'The Coming Economic Earthquake'

Two Fridays ago I was driving back to Cape Girardeau from Farmington, Mo., and came across a rather interesting radio program.

In 1991 Larry Burkett, late co-founder of Crown Financial Ministries, wrote "The Coming Economic Earthquake." His book warned about the dangers of the growing hunger for debt in our society and federal government.

Throughout the radio program, Crown Financial Ministries chief executive officer Chuck Bentley outlined certain events that have occurred this year in what he called the most significant financial crisis since the Great Depression. Among those were the government takeover of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, a plan to buy hundreds of billions of dollars of bad debt from banks and frequent significant drops in the stock market.

Bentley said that in his book, Burkett predicted three cracks would occur before the economic earthquake:

1. Banks will begin to fail.

Bentley said that "new financial entities operating outside normal bank regulations would become financial product marketers and be open to abuse that would destabilize the economy in the long run; once the number of bad loans exceeds the number necessary to repay the depositors, the banks will fail without government intervention."

We've seen some of this happen with the failure of several mortgage giants.

2. Businesses would fail and even leave the country.

Bentley said that, according to Burkett, the crack would be marked by "business failures marked by foreign investors pulling money out of America and a growing attitude in America that profit is evil and that successful businesses should be taxed out of fairness, businesses would leave, economy would further destabilize."

While Southeast Missouri has been somewhat sheltered from this, we have seen a handful of businesses, such as Thorngate, lay off the majority of their work force.

3. The federal government will deny problems.

Burkett said Washington would brush off any problems until evidence was so overwhelming that it was clear to everyone that a problem exists. Bentley believes this could happen next summer, when Congress could pass a second stimulus package and the American public is back to spending and pumping money back into our economy.

Bentley said that while he doesn't believe the economic earthquake has come, there are signs we could be headed toward one.

I think we can only hope that people are smart with their money, wake up, don't panic, wait out the storm and seek wisdom from the right source.

* Scott City Suzuki dealership changes ownership: Long-time Cape Girardeau automobile dealer Jerry Wieser has acquired the Suzuki ATV and motorcycle franchise from Danny and Michele Tumbleson, who own Minor's Harley Davidson at 2100 E. Outer Road in Scott City. In addition to owning the Tumblesons' Suzuki inventory, parts and accessories, Wieser is adding Vespa and Piaggio motor scooters. Wieser Powersports, 2215 Broadway, will be open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. There will be additional parking at 2201 Broadway, the site of American Motors Auto Sales before it moved to 915 Broadway.

Wieser Powersports is scheduled for an early January opening. The business can be contacted at 334-1050.

Wieser said he has been working on the deal since May but it's taken him a while to remodel the 7,500-square-foot building and bring it up to code. His two sons, Kevin and Keith, will help manage the business.

* Cape Girardeau Branding Iron closes: The Branding Iron, 1015 N. Kingshighway, closed its Cape Girardeau restaurant Nov. 23. Co-owner Jack Hunt said low sales contributed to the decision to keep only the Jackson and Farmington, Mo., Branding Iron restaurants open. Hunt said sales at the Jackson and Farmington locations remain strong.

* Some good out of the Steve & Barry's situation: Steve & Barry's recently closed its Cape Girardeau store, leaving the 80,000-square-foot space unoccupied. But a reader tipped me off on some good news from a bad situation.

The store donated about 300 pairs of shoes and a small amount of clothing to Teen Challenge Mid-America, director Jack Smart said. Some of the apparel will be used by the ministry's students and the rest will be sold in its thrift store at 61 N. Clark St. in Cape Girardeau.

* Lady Luck Casino Caruthersville, Mo., undergoing renovations: Big changes are underway at Lady Luck Casino Caruthersville. On June 10 the company announced the former Casino Aztar it acquired in 2007 was being rebranded as the company's first Lady Luck casino. The re-introduction of the Lady Luck brand is part of the company's overall strategic plan.

Part of that plan is a new exterior finish, which includes renovating its restaurant and bar. While the restaurant will close in mid-December for a renovation, food service will continue. The bar is slated to be open around Christmas. The entire project is expected to be complete by mid-February.

Jackson-based Penzel Construction Co. is the general contractor for the project. This is the first major renovation for the facility since it opened in April 1995. Glen Hinkebein, director of business development with Penzel, said about 130 employees are working on the $6 million, 17,000-square-foot project.

* Interesting ag concept: I recently celebrated with little fanfare my sixth month here at the Southeast Missourian. Since moving here I've learned, among other things, that the agricultural community plays a vital role in our area's economy. If the farmers suffer, so does our economy, to a degree.

I've also learned of innovative technologies farmers are using to help further the agricultural field in Missouri and the world.

Since the rising prices of fertilizer and grain have affected farmers in the region, they have resorted to alternative agricultural methods. During U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson's farm tour in September, she mentioned a number of innovations by the state's farmers, including that of the 965-acre Tiller-Cohen dairy farm near Matthews, Mo. Unlike the majority of traditional, confined dairies, the one in Matthews is pasture-based.

The cows are in the pasture the entire day, except when they are milked. Once the cows grazed in an area for a certain amount of time, they are transferred to another piece of land to allow the grass to regrow for several weeks.

Further north, St. Louis-based Monsanto Co. has invested in breeding and biotechnology at a cost of $2.6 million per day to discover and deliver what they believe are better seed products to farmers. The company believes that with growing gloabl demand for grain, enabling farmers to increase productivity on their land is critical not only for profitability but also to support the world's growing food, feed and fuel needs.

Earlier this year, Monsanto announced it intends to double the crop yields of corn, soybeans and cotton by 2030 compared to a base year of 2000 in countries where it is able to offer its technology to farmers.

Mark Messmer, corn breeding lead for Monsanto Co., believes that as the world population increases, Southeast Missouri farmers and others throughout the world will have a greater opportunity to sell their crops as exports.

He said the state's farmers will be able to have more yield from their fields by tapping into both international germ plasm and biotechnologies that help to deliver more yield from each acre.

I'd love to hear from the farmers out there who are using innovative methods. Contact me and share with others how you're making Southeast Missouri and our world a better place.

Business reporter Brian Blackwell can be contacted at 388-3628 or bblackwell@semissourian.com.