Organization name change should draw in new business

Cape Girardeau area economic development official Mitch Robinson plans to keep working to recruit new businesses. But he will be ordering new business cards.

Robinson's organization, the Cape Girardeau Area Industrial Recruitment Association, has a new name and logo.

The association -- whose members include the cities of Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Scott City, Cape Girardeau County and the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce -- now will be called the Cape Girardeau Area Magnet. The new name includes a new logo displaying a horseshoe magnet.

Robinson said the old name was cumbersome. "The new name is both descriptive and easy to remember," he said Wednesday. "We're confident that we will stand out, which is exactly what we want to do."

He said the new name reflects the fact that the organization isn't just focused on recruiting manufacturing plants, but also is interested in recruiting retail businesses such as the new Sears store and promoting road projects.

"You think about Magnet. You think about attraction," he said.

Robinson said the name was chosen from among 50 suggestions. The organization hired Red Letter Communications to help formulate a new name. The advertising agency recommended the Magnet name, he said.

Cape Girar-deau Mayor Jay Knudtson, who chairs the economic development organization, said it was time for a new name.

"Ultimately, we decided to rebrand ourselves," he said. "You have to constantly look for new ways to skin a cat."

The new name and logo were unveiled at a luncheon at the Cape Girardeau Country Club on Wednesday. About two dozen city, county, economic development and chamber of commerce officials from Cape Girardeau, Jackson and the Scott City area attended the meeting.

Touring facilities

Missouri Department of Economic Development staff members arrived late for the luncheon after touring industrial sites in Perryville, Mo. They were scheduled to visit the Procter & Gamble plant, industrial parks in Cape Girardeau and Jackson, the Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority at Scott City, and other business sites Wednesday afternoon.

"It is a relationship builder," said Shaun Sappenfield, project manager for the Department of Economic Development office in Jefferson City.

"It just makes my job and Mitch's job much easier," Sappenfield said.

He said companies often first contact the DED about available commercial and industrial sites in Missouri. Seeing what's available firsthand helps the DED better respond to such inquiries.

"We are the sales force," he said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123