SPEAKER SAYS COALITION HELPS ILLINOIS REGION

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- When the Southern Illinois region attempted to put together an industrial package to attract the manufacturing facility for General Motors' new Saturn line, it failed miserably.

"People throughout the area were attempting to make proposals," said Dr. Rhonda Vinson, director of Southern Illinois University-Carbondale's Office of Economic and Regional Development. "They had relatively no information on the area."

That was six years ago, noted Vinson, who discussed the founding and operations of the Southern Illinois Coalition during a meeting of the Regional Commerce & Growth Association (RCGA) Wednesday night. The meeting was held at the Riverview Banquet Center in downtown Cape Girardeau.

"It started some people thinking," she said. "As a result, the Southern Illinois Coalition was born in 1985."

More than 100 people gathered at the original meeting of the coalition, and now the mailing list contains more than 400 names, said Vinson.

"We have members throughout the lower 20 counties of the state," she explained. "We meet each month, in a different location throughout the area, and we'll average 20 to 30 people different people at each meeting."

From the start, the coalition has agreed on four things, said Vinson.

"They realize that we're in a rural environment; that the area has economic problems; that in the extreme southern portion of the state there is little political power; and that to get things done, they have to work together."

The group's members have been working together.

"Although, we're still a voluntary organization, we have obtained some funding from the state," she added. "We do a lot of targeted mailings; we have prepared videos to send to prospective industry, including (businesses in) Japan and Korea; we have conducted numerous workshops; different areas share booths and attend trade shows; and we have an index on what is available in the area, from tourism to natural resources, and education to health care."

Vinson, who is also a member of the executive board of the Mississippi Delta Commission, which is composed of representatives of seven states, stressed that the communications network has helped pull the people of the entire area together. She suggested that the Delta Commission is another means of pulling people together.

"We'd like to see the eighth state join the Delta Commission," she said. "It started out with a study of eight states along the Mississippi River, and seven of them remain."

Only Missouri has not joined the commission, said Vinson. "The cost of joining is $50,000, and your governor elected not to join."

Walt Wildman, executive director of the RCGA, told the group that letters had been sent to Gov. John Ashcroft, urging him to reconsider.

"There has been some talk of obtaining private funds for the joining fee," said Wildman. "We've also been discussing the possibility of establishing a bi-states, or even a tri-states coalition, to work together on various projects."

Prior to the meeting, Vinson discussed the Southern Illinois Small Business Incubator, which started operations at Carbondale during the fall of 1990.

She said the 50,000-square-foot building was paid for by a $6 million grant from the Illinois Commerce and Community Affairs Department, with SIU to provide $1.5 million in matching funds over a two-year period.

"About one-third of the incubator's lease space 20,000 square feet is in use," she said. "One business has already graduated from the incubator, and three others have expanded."

She added that 20 full-time and 14 part-time jobs had been created by the incubator businesses.

About 7,000 square feet of the structure is being utilized by university entities, including the Small Business Development Center. The remaining space in the building is being utilized for conference rooms, training areas, library, and computer lab.

Spaces available range from 200 square feet to 2,400 square feet, at costs ranging from $8 to $12 a square foot.

Tenants may use the incubator's central receptionist, computer facilities, conference rooms and secretarial services.