SEEDS panel presents perspective of agriculture, concrete, lumber, mining industries

Fitting for a conference with the acronym of SEEDS, the Southeast Entrepreneurship and Economic Development Symposium on Thursday, Nov. 14, featured a panel with regional experts in nature resource industries.

Dustin Boatwright, chairman of the Missouri Highway Commission, moderated a conversation with Buzzi Unicem USA plant manager Craig Conklin; Charles Kruse, former Missouri Department of Agriculture director; Tommy Petzoldt of East Perry Lumber Co. in Frohna; and Darren Chapman, deputy commercial director of US Strategic Metals.

Boatwright discussed the distinction of the Southeast Missouri landscape. Historically a swampland, it has over time been converted into a major agricultural hub.

“It’s always been amazing to me that, in the seven counties of the Bootheel on a little less than 10% of the cultivated acres of the state of Missouri, over a third of the crop production is produced in those counties,” said Kruse, a fourth-generation Dexter farmer.

He credited this in part to the proximity of the Mississippi River and its port system. The abundance of natural resources creates economic value for the communities that produce them, he added, especially in terms of job growth.

The panelists discussed the abundance of natural resources the region has, from raw minerals such as cobalt, nickel and copper in the Iron Range to vast forests in the Ozarks for lumber.

“In the state of Missouri, there are more trees growing and actually dying than we can harvest every year. The trees in our state are healthy, they’re doing great, so we are trying to find ways to utilize these to help out not only our business but our local economies,” said Petzoldt, a third-generation saw mill owner.

They also discussed the use of technology, in particular drones and AI programs, and how it impacts their respective industries by providing new job opportunities and additional automation.

“When we invest in infrastructure in this country … what we’re trying to do is bring reliability to these private businesses that want to invest in the state of Missouri and the Mississippi Valley and the United States,” Boatwright said.

The SEEDS conference was held at Drury Plaza Conference Center, 3351 Percy Drive in Cape Girardeau, and was a partnership between the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce and Southeast Missouri State University’s Harrison College of Business & Computing. Thursday’s conference was the sixth in the program’s history.