1999 BUSY FOR BUSINESS COMMUNITY

3. SIKESTON A brass manufacturing business is severely damaged by an overnight fire. Firefighters are unable to get the blaze under control until 1:30 a.m., at which point the rear of the building partially collapses, while the rest of the structure suffers major smoke and water damage. About 40 firefighters and three engines respond to the fire. Sikeston firefighters get assistance from 15 firefighters of the Miner Fire Department, which handles Sikeston calls during the blaze.The fire's origin and cause remain under investigation.

5. More than 20 million jobs have been added to the U.S. economy during the past seven years, giving some new meaning to the term, Roaring '20s, says Labor Secretary Alexis M. Herman. If the 1920s roared, the 1990s rumbled boisterously. As the United States enters the new millennium, "we see near-record lows in unemployment in all areas and all sectors," says Herman during a national long-distance telephone news conference. With Christmas holiday employment, 234,000 new jobs were added in November, passing the 20 million mark for the first time since 1993.

6. Gift Baskets & Candles Extraordinaire has opened at 1318 N. Kingshighway. The new business, owned by Tera Marvel and Nancy Mathes, offers a variety of candles triple-scented, Deer Creek and FDL fragrances. The store also prepares specialty gift baskets for every occasion. The list of items can include bath and body powder, food, wines, chocolates and other items.

6. The Healing Garden, which offers massages and a line of herbal supplements, vitamins and minerals, has opened on the second level of the House of Brides, 228 N. Pacific. The new business, operated by Mary M. Bronaugh, CMT and RMT, and Claire Heisserer, specializes in herbal body wraps, Moore Mud and aromatherapy wraps, Swedish, sports and aromatherapy massages.

7. JACKSON The Jackson Board of Aldermen will decide at its next meeting whether to allow vehicles for sale to be parked in front yards. The city ordinance doesn't allow residents to park cars, trucks, boats or motorcycles on the front yard of their residences, and a vehicle for sale is restricted to a paved surface. Some residents, however, want the city to allow a vehicle for sale to be parked in a front yard.

9. Jim Maevers, vice president and co-owner of Maevers Foods Inc., receives the 1999 Sam Walton Business Leader Award. The award is sponsored by the Wal-Mart Foundation and the Wal-Mart Supercenter at Jackson, which received a $500 grant in the honoree's name.

13. Home & Pet Guardian has opened in Cape Girardeau. The new business provides a "pet-sitting" service when the owners travel out of town. Owners have the option of leaving pets at home, but not alone. Kathy Kinderand Jill Haman are owners of the new business.

20. Cape Girardeau architect John L. Boardman, who over a career of more than 40 years designed hundreds of buildings and supervised renovations of scores of other historic structures, dies at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Boardman, 73, imprinted his distinctive architectural style in Cape Girardeau, particularly in the downtown area, since opening an architectural firm here a number of years ago. Among survivors is his wife, Evelyn, who shared his interest in architecture and the arts. That interest evolved into Madder Rose Antiques, which opened in downtown Cape Girardeau in 1988. "If there was a Mr. Downtown Cape Girardeau,' it would be John Boardman," says C. P. McGinty Jr., owner of C.P. McGinty Jewelers Inc.

21. The new year is expected to bring round-the-clock cleanup of the Missouri Electric Works Superfund site in Cape Girardeau. All of the PCB-contaminated soil could be cleaned by April, says AmerenUE's Warren Mueller, project coordinator for the potential responsible parties, which are paying much of the cost to clean up the site at 824 S. Kingshighway. It could take longer if the winter is severe and the ground frozen for a prolonged time. The government has been seeking to address the contamination problem at the former motor and transformer repair business for 15 years.

23. The final pair of Florsheim shoes rolls off the assembly line at the Cape Girardeau Florsheim Shoe Co. manufacturing facility, marking an end to an industry that has operated here almost a century. Florsheim Shoe Co., which once occupied a multi-level structure on North Main, is closing its modern plant at the intersection of South West End Boulevard and Southern Expressway, putting the final 200 workers there out of work. With the closing comes a flicker of hope for some of the Florsheim work force. A company spokesman says Florsheim is confident it has a buyer for the plant, which could furnish employment for former Florsheim workers.

26. Jackson Chamber of Commerce membership has increased 28.5 percent during the past 14 months. This, and a number of new chamber initiatives, gives Ken Parrett, executive director, reason to look back fondly at 1999. The chamber has placed fresh emphasis on serving its client/members. Parrett wants members to realize they are "not just members of an organization; they are our customers."

27. Thousands of visitors flock into the Cape Girardeau area each year. One of the top tourist attractions each year is the 3,307-acre Trail of Tears State Park, located about a dozen miles north of Cape Girardeau. More than a quarter-million visitors head for the park annually for camping, hiking, picnicking, boating and swimming. Tourism represents big bucks for both the region and state. More than 34.4 million people visited Missouri during fiscal year 1999, generating more than $12.6 billion in tourism and travel dollars, according to a report released recently by the Missouri Division of Tourism. Both numbers represented significant increases over previous highs. Visitation is up 6.1 percent from the previous high and the economic impact rose 5.4 percent from the previous record of $12.3 million.

30. Even though local officials, firefighters and police, medical personnel and utilities crews don't expect any Y2K-related glitches or disrupted services, they are still being cautious. While most of the region will be ringing in 2000 with grand parties, several people will be working late New Year's Eve to fix any problems that might arise when the clock strikes midnight. People worried about a Y2K bug are concerned that computers with time- and date-sensitive devices programmed to recognize two digits for dates would read 2000 as 00. If the computers fail to recognize the zeroes as dates, information could be lost.