P&G AT FULL PRODUCTION IN EXPANDED CAPE PLANT

The Procter & Gamble Co. plant north of Cape Girardeau has added tissues and towels to the list of products it manufactures.

"We're at full production in the new facility," a plant spokesman said Thursday. "We're making Bounty towels and Charmin bath tissue and Puffs tissue paper."

Towel production started in February in a new 850,000-square-foot addition to the plant.

Production of tissue was expected to start in June and is now operational, said Mike Jennewein, human-relations manager at P&G.

The $350 million addition, announced two years ago, was one of the top-three industrial projects in Missouri over the past decade. It resulted in more than 350 new jobs at the plant, which currently employs about 1,700 people.

The addition is just north of the 1.2-million-square-foot plant that produces disposable diapers and feminine hygiene products. The newest floor space houses two giant paper machines and associated converted equipment to handle the towel and tissue production.

P&G is the largest employer in Southeast Missouri with a $50 million-plus annual payroll.

Much has changed at the P&G complex since it opened more than 30 years ago. Today, the plant covers about 50 acres under roof.

The plant plays a major role in the area's overall economic picture. The company makes more than $150 million in annual purchases from Missouri suppliers for goods and services.

P&G has plants in the Kansas City and St. Louis areas, but the operation here is the largest of the three.

The plant has spawned a number of businesses in the immediate area, including Miltenberger & Willing (M&W), a plastics packaging manufacturing firm that supplies packaging for P&G's disposable diapers. M&W, headquartered in Germany, is across the road from the P&G plant and employs more than 400 people. Building expansions also occurred at P&G 1976 and 1978.

P&G plant facts

* 1969 -- Charmin Paper Products Inc., a subsidiary of P&G, opens plant with 10 acres under roof and 300 employees.

* 1972 -- Plant expands, employs more than 500.

* 1976 -- Charmin plant becomes Procter & Gamble Paper Products Co., expands Pampers area.

* 1979 -- Plant expands, adds Luvs disposable diapers to the line.

* 1990 -- P&G provides land, helps bring Miltenberger & Willing to United States. The plastics-packaging manufacturer, which provides packaging for P&G products, moves across the road from P&G and employs about 200 people.

* 1994 -- Pampers Trainers added to line.

* 1998 -- P&G announces plans for $350 million expansion to add towels and tissues to production.

* 1999 -- First towel and tissue production line at new 850,000-square-foot plant.

* 2000 -- Second line of towel and tissue production operational.