Nixon speaks on resource plan at Three Rivers

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Gov. Jay Nixon solicited input from business, education and municipal government leaders in Southeast Missouri to identify emerging industries for investing state resources in over the next five years.

"This is not a plan that is going on the bookshelf; it's going on the desk and will be used every day," Nixon said Thursday at the Tinnin Fine Arts Center at Three Rivers Community College in Poplar Bluff.

Representing the Southeast region, 48 people participated in the first round of independent surveys for the strategic initiative for economic growth led by the Missouri Department of Economic Development.

Nixon named an executive board of four senior business executives from across Missouri who will oversee a 41-member steering committee that will compile findings and recommendations from the six regional planning groups.

Surveyor Alex Pearlstein, project director for the Atlanta-based Market Street Services, said the participants across the surrounding 21 counties were "very opinionated" and expressed diverse views.

Education was an emerging theme from the questions, as 25 percent voted to prioritize investments to prepare students for high-value careers, with 22 percent voting to increase training opportunities for existing work force, and 17 percent favoring development of physical infrastructure.

Having completed a 50-year career in education himself, Poplar Bluff city councilman Loyd Matthews said he remains a strong advocate. "If you don't fund the engine, the rest of the train is going to fall behind," he said.

Steve McPheeters, a Sikeston, Mo., banker, added that community college's role in customized training is paramount. "You have to keep existing companies, train workers and keep them up-to-date," he said.

Behind roadways at 35 percent, nearly one-third of the participants voted rural broadband connectivity the region's top infrastructure funding priority.

"High-speed Internet isn't about getting your e-mail faster, it's about economic development," said Kevin Cantwell, president of Big River Telephone Company in Cape Girardeau.

The primary action the state could take to help individual communities, according to 33 percent of the surveyors, is to better assist communities in local development capacity.

From the information collected, several key strategies will be established and presented to the governor by December so Congress can begin making data-informed decisions while budgeting as early as next year's session, according to David Kerr, DOD director.

To view the complete results from the survey, visit www.ded.mo.gov/strategic.aspx and click on the Southeast region forum link.