CARNAHAN SEES BRIGHT STATE ECONOMIC OUTLOOK; GOVERNOR ATTENDS BUSINESS CONFERENCE

Gov. Mel Carnahan is optimistic about economic development for Missouri.

"Our `Jobs 2000' program is proceeding in the legislature, we have a new economic development director, and we're in the process of establishing a written economic development plan for the future, something that we haven't had in the past," said Carnahan.

The governor was keynote speaker at a luncheon session of the Southeast Missouri Business Conference at the Show Me Center Wednesday.

Other sessions during the one-day event co-sponsored by the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's University Relations Committee and the university's College of Business Administration featured addresses by Daryl Hobbs, director of the University of Missouri Office of Social and Economic Data Analysis, and Britt Beemer, president of America's Research Group, who discussed retail survival in the 1990s.

"It is unbelievable that Missouri does not have a written economic development plan," Carnahan told the crowd of more than 350 persons who attended the Wednesday luncheon. "That means we've just been drifting, and we can't succeed by drifting. We can't succeed in a global economy if we don't plan for the future."

Carnahan said he had founded the Missouri Business Council to come up with an economic plan. "We hope to have that plan in place by December of this year," he said.

In discussing his Jobs 2000 plan, the state's top executive said the General Assembly recognizes that creating jobs requires cooperation with other state agencies and the need to invest more in helping existing businesses expand.

"The majority of new jobs come from the expansion of small businesses," said Carnahan. "And we will be working with existing businesses."

Carnahan told the group he recently named Rep. Joe Driskill, D-Poplar Bluff, to head the Missouri Department of Economic Development.

Driskill "is a leader in economic development," said Carnahan. "He has introduced a number of economic programs; now he will have a chance to implement them."

Carnahan said economic development was one of two major issues cited for improvement during his administration. "The other is a good, education base," he said.

Carnahan said he had been busy putting final touches to his education plan, which he will present to lawmakers today. He declined to discuss specifics about the proposal he plans to submit to the legislature."

"It will be an outline of what we need to do with the foundation formula and what should be included in the education package," said Carnahan during a press conference following the luncheon. "I can't discuss specifics right now; we're still in the process of getting everything together."

A new formula is being written by lawmakers following a state judge's ruling in January that Missouri's current educational finance system is unconstitutional and inequitable.

"Any new educational plan must include strong reforms," said Carnahan.

During his portion of the conference, Beemer discussed a "Store of the Future" and how to compete with mass merchandisers.

"There are few great stores," Beemer told a crowd of more than 550 people who attended his two-hour session. "That tells us that opportunities are out there."

Beemer said that during the 1980s and 1990s stores have become bigger. "We have super stores and mega stores," he said. "Everyone is very close to everyone else in products and prices."

He said that the retail market is changing, consumers are moving faster and shopping fewer stores, and customer loyalty is a thing of the past.

"Thanking consumers for their patronage is important," said the chief executive officer of the consumer research firm. "Even the way this is conducted can be vital. A typed letter over a signature means little to a consumer, but if the customer receives a hand-written letter he usually remembers it."

Beemer used a personal experience to point out the importance of service.

"Several years ago I walked into a store to purchase an item that was available only at that particular store," he said. "After waiting more than an hour for the salesperson to hang up the telephone, I was able to make my purchase. "I still remember that incident," he said. "I still haven't been back to that store."

Business leaders have to play the customer-service game, said Beemer. "They have to understand what drives consumers and what consumers are going to do. Then they have to make adjustments in today's competitive world."

Half of the two-hour session with Beemer consisted of questions and answers.

During the opening session Hobbs discussed the consumer profile of the Cape Girardeau marketing area.

"Cape County experienced a 20 percent increase in retail sales from 1987 through 1991," said Hobbs. "Sales went from $519 million in 1987 to more than $620 million in 1991." This compares favorably with other towns during the same period of time. Joplin and Springfield, Mo., Paducah, Ky., and Carbondale, Ill., each had 19 percent increases, said Hobbs.

"Income is important to retail marketing," said Hobbs. In Cape County, 14.7 percent of households reported more than $50,000 annual income; 41.1 percent were in the $20,000-$45,000 range, and 20 percent was in the under-$10,000. The other 21 percent ranged between $10,000 and $19,999."

Regionally, those figures change, said Hobbs. For the region, 9.4 percent of households reported $50,000 or more annually, 37 percent reported from $20,000 to $49,999, and 29 percent report under $10,000.

"Facts and figures such as these can be used by businessmen to determine what to market and where to market it.