Cape Girardeau chamber's new chief reflects on first month

It has been almost a month since Rob Gilligan's first day as Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce president and CEO.

On Friday, the Emporia, Kansas, native attended his initial First Friday Coffee at Century Casino Cape Girardeau and he sat down with the Southeast Missourian to discuss his initial days as head of the chamber.

• You started as Cape Girardeau chamber executive April 11. What are your first impressions?

The community has been very welcoming and engaging. The chamber's membership is quite engaged. My role early on is to make connections. For four weeks, I've been introducing myself and learning, and it's exciting.

• Any surprises so far?

No, not really. I've discovered there's a lot of legacy here and learning the history is going to be critical for me to understand where we've been as a community — so we can talk about where we're going to go.

• What differences are you seeing here compared to your home state?

I've had a fair number of colleagues and friends from Kansas asking how I'm doing. Actually, I'm having a lot of the exact same conversations here as we used to have in Emporia. To cite one example: How do we take advantage of the opportunities coming out of the pandemic and leverage those for positive growth? These conversations get us started on what I hope will be a very effective strategy going forward for our chamber — and how (the chamber) can play a greater regional role as a lead partner.

• A local businessman is on record saying Cape Girardeau needs four things in order to attract business to this region: availability of a sufficiently sized and trained (or trainable) workforce; available land in large enough parcels; broadband access; and hangar space at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport. As to the last point, he suggested businesses interested in Southeast Missouri want to fly in and fly out using the company plane and need a place to park aircraft. What do you make of that assessment?

He's right. The No. 1 issue at the end of the day is workforce, which includes population growth and talent recruitment strategies. To that end, I'm super excited about Innovate SOMO, the project announced last month in a news conference by Codefi. Dr. James Stapleton shared with me an article Thursday in the Wall Street Journal, which stated over the next decade, the total number of tech jobs will match the combined total of employees in manufacturing. This is our future opportunity. Broadband, connectivity available in any space, is also the future. In the 1800s, it was the landline telephone. Now, broadband is the essential utility every community will need to compete.

In regard to the last point, about the airport, just let me say transportation is critical. River access port rail service, Interstate 55 and the airport all mesh into a comprehensive approach and a regional strategy. I'd add we need to have a common message how we're working together to grow and prosper the entire area. Chambers of commerce can be the catalyst for bringing people together.

• There is rhetoric — talking a good game about the community and region — but supported by facts. How do you see those working together?

Data is critical. When we're recruiting anybody, they have to know the investment they make here will yield a return that's worthwhile. Helping secure those figures, including workforce numbers, is something chambers can provide. The communities who are ready to answer the data question are the ones at the top of list when business opportunities arise.

• Can you cite an important conversation in your first month?

There are so many but we had a chance Thursday to go to Jefferson City and meet our legislative delegation. One of the representatives asked me if the chamber had anything to announce in regard to job creators. I responded that we work with those folks until they're ready to make an announcement.