Cape's economy still shows healthy trends

Cape Girardeau has enjoyed years of economic development that have been the envy of other communities around Missouri. For its population, the city enjoys shopping, dining and health-care options that usually are found only in much larger metropolitan areas.

Along with these retail outlets, restaurants and health facilities come jobs, making Cape Girardeau not just the shopping and health-care center of this region, but also an area of good jobs and low unemployment. Beneficiaries of all this economic activity include financial institutions, service businesses, government infrastructure and school systems.

But even though a lot of chain retailers -- ones that normally seek bigger markets for their outlets -- choose Cape Girardeau because of its location and strong economic base, there are some business ventures that just don't make it. With the closing of Albertsons supermarket after little more than a year here, two good-sized grocery operations -- the other was Mr. K's Food Center -- have called it quits after relatively brief attempts to capture some of the food business. This indicates Cape Girardeau is a competitive grocery market and that other supermarkets are satisfying the needs of most shoppers.

The immediate impact of the such closings, of course, is felt by the employees. Since 1983, the Missouri Department of Economic Development has fielded rapid-response teams in the wake of closings at plants and other large employers. The team has already made its services available to the Albertsons employees.

In the nearly 20 years the rapid-response teams have been active, more than 100,000 workers have participated in various assistance programs designed to get job seekers back to work. About 80 percent of those laid-off workers have found new jobs, according to state statistics.

Just as local officials worked to help Albertsons locate in Cape Girardeau, economic-development specialists will be looking for ways to find new tenants for the Albertsons location. In addition to spending some $3 million on a new supermarket building and companion convenience store, Albertsons cleaned up big area at the major intersection of Kingshighway and Independence Street. This property is likely to be much more attractive to a prospective enterprise now than it was when Albertsons was shopping for a location.

And who knows what will be interested in a former supermarket. The site that housed Mr. K's Food Center is being purchased by a church.

Meanwhile, new development continues apace in the city. New restaurants are opening, and construction is under way for a major retailer.

While the closing of Albertsons is certainly a setback for employees, it's likely to be temporary as Cape Girardeau continues to experience a steady pace of growth.