Jackson works on site to attract more industry

From the tomatoes in the neighbor's garden to the city's population, economy and retail stores, everything seems to be growing in Jackson these days.

But there is one portion of Jackson's nature that has not kept up with the flourishing trend: industry.

"There is not enough industry in town to support the high school graduates who do not want to go to college, but want to stay here," said alderman Kerry Hoffman, who is acting as mayor for Paul Sander, who is on vacation.

To that end, the city has doused one area of town with new utilities, hoping that an empty piece of city-owned property will yield more jobs.

The city purchased the 60-acre industrial park on U.S. 61 in March 1998 for $913,000 from the Mayme Jenkins family. The land is located about three miles from Interstate 55.

Going into this spring, there were no utilities on this piece of property. In the last few months, however, the city has made substantial progress.

First, it laid a sewer main to the site for about $300,000. Then, for about $13,000, the city erected electric poles and lines to and on the property. Currently, workers are drilling a well that will provide water to the industrial park. The $350,000 well project will be completed some time this fall.

City administrator Jim Roach says the infrastructure, except for the electric poles put up on the site, will also serve other parts of the city and were not built exclusively for the industrial park.

But the improvements were all made with industrial recruitment in mind. All told, the city has invested more than $1.5 million into the industrial park. The new utilities should make the piece of land more attractive to industry, city and business officials hope.

"You can sit in front of Jackson Tire or in front of Fred's every morning and see the mass exodus of cars leaving Jackson to work," said Jackson Chamber of Commerce executive director Ken Parrett. "We want to make sure there are plenty of opportunities for people to work in Jackson."

Parrett is also involved in the Jackson Industrial Development Company, which owns the Meier Industrial Park off Route PP in Jackson. No businesses are currently operating at the park.

While both sites are coming along in terms of infrastructure, much work is left.

The next step at the city's industrial park will be to do some land excavation on the hilly property, Roach said.

Roach said no definite timetable is set for digging, but the city likely will do some next year. Jackson will not make the ground totally flat, he said, since it does not know yet what type of company may come to the park.

Debate on how to divide the land and what type of industry should locate at the industrial park is ongoing.

Wal-Mart was interested in the property at one point. The retail giant pondered putting a large distribution center in Jackson but ultimately decided to locate in St. James, Mo. According to city officials, Wal-Mart liked everything about the site except for the fact that U.S. 61 is two lanes.

"The goal is to create jobs for the city of Jackson," alderman Joe Bob Baker said. "But I kind of wonder what kind of industry we'll get until we get a better highway in there."

Parrett said a rehabilitation hospital was also interested at one point.

Some, like Roach, would prefer to sell the entire park to one large industry. The benefit would be a large impact on the local economy.

Others, like Hoffman, would prefer to divide the land and sell it to small or medium-sized industries to prevent a possible negative impact down the road if the industry decided to leave.

There has also been discussion about dividing the front lots into commercial property and saving the back for industrial purposes.

Mitch Robinson, executive director of the Cape Girardeau Area Industrial Recruitment Association, said the site is suitable for about anything except heavy industry, which would require more than the 60 acres available. But the site has a lot going for it.

Roach said the idea of the industrial park was a long-term investment and there is no specific time frame to get it filled. The city is paying for the land over 10 years and, halfway through the payment scale, has utilities out to the site.

"It's kind of exciting for Jackson to be in the financial position to make this investment," he said. "When will we start reaping the benefits? It could be five years, it could be 20 years. We'll just have to wait and see."

bmiller@semissourian.com

243-6635

JACKSON INDUSTRY

n March 1998: City approves purchase of 60 acres on U.S. 61 from the Mayme Jenkins family for $913,000. Fifty acres lies west of the highway. The other 10 acres lies east of the highway in a flood plain.

November 1998: City annexes the property into the city.

January 1999: City rezones the property from residential to industrial.

1999-2002: City does "grubbing" work on the property, removing trees and buildings. Engineering to extend utilities is done.

Spring-fall 2003: City extends electric, water, sewer to the site.

SOURCE: City of Jackson