PROCTER & GAMBLE CO. AGAIN NAMED CHAMBER'S INDUSTRY OF THE YEAR

Procter & Gamble Paper Products Co. has become the second two-time winner of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's Commitment of Excellence award.

P&G, the chamber's third Industry of the Year recipient in 1990, received the Industry of the Year trophy again Wednesday night.

Approximately 750 people attended the chamber's Industrial Appreciation Dinner at the Show Me Center. The banquet highlights Industrial Week, which started Monday.

Nick Arnette, a humorist speaker, discussed the importance of humor in the workplace and how it can work toward a successful business and higher productivity.

"We have some terrific industries in Cape Girardeau," John Mehner, president and chief executive officer of the chamber, said prior to the start of the banquet.

Recent announcements of plant closings at Columbia Sportswear in Chaffee and Florsheim Shoe in Cape Girardeau didn't put a damper on the event.

"We have to remember that both Florsheim and Columbia plants were one of the last of their kind in this country," said Mehner. "That says great things about the work force of Cape Girardeau and the nearby communities.

Mehner said P&G and BioKyowa are continuing expansions that will add aboaut 500 new jobs in the area. Havco Wood Products is working on an expansion, and Lone Star Industries, which has been expanding the past two years, is undergoing a major merger.

"Things are looking good for our industries," said Mehner. "With so many good things happening, this year proved to be one of the more difficult years in selecting the Commitment of Excellence recipient."

Last year's recipient was Lone Star, the first manufacturer to receive the award twice.

Alan Gregory of Construction Inc. and chairman of the chamber's Industrial Relations Council, served as master of ceremonies. Gregory and Bart Ozbun, chairman of the chamber board, presented the award to Kathy Brown, P&G plant manager.

Much has changed at the P&G complex since it received the award a decade ago.

In 1989, P&G employed about 1,300 people in a plant of more than 1.2 million square feet (30 acres). Today, the company employs 1,650 people and is in a plant of more than 2 million square feet (about 50 acres).

A $350 million expansion announced more than two years ago is winding down. An 850,000-square-foot structure has been added, and work is already under way in the new plant, although paper mills for manufacturing of towels and tissue are not intact yet.

Disposable diapers are the primary products at the local plant. P&G researchers developed Pampers in the 1960s, and today P&G commands more than a 40 percent share of the disposable-diaper market. Many diapers are produced at the plant 15 miles north of Cape Girardeau along Highways 177.

The original plant in 1969 was a Charmin plant. Charmin Paper Products Inc. was acquired by P&G in 1957, and was a subsidiary of P&G during planning and opening of the plant here. It remained the Charmin Plant until 1976, when it became the Procter & Gamble Paper Products Co. plant.

The plant has become the major employer in Southeast Missouri and plays a major role in the area's overall economic picture. The company spends more than $150 million in annual purchases from Missouri suppliers for goods and services such as raw materials, office supplies, and contractor services.

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

The local plant has spawned a number of new businesses in the immediate area, including Miltenberger & Willing (M&W), a plastics packaging manufacturing firm that supplies packaging for P&G's disposable diapers. The company, headquartered in Germany, is across the road from the P&G plant and employs more than 300 people.

P&G is a community oriented company. Each year the company and its employees provide more than $200,000 to the Area Wide United Way. The company also makes donations to other organizations, including area schools, and collects hundreds of pints of blood for the American Red Cross with its three blood drives each year.

During the 1970s there were two building expansions at P&G, one in 1976 and one in 1978. The latest expansion adds more than 850,000 square feet to the complex and will eventually house two giant paper machines and associated converted equipment to handle towel and tissue production.