OPEN FOR BUSINESS PERRYVILLE PARK GIVES COUNTY AN EXPANDING WORK CLIMATE

When TG-USA Corp. opened in Perryville, it produced plastic transmission gears for Ford Motor Co. and steering wheels for Chrysler Corp.

The company, 27 workers strong, operated out of a 48,000-square-foot building.

That was in 1987.

Today, the Japanese-owned company, complete with a new name TG Missouri Corp. works out of more than 400,000 square feet, and more than 1,400 employees produce hundreds of auto parts, including steering wheels, air-bag covers, speaker covers, auto side moldings and lots of little knobs and plastic covers.

TG Missouri is the largest company in Perryville Industrial Park, located at the intersection of Missouri Highway 51 and U.S. Highway 61, three miles from Interstate 55 in Perryville.

Also occupying space in the more than 200-acre industrial park are a number of other manufacturing companies including Solar Communications, NPS Corp., TNT Plastics and the Perry County Sheltered Workshop which combine to employ more than 700 workers.

Two new park tenants include Robinson Construction Co., which maintains a central office in the park; Missouri Box, which provides packaging materials to TG Missouri; and Simpco, which markets rock for landscaping.

A number of Perryville manufacturers and businesses are located near the Industrial Park. "This includes one of the top two employers in the count," said Robert P. Ray, director of economic development with the Perry County Industrial Development Authority.

That would be Gilster-Mary Lee Co., based in Chester, Ill., which employs about 1,400 people in three Perry County facilities, two at Perryville and the popcorn operation at McBride.

Gilster-Mary Lee, which manufactures and packages cake mixes, cereals and popcorn, occupies a former shoe factory near the industrial park.

"Right now TG Missouri and Gilster-Mary Lee run close on total employment, between 1,350 and 1,400," Ray said.

Perryville's Industrial Park has doubled in size the past couple of years. In 1998, the Perryville Development Corp., a non-profit group that developed the industrial park at U.S. 61 and State Highway 51, purchased a 104-acre tract to double its size to more than 200 acres.

There are actually four large industrial areas in Perry County Perryville's Industrial Park; the Perryville Municipal Airport Industrial Area, east of McBride and north of Highway 51 near the Mississippi River; McBride; an office complex near Interstate 55; and East Perry Industrial sites at Frohna and Altenburg.

Perry County traditionally enjoys low unemployment. The rate ranges from 1.4 percent to 2.1 percent.

This translates into less than 250 idle workers. The workforce ranges from 10,700 to 10,850. At one point during the past year, the county reported 98.6 percent employment, with less than 160 unemployed workers.

Statistics reveal more than a third of the county's workforce (about 3,500) involved in manufacturing, about 2,100 in wholesale/retail, 2,400 in health care, and more than 1,000 in services.

"We have some notable employers in the country," said Ray. "That includes Sabreliner, headquartered in St. Louis, which has a facility at the Perryville Municipal Airport.

Employment at Sabreliner depends on contracts. It fluctuates between 50 and 300, with an average employment of about 200.

Other employers ranging from 100 to 250 workers include Perry County Hospital, Miraculous Metals Assoc., Wal-Mart Supercenter, East Perry Lumber. Perry Crating and the school district.

Procter & Gamble also has large impact on the city and county.

"Several people from here work at P&G," said Ray.

Perry County also attracts a large number of workers.

"During a recent survey, we found that the area's two largest employers TG Missouri and Gilster-Mary Lee attracted as many as 50 percent of its workers from nearby counties Bollinger, Ste. Genevieve, Madison, Cape Girardeau and Randolph County in Illinois.

By the same token, a number of Perry County employees work in other areas. About 700 Perry workers go to jobs every day in Cape Girardeau County, and another 500 work in Ste. Genevieve County.

"We're proud of our county," said Ray, who has served as economic developer four years. "More than half of our streets in Perryville are concreted and guttered."

Another big plus for the city is the Perry Park Center, a community center with two full-size basketball courts, an indoor track, swimming pool, handball court, a movie theater and library.

"This is a big asset to our community," Ray said. "It's getting easy to market Perryville."

ABOUT THIS SERIES

Industial parks are big calling cards. They offer sites for business and industry looking for areas with ready access to electricity, gas, water, sewer lines and paved streets.

Southest Missouri -- which offers transporation by highway, rail, air and water -- is home to many industrial parks. During this series, we'll look at industrial areas in Cape Girardeau, Perryville, Jackson, Sikeston and others in the area.

This story, on the Perryville Industiral park, is the second part of the series. The next story in the series will appear Monday, Oct. 23.