*The Cape County plants provide employment to 7,001 workers, more than a third of them at two plants: lee-Rowan, with 1,400, and P&G, with 1,300.

Two major developments at Lee-Rowan Co. last year shoved the Jackson company into the manufacturing spotlight.

During the past year, the 56-year-old company, which produces plastic-coated wire closet accessories and organizers for customers like Sears, Roebuck and Co. and J.C. Penney Co. Inc., added a new account, Lowes Companies Inc., which operates 325 stores in 20 states, with one in Cape Girardeau.

Also during the year, Lee-Rowan moved its St. Louis operation to the Jackson plant, which includes more than 600,000 square feet. The move boosted the plant's employment to more than 1,400, making it the biggest employer in the area.

It marked the first time in a long while that a manufacturing company surpassed Procter & Gamble's employment of 1,300. P&G, which manufactures disposable diapers and feminine hygiene products at a plant north of Cape Girardeau, still has the largest payroll in Southeast Missouri: It tops $50 million a year.

Although new industries often grab headlines, existing businesses provide the majority of new jobs.

"Existing industry and businesses generate up to 90 percent of new jobs in Missouri," said John Mehner, president and chief executive officer of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce. "You can look around our area and see evidence of that."

The local chamber is compiling a written plan on community-based economic development.

"We've always focused on retention and expansion of existing businesses," said Mehner. "We want to see what we can do to help existing business grow and expand."

The Cape Girardeau Chamber started recognizing existing industries seven years ago with its Industry of the Year award. Industries honored over the past seven years are General Sign, Lone Star Industries, Procter & Gamble, Biokyowa, Concord Publishing Co., Dana Corp., and Florsheim Shoe Co.

Four years ago the chamber established a Small Business of the Year award. Winners of that award: Advance Business Systems, Bluff City Beer, KBSI-TV and Ford Groves Motor Co.

When it comes to growth, it is full speed ahead for industry in Southeast Missouri, and, according to 1994 figures, there is no red light on the horizon.

Expansions and new jobs

Expansions and new jobs are evidenced among many of Southeast Missouri's Top 65 industries, based on employment figures compiled by the Southeast Missourian. The Top 65 itself is an expansion from the Top 40 of a year ago.

Manufacturing and industry are big in Missouri. A total of 8,485 facilities provide employment to 461,632 employees statewide.

Cape Girardeau County is 11th among 114 counties in manufacturing facilities, with 132. The Cape County plants provide employment to 7,001 workers, more than a third of them at two plants: Lee-Rowan, with 1,400, and P&G, with 1,300.

Lee-Rowan has mushroomed from a small operation of 25 people in 1964, and has undergone 10 expansions at Jackson.

P&G boasts the top payroll in the area. When the plant opened in 1969, it employed about 400 people in the manufacture of Pampers, a disposable diaper. The plant, with 1,304,758 square feet under roof, manufactures Pampers, Pampers Trainers and Luvs disposable diapers and Always, a feminine hygiene product.

Briggs & Stratton, the world's largest producer of air-cooled gasoline engines, has shown great growth during its six years at Poplar Bluff. The firm opened with 200 employees in 1989, increased its work force to more than 500 the first two years, and now employs 850.

Another big employer is Gilster-Mary Lee Co., which operates three plants in the Perryville area. The company, headquartered in Chester, Ill., manufactures and packages cake mixes, cereals and popcorn, and employs about 1,200 people at full strength.

Noranda Aluminum, situated about 55 miles south of Cape Girardeau along Interstate 55 near Marston, employs between 1,150 and 1,200 people.

Thorngate, Ltd., a manufacturer of sportswear, acquired a big account from Hilfiger Co. in 1994, and moved to fifth in the area in total employees, with more than 900 -- 600 at its Cape Girardeau plant and 300 at Chaffee. The company could move up further this year as it anticipates a 20 percent increase in employees.

Other big names among the Top 10 include Mississippi Lime Co. of Ste. Genevieve, with more than 800 workers; Plastene Supply of Portageville, a plastic products manufacturer, and Arvin Automotive of Dexter, each of which employ more than 750; and Emerson Electric Co. of Kennett, manufacturer of electric motors, coils and other electrical products, and TG-USA of Perryville, manufacturer of parts for Toyota Motors and domestic automakers, each of which employ more than 650 workers.

There are other large employers in the Cape Girardeau area -- Southeast Missouri Hospital and St. Francis Medical Center, each with more than 1,400 employees, and Southeast Missouri State University, with about 1,000. But the focus of the Top 65 is on manufacturing, industry and product-related companies.