Bollinger County economy, unemployment rate improve

MARBLE HILL, Mo. - Bollinger County's economy showed improvement in 2003 as the unemployment rate finished eight-tenths of a percentage point lower than it began the year.

According to statistics from the Southeast Missouri Regional Planning and Economic Development Corporation in Perryville, Mo., the county's jobless rate stood at 7 percent in January 2003. It rose to 7.1 percent in June, fell to 5 percent in August and finished at 6.2 percent. The county's civilian labor force grew by 76 over the course of the year, and the total number of people employed increased by 116. The total number of unemployed fell by 39.

Marble Hill Mayor Don Eaker said several businesses inquired about locating in Marble Hill last year, but as yet none of the deals has been finalized.

They include a small retail chain and a fast-food chain.

Marble Hill is still seeking to recover the jobs lost by the closing of the Paramount Hat Factory in 2001. At the time, it was one of the county's largest employers.

"That was a pretty big loss," Eaker said. "A lot of the people accepted jobs elsewhere, but if they had to go out of town to get work, then they're spending a lot of money out of town as well."

In 2003, Marble Hill used funds from the Federal and State Emergency Management agencies to begin the process of buying out residences damaged in the 2002 floods. That city has begun seeing the results of the buyout in the first two months of this year. Twenty-five properties have been purchased, and several already have been demolished and their lots cleared.

Because the properties were bought with tax funds, no structures can ever be erected on the sites again. But Eaker said the city could still realize some economic gain from its newly-acquired land.

"There's been some discussion about making an RV park at one spot," he said.

Water is already in at the location. Power would have to be provided. "But whatever we put there will have to be for recreation, and the city will have to maintain it."

Eaker is impressed by the economic development he recently saw in Festus, Mo., and hopes Marble Hill can do the same.

"Old Festus has a neat little downtown area. I didn't see a vacant store there," he said.

He would like to see the same kind of well-kept downtown established in Marble Hill. "I don't know what it would take, but a good payroll would be a start," the mayor said.

Tourism has been discussed as a potential major draw for the county with the Museum of Natural History housed in the former Will Mayfield College Arts and Science Building. The museum contains dinosaur bones that were found in Glenallen in the 1940s, the only known dinosaur ever to be found in Missouri or the entire Midwest.

Museum Board Chairwoman Eva Dunn said she has contacted the Missouri State Tourism Commission to seek more funding for tourism promotion in this region of the state. She plans to meet with representative of the Tourism Commission in the near future.

"We need to do something. Every time we advertise, we get more people in," she said. "We have to keep reminding the state tourism people that there's this corner of the state as well as Kansas City and St. Louis."

Infrastructure improvements included a new bridge was constructed at Gipsy at a cost of around $900,000. Preliminary work has begun on a new bridge at Laflin.

The Bollinger County Courthouse had improvements made thanks to a half-cent sales tax passed in April 2003. Along with the new tax came a 50 percent cut in the county property tax rate.

With the tax, the county commission paid for a new roof for the courthouse as well as repairs to the courtroom ceiling. The county also paid off a $33,100 note for the building that houses the Archives and University Extension offices.

The county also paid off a $50,000 loan and expects to pay off its remaining $90,000 debt this year.