SPEC BUILDING WILL BE OCCUPIED

Chambers of commerce and industrial development organizations across the country have found that putting up their own industrial buildings in hopes of selling them to attract new or expanding businesses works well toward that end. The same holds true here.

It was announced last week that the 60,000-square-foot speculation building constructed for the Cape Girardeau Area Industrial Recruitment Association, the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce and a number of businesses that put money and resources into it has been sold and leased by the buyer. Penzel & Co., a subsidiary of Penzel Construction Co., bought the building in Nash Road Industrial Park and will lease it to Spartech Corp., a producer of thermoplastic materials.

Construction began in early 1995, and the building was completed in late 1996.

Spartech, which operates 36 plants and has annual sales of $700 million, plans to use the building at 4901 Nash Road for a warehouse. Spartech Compounding already operates in the industrial park, and Spartech Plastics, another of its operations, is at 2500 Spartech Drive.

The undertaking illustrates what can be accomplished when business interests pool their resources and provide a nice facility that someone needs.