THIRD OF CITY'S RETAIL SALES FROM ELSEWHERE

More than a third of the retail sales generated in Cape Girardeau County come from people who live outside the county.

Cape Girardeau has a good retail base, says Chauncy Buchheit, deputy director of the Southeast Missouri Regional Planning Commission, which covers a seven-county area. "It has great diversity in retail products and attracts buyers from a wide area."

In 1998, Cape County retail sales were about $1 billion, said Buchheit. "Of those sales, $370 million came from people outside the county."

Buchheit was one of four speakers at the Economic Outlook Conference Thursday in Dempster Hall on Southeast Missouri State University campus.

Buchheit and Glenn "Skip" Smallwood, business development executive for AmerenUE, were members of a two-man panel of local economic experts at the conference.

Prior to the panel discussions, Dr. William Gavin, vice president in the research department of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, and Dr. Edward Robb, director of the Business and Public Administration Research Center at the University of Missouri-Columbia, discussed economic outlooks with the group, which consisted of area business and economic representatives and a large turnout of university students.

Gavin discussed monetary policy and the economic outlook. Robb provided an outlook for Missouri.

"I don't see any indicators for a recession during 1999," said Gavin. "I think inflation rates are very important, and I don't see any big movement in them this year. If anything, I expect the rate to decline a bit."

"For 40 years we've seen people leaving our state," said Robb. "During the past few years we've seen the trend reverse, and people are coming into Missouri.

"We may see a slight slowing of economic growth the first two quarters of this year," said Robb. "But by the third quarter and on into the year 2000, I think we'll see more expansions and growth for Missouri. We're seeing a lot of positive things."

Smallwood and Buchheit presented an overview of activities in the Southeast Missouri area.

Smallwood discussed manufacturing facilities throughout Southeast Missouri from Park Hills to the Arkansas border, and Buchheit discussed retail trade in a seven-county area.

"We have a diverse manufacturing base, including automotive supplies, food processing, metals, plastics and more," said Smallwood. "A lot of companies are expanding, and others that I can't name at this time are looking at the area."

The forecast for Missouri and the Southeast Missouri area are good, said Smallwood.

"The area has some great advantages for industry," he said. "We have three major interstates (I-55, I-57, and I-155), a regional airport (Cape Girardeau), river and rail transportation, and we have a strong technical training program."

Smallwood touched on a number of industries which have announced and are in the middle of expansion projects:

-- Gates Rubber at Charleston is expanding, increasing its work force at Charleston from 150 to about 400.

-- TG(USA) at Perryville now employs between 900 to 1,000 following expansions over the past few years.

-- Dana Corp. at Cape Girardeau has expanded and now employs between 350 and 400.

-- Good Humor Ice Cream at Sikeston recently completed an expansion project.

-- Procter & Gamble and Biokyo Inc. are currently expanding their facilities in the Cape Girardeau area.