NASH ROAD INDUSTRIAL PARK: CAPE GIRARDEAU PARK GOING STRONG AFTER 40 YEARS

Although the Nash Road Industrial Park is just over 40 years old, it is far from complete.The park has more than 25 industries and businesses in a complex south of Cape Girardeau, alongside Nash Road and near Interstate 55. Those businesses provide employment to more than 1,500 workers.

The first business to settle in the park, ABF Freight System Inc., is still in business 40 years later.

A number of the industries have been around long enough to be familiar names -- General Sign, BioKyowa, Spartech, Golden Cat, Midwest Agri-Chemico Inc.

And there are others.

One of the newest is Timberline International Forest Products Inc., 2525 State Highway 177 in Cape Girardeau County. Timberline will locate a stave mill operation in Nash Road Industrial Park.

Many changes

The Nash Road Industrial Park started in September 1959 when a small development group -- The Greater Cape Girardeau Development Corp. -- was founded. Twenty-five chamber members invested $625 to form the corporation, and the first land, a 160-acre parcel, was acquired in 1962.

By 1984, the corporation had 432 stockholders and had acquired an additional 500 acres.

The group has changed, going from a profit organization to a non-profit group. The name has also changed. The new organization -- The Greater Cape Girardeau Area Benevelopment Association -- includes all the stockholders of the former development corporation and some new members.

The industrial park on the west side of I-55 has more than 800 acres. The 730 Industrial Park is located on the east side of the Interstate.

Over the past five years, Nash Road Industrial Park has became 240 acres larger when the development association purchased land adjacent to the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport, about a half-mile from I-55.

"This is ideal property for development," said Chamber president and chief executive officer John Mehner, also an officer of the development corporation. "It has an airport, river and railroad access. With the extension of Nash Road to the Southeast Missouri Regional Port, the property is in a great location."

Part of the new acreage is included in the Cape Girardeau County Enterprise Zone, which provides tax benefits to businesses by promoting investment and new jobs in the zone. Utilities and water services are available on the property, which has total highway frontage on Nash Road of 3,960 feet.

Expansions and extensions

A lot of activity is going on in the overall park.

BioKyowa announced plans in January 1998 for a major expansion of its swine and poultry supplement manufacturing plant. Four months later, Biokyowa announced it would establish a food supplement plant to be completed during the summer of 2000.

This all tabulates into more than $85 million in expansion and a creation of another 100 jobs.

Along with the BioKyowa expansion will be an extension of a railroad spur to connect with BioKyowa.

Spartech has also expanded its operation at the park over the past couple of years, leasing a second speculation building for warehousing.

The St. Louis-based Spartech manufacturer has two operations in Cape Girardeau -- Spartech Compounding in the industrial park and Spartech Plastics at 2500 Spartech Drive -- is using the 200-by-300-foot, 60,000-square-foot building at 4901 Nash Road for a warehouse.

And more industries are being recruited to the park.

Mitch Robinson, executive director of the Cape Girardeau Area Recruitment Association, works with the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce and the City of Cape Girardeau to attract industry to the area.

When talking to prospective businesses, Robinson tells them of the advantages of moving to the area, and he doesn't restrict his conversations to just the Nash Road Industrial Park.

"We promote all of the industrial parks in the area," said Robinson. "One park may not have what they are looking for, but another will be to their liking."