Schnucks manager gets Leadership Cape award

Leadership and community involvement have driven the agenda of a local businessman for the last 20 years.

Dennis Marchi, manager of Schnucks, received this year's Leadership Cape Alumni Association's Outstanding Alumnus Award. He accepted the award at a luncheon Wednesday at the Southeast Missouri Hospital's Harrison Room.

Marchi serves on boards of directors for the chamber, the Cape Girardeau Area MAGNET and Saint Francis Medical Center. He also works with the Community Counseling Center, the American Red Cross and the United Way of Southeast Missouri.

The Jackson resident, 55, began his career as a bag boy when he was 16 years old in St. Louis. In 1985, he was assigned to manage the Schnucks store in Cape Girardeau. In 1986, he joined Leadership Cape, a community training program through the chamber. The alumni award was designed to encourage graduates to stay involved long after the program, said Laura Hinkebein, chairwoman of the alumni committee.

Marchi was chosen out of this year's nominees, a news release said, because he goes beyond the expectations in helping the community. For example, when Cape Girardeau was plagued by major power outages in 1999, Marchi invited residents to store their frozen goods inside the store.

Today, Leadership Cape offers a seven-month program that offers leadership training by visiting area businesses, bringing in key political and community speakers, explaining Cape Girardeau politics and commerce and submitting a project idea that benefits the community.

Applications are being taken for a class scheduled to start in January, Hinkebein said. For more information, call Cheryl Hill at the Chamber of Commerce at 335-3312.

jmetelski@semissourian.com