HOLIGAN PLANS FOR SE MISSOURI PORTEND ECONOMIC BOOST

Holigan Family Investments Inc.'s plan to pump more than $75 million into Southeast Missouri through purchase or development of five residential subdivisions in Cape Girardeau County and the startup of a factory in Sikeston will provide welcome fuel to the region's robust economy.

It is gratifying to see that the company's chief executive officer, Harold Holigan of Dallas, who grew up in Puxico and attended Southeast Missouri State University, had the confidence in the region's economy to invest such a huge sum of money in it. HFI's investment will have far-reaching implications on the area for years to come.

Of the six projects HFI is putting its money into, establishment of a manufactured-home plant at Sikeston is the most significant. Within three or four months the company will begin production of homes that will range in price from $80,000 to $250,000 in an existing 110,000-square-foot building. The company plans to produce about 12,000 homes annually at Sikeston and market them in nine states. The plant will provide 200 new jobs initially and 100 more later on.

Its investment plan also includes the purchase of Ashland Courts Subdivision and Michael Annis Construction Inc., both in Cape Girardeau; Savannah Ridge Subdivision at Jackson; Cher-Ron-Doe Subdivision at Fruitland; and the development of Forest Hill Estates in Cape Girardeau.

Holigan, who spent 19 years with AT&T and Southwestern Bell Telephone Co., including a few years as district manager in the Cape Girardeau area before transferring to Dallas, credited Southeast Missouri's stable economy for the investment decision. He said the local economy represents a good opportunity for HFI.

HFI's presence will offer an equally good opportunity for Cape Girardeau County's business community. Construction companies, home-building suppliers and financial institutions that will make loans on the homes that HFI builds are just a few businesses that will benefit initially. The creation of up to 300 jobs in the Sikeston area is a vote of confidence in the area's work force, whose reputation is no secret. The manufactured-home plant will provide a huge boost to the Sikeston area.