Editorial

CREATING NEW, LONG-LASTING JOBS BEGINS AT HOME

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In the word association game, new jobs are often linked with new business or industry. They tend to grab the headlines and spotlight. In reality, it isn't new industries that bring in the bulk of new jobs each year.

Existing business is a kind of secret weapon in the battle for new jobs. These steadfast companies generate up to 85 percent of new jobs in Missouri. They are the true champions of economic growth in the state.

Industrial recruitment groups throughout the region have learned the harsh truth in recent years: New industries are hard to come by, and the competition for them is fierce.

Today a state or community really has to sweeten the deal to secure a new industry. These long-term incentives, including tax rebates, can diminish a new industry's full economic impact for years.

But existing industries grow simply through hard work and perseverance. They forge ahead without the fanfare or public appreciation, quietly bolstering the local economy with larger payrolls and millions of dollars spent on bricks and mortar. Many of these corporations are good neighbors as well, giving thousands of dollars each year to civic causes.

Over the years, area chambers of commerce have learned to better appreciate these existing industries. Cape Girardeau's Chamber of Commerce began honoring outstanding existing industries six years ago. The local business group is also compiling a written plan on community-based economic development, which focuses on these existing industries.

Cape Girardeau County ranks 11th among all Missouri counties in manufacturing with 132 businesses that employ just over 7,000 workers.

Some area enterprises reflect tremendous success stories:

The Lee-Rowan plant in Jackson began 30 years ago with 25 people. Ten expansions later, the plant employs 800 workers.

Procter and Gamble -- the top employer in Southeast Missouri -- opened north of Cape Girardeau in 1969 with a workforce of 400. Today, the plant has nearly 1,300 employees with a payroll of $50 million.

Briggs & Stratton, the world's largest producer of air-cooled gasoline engines, has shown tremendous growth in Poplar Bluff. It opened with 200 employees in 1989 and today has a workforce of 850.

Earlier this week, the company announced another expansion in both Missouri and Kentucky. Briggs & Stratton plans to spend $23 million in the next two years to build a 50,000-square-foot expansion in Poplar Bluff that will create at least 70 new jobs. In Murray, Ky., the company plans an $18 million renovation and retooling project that will bring 160 new jobs.

These are only a few of a hundred such success stories in Southeast Missouri. And each one is cause to celebrate the strengthening of regional economies.

Southeast Missouri is fortunate that its largest industries are truly diversified. The top 10 employers in the region produce diapers, cake mixes and popcorn, aluminum, engines, wire shelving and storage products, mufflers and tail pipes, plastic products, electric motors and coils, automobile parts, and sportswear.

This diversity means a downturn in one industry shouldn't shake the region's employment foundation.

Existing business and industry are the innovators and leaders in economic growth. As integral players in the region's economic well being, they deserve our continued appreciation and assistance.