that fix one little thing. With this commission, we want to target programs that give us a chance to share in the prosperity everyone else is experiencing."

State Rep. Lanie Black, R-Charleston, said he would like to see DRA funds used to develop roads in the Bootheel. For example, making U.S. 60 a four-lane highway and building a bridge into western Kentucky would spur industrial growth and lead to improved economic development, he said.

Black and state Rep. Jason Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau, said they see the more affluent Cape Girardeau County and the university as major players in improving conditions in the region's distressed communities.

"Cape Girardeau doesn't have to directly benefit in order for us to see some benefit from improving conditions in the true Bootheel," Crowell said. "The Bootheel and deep south of Southeast Missouri haven't been thriving, and that really holds back our whole region."

University president Ken Dobbins said the university's role in plan-making could be in helping the state commission quickly access federal funds. The university can lend expertise in long-range planning and help prioritize the region's needs, he said.

"By statute, we serve almost all the counties that are in the areas identified through these initiatives," said Dobbins. "As economic development growth occurs in our region, that's good for the university."