MORE JOBS BLESSING AND CURSE FOR PERRY COUNTY

PERRYVILLE -- Finding a job is easier than finding a place to live in Perry County, but the problem isn't a unique one.

"It's the case in several areas," said JoAnn Sumner of the Perry County Industrial Development Authority. "There's a declining supply of labor, and along with labor goes the housing issue."

City officials in Perryville and Mexico, Mo., face similar dilemmas. Expanding industries have created new jobs but the housing market has not been able to keep up.

The City of Perryville issued 388 building permits within the last year. Only 37 of those were for single-family homes.

"We want to be able to support our existing industries and provide a good quality of life for the residents of the county," Sumner said.

So both cities applied for a loan from the Missouri Housing Development Commission. Perryville received a three-year $450,000 loan for a 46-lot subdivision; Mexico received a $287,400 loan.

Although unemployment rates are low in both areas, most workers don't actually live in the same town where they work. Perry County industries draw their labor force from an estimated 50-mile radius which encompasses a five-county area. Mexico workers also commute from within a 70-mile radius of the city, which is located in central Missouri.

As more workers commute to their jobs in Perry County, the unemployment rate remains somewhat steady. During September, the unemployment for the county was at 4 percent. Other counties in the surrounding area also are seeing a decline in their rates. In Cape Girardeau County, the unemployment rate was 3.9 percent but Bollinger County had a rate of 7.4 percent for the same month.

These are good problems but that doesn't lessen their seriousness, Sumner said. "We feel like a higher percentage (of workers) than normal commute into the area and ideally you'd like for them to earn their money here and spend it here."

Nevertheless, when the Midwest Research Institute of Kansas City studied population growth in Perryville, housing needs were not the top priority. The study was meant to discover the reason why Perryville's population had remained stagnant while industrial growth was on the rise.

The conclusion was that the city should pursue developing some low-range or rental housing.

"We did a survey of the employees and a lot of them felt it was difficult to find good quality houses -- which isn't really abnormal for a town their size," said David Reisdorph of MRI. "

But Denise Ritter, an agent with Meyer Realty Co. in Perryville, said the housing market has been very good in the last two years.

"We are putting people in homes," she said, adding that she's sold homes to couples moving from St. Louis, Branson and Montana. "There is a shortage of homes available in a low-market price range but that's not necessarily unique to Perry County."

Because few people are moving out of Perryville, there are not enough houses on the market so there are less to choose from, she said.

Within the last two years, seven new industries have either expanded or moved into Mexico, creating 1,200.

Tanna Parish, community development director for the city, said the engineering work on the subdivision has begun. About 38 houses will be built when the project is completed.