Pachyderm Club members tossed tough questions at a panel of local economic development officials Thursday night.

One issue the conservative group challenged the panelists on was tax credits.

"As Pachyderms we believe strongly that the free market is an engine for economic growth," said moderator Dr. Wayne Bowen, club vice president. "Public-private partnerships can in some cases unlevel the playing field for a particular business. Why is that a good thing?"

Panelists John Mehner, president and CEO of the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce; David Hitt, Jackson alderman and Cape Girardeau Area Magnet board member; and Marla Mills, executive director of Old Town Cape, said economic development incentives, including tax credits, tax abatements and loan programs, are all tools they use to recruit businesses.

"I would never pretend to tell you how to think about incentives," Mehner said. "We are hired to do a job, and that job is to create jobs. In that field we compete with other people who are hired to do the same thing. When you're competing, you use the tools available to you to compete ... to create jobs. Do we always agree with those tools? No."

Hitt pointed to the expansion of Nordenia, now building a facility in the Jackson Industrial Park off U.S. 61, as an example of the success of economic development incentives. The project will create 50 jobs and the city of Jackson received a $500,000 grant from the Missouri Department of Economic Development to fund construction of a road, water and sewer lines at the Nordenia site.

"The state of Missouri does not just give away money," Hitt said.

Many other states offer more incentives than Missouri does and in some cases the state is losing jobs to other communities that offer more assistance to prospective businesses, he said.

Hitt mentioned a company Magnet negotiated with last year. The company produced turbines for wind power generation and was interested in locating to the Cape Girardeau area.

"We ended up losing it to Arkansas, who put up $6 million on the $10 million project. It created 200 jobs there," Hitt said. "Some states are way ahead of Missouri,"

Mills said sometimes incentives help fill in financial gaps and bridge obstacles businesses have to locating in a particular area, specifically in downtown areas.

"In downtown, sometimes it's the buildings they have to work with that may cost more to rehab. We work without a lot of incentives, but it could be beneficial if we're wanting to draw businesses downtown," Mills said.

Bowen also asked the panel what they view as the biggest barriers to economic activity.

Hitt and Mehner said overregulation at both the state and federal levels.

"Some is necessary, but we are way beyond necessary," Mehner said.

Mills said streamlining financing, inspections and permitting would benefit the businesses she works with.

She also spoke about the importance of historic tax credits as an economic development tool.

"They're not just a tool to rehab a building. The next step is to bring a business into that building," she said.

mmiller@semissourian.com

388-3646

Pertinent address:

236 S. Broadview St., Cape Girardeau