Development news

New Boeing subcontract expected to double volume of work at local Sabreliner plant

STE. GENEVIEVE, Mo. â€" Sabreliner Corporation has been selected by The Boeing Company to continue repairing critical flight control components for the U.S. Air Force fleet of KC-135 aircraft, a subcontract that has a potential value of more than $60 million, and will double the volume of flight control component work accomplished monthly at Sabreliner’s Ste. Genevieve operation.

The work is part of a PDM (Pro-grammed Depot Maintenance) contract recently awarded by the Air Force to Boeing. The Sabreliner subcontract is for one base year, and includes nine one-year options, for a total of 10 years.

The KC-135 aircraft is used primarily for airborne refueling.

Opened in 2002, the Ste. Genevieve operation is celebrating its fifth anniversary of providing sophisticated repairs to KC-135 and other military variants of the Boeing 707 aircraft, repairing components for the fleet as a Boeing subcontractor.

The local operation features an innovative monorail system, designed and installed by Sabreliner, which will be expanded to accommodate the growing business.

Company officials say the monorail assures easy and safe movement of the aircraft’s horizontal stabilizer, which arrives at the facility by truck, and is then lifted from the truck bed onto the monorail system.

The system allows the component to move through paint stripping, inspection, repair, crating and loading onto a truck for transport without ever touching the shop floor.

The Ste. Genevieve operation is under the direction of Mark Weir, a former senior operations manager for Boeing’s San Antonio, Tex., facility.

As part of other subcontracts, Sabreliner has extended its Ste. Genevieve work to include the repair of flight components used on the Navy E-6B fleet, another variant of the Boeing 707, and the re-manufacture of KC-135 components under the Air Force’s Management of Items Subject to Repair.

The Boeing PDM process, based in San Antonio, involves disassembly, detailed inspection, repair, reassembly and return to service of the aircraft. It typically is required every five years for the KC-135, according to Boeing. Flight control components such as the horizontal stabilizer, elevators and ailerons, are sent to Ste. Genevieve for inspection and repair.

The first KC-135 was completed in August of 1956 and delivered to the Air Force. There are 530 of the aircraft remaining in service, and they are expected to fly for another 40 years.

New dairy operation to be built

SIKESTON, Mo.â€" After a long absence, dairy farming is returning to the Bootheel. This dairy operation will be somewhat different than many people might expect, however, according to Peter Gaul, chief executive of the Tiller investment group and the coming Tiller-Cohen Farm.

The Tiller-Cohen dairy farm will consist of 965 acres located a mile east of Interstate 55’s Matthews interchange.

“The plan is to develop a pasture-based dairy that is self-sufficient,†Gaul said. “The cows will be in pasture 24-hours a day except when in the parlor for milking. That means we don’t have a requirement for loafing barns or feeding barns. This is not a confinement dairy, which is what most people picture when they think of a dairy farm. One of the implications of that is that we won’t have a large reservoir of manure. The cows spread this themselves by being in the field almost all of the time.â€

The plan also includes planting trees, he noted.

The dairy farming system will revolve around rotational grazing of pastures, Gaul said. He explained groups of dairy cows, after grazing for a period of time in one area of the farm, will be moved to another area of the pasture while the grazed areas grow back again over several weeks. Milking will go on year-round, but mostly in the spring, summer and fall seasons.

On average, similar dairy farms in Missouri typically have well under 100 cows, Gaul said. This one will accommodate 700.

Other attributes of this area which made Tiller decide to locate the operation here include suitable climate, soils and water that will support this farming system. Another attraction to this area was the availability of alternative feeds, crops and byproducts, such as cotton seed.

Gaul said Tiller’s intention is to have locals employed in both the development and the operation of the plant, Gaul said. “Because this is a new innovation to the area, we are using experienced people for the development and construction working alongside locals,†he said.

The experienced personnel are from New Zealand, Gaul’s home before moving to Dexter earlier this year. Following a transitional period, once the plant is up and running there will be about six to eight full-time positions along with occasional part-time jobs available.

“We anticipate this farm will be fully staffed by locals,†Gaul said.

Gaul said they intend to milk a small number of cows this winter to test and troubleshoot the system before going into full production in the spring.

The University of Missouri specialists and Extension support personnel “have been tremendous to work with,†Gaul added, as they have an interest in irrigated pastures and seeing dairy farming reintroduced to this area.

The Tiller Cohen Farm is a U.S.-based limited partnership with a mixture of U.S. and overseas investors, according to Gaul, with most of the U.S. investors being from this immediate area.

Produce warehouse to open

The owners of El Torero restaurants will open a wholesale produce warehouse in downtown Cape Girardeau this fall. Called Bodega Dos Naciones, or the Warehouse of Two Nations, the business license application listed a planned opening date of Nov. 10.

The warehouse, which will be at 18 N. Frederick St., will be in a Quonset hut building with a brick facade. The company will begin business with a focus on providing produce to the eight El Torero restaurants. The warehouse will also be open to serve other area restaurants, and will seek out local produce growers as suppliers

Morehouse manufacturing plant on market

MOREHOUSE - The former Rowe Furniture manufacturing plant is officially for sale.

The 90,000 square-foot building, located at 102 Front St., is being marketed nationally and internationally by commercial broker Tom Kelsey with Lorimont Place Ltd. in Cape Girardeau. Kelsey was enlisted to sell the property for the Virginia-based furniture manufacturing company.

The property includes over 106 acres of land and would be suitable for either another manufacturing facility or could be converted to a warehouse or distribution center, Kelsey said in a news release.

Rowe announced last September that they were filing for bankruptcy protection resulting in the closure of both of their Missouri manufacturing plants in Poplar Bluff and Morehouse. The decision cost the region over 400 jobs last November. Kelsey, a real estate broker since 1974, is no stranger to finding buyers and tenants for vacant area industrial properties. He has sold nine large manufacturing or warehouse buildings, representing over one million square feet within the last 24 months in Southeast Missouri.

Five of these properties were located in Scott County, including the Supervalu and Mid-South Wire buildings in Scott City, two in Sikeston with the Patriot Homes plant and former Media Press property and the former Columbia Sportswear plant in Chaffee. His large building inventory currently includes the Dana Plant in Cape Girardeau, and the former Gleason Manufacturing plant in Caruthersville.

Similar marketing and networking with other industrial brokers will be utilized on the Rowe property in order to give it adequate national exposure and awareness to prospective buyers and tenants. Working with state and local economic development agencies will also be important.

The Lorimont Web site shows the property listed at $980,000 that includes the 106 acres of land.

SEMO Video to move

Lea Lewis, owner of SEMO Video at 501 Broadway, has moved her video store about two blocks west and opened a lingerie store in the same location at 629 Broadway.

The new business, called Pretty Woman Lingerie, “will specialize in all sizes from small to plus,†Lewis said.

The new store offers a variety of brand names and styles, Lewis said. She said among the brands offered are Shirley of Hollywood, Foreplay Lingerie and the line of rhinestone-studded offerings from Desire Fashions.

The store features an extensive collection of plus-size fashions, Lewis said, which she sees as an area that is lacking in the inventories of other merchants with similar goods.

Along with lingerie, the store has “club wear†and “exotic shoes and boots,†Lewis said.

SEMO Video has a separate entrance in the back of the building, Lewis said.

Second-hand store

The old Mr. Ed’s Trading Post, next door to Lewis’s new business, has new tenants as well. Linda Bangert and Janene Dean, who for three years have been selling from a building at Miles Trading Post in East Cape Girardeau, have opened a second-hand store called L&J’s Second Time Around Shop at 625 Broadway.

“We will have a few antiques, a lot of collectibles, a lot of decorative glassware and furniture,†Bangert said. “Just a lot of flea market items, but better than flea market. We do pride ourselves on having quality merchandise.â€

First Progressive Mortgage Solutions sold

Wilma and G.W. ‘Bubba’ Dockens have sold First Progressive Mortgage Solutions in Cape Girardeau to Sharon and Bill Hopkins of Heartland Mortgage Solutions. The firm will be known as Heartland Mortgage Solutions,

Wilma Dockens, the prior owner, will still be available for her customers as she will continue to originate loans, along with the rest of the First Progressive staff: Tanya Moore will originate loans and continue as office manager in Cape Girardeau; Robert ‘Bobby’ Sandusky is a loan originator and Baxter Hoover will continue as a mortgage processor. In addition, Sharon Hopkins will originate loans in the Marble Hill office, as will Susan Hall in Perryville.

Sharon and Bill Hopkins recently sold Regional Title & Land Services, the title company they founded in 2000, to GAJ, Inc.

Tanning studio changes hands

Kelly Glueck, a surgical assistant, will be trying her hand at business when she takes over the “Sun on the Run†tanning salon at 1115 Broadway. Glueck has changed the name to “Tanacious†after she completes the purchase of the salon, formerly owned by Todd Goodson.

Glueck said the salon will be open from 8 a.m. to about 10 p.m.

Kelly Glueck is the daughter-in-law of Brenda Glueck, owner of Brenda’s restaurant on Morgan Oak Street.