CONSTRUCTION OF P&G PLANT AHEAD OF SCHEDULE

Construction is ahead of schedule on the $350 million expansion at Procter & Gamble Co.'s plant north of Cape Girardeau.

The 850,000-square-foot building will house two giant paper machines and associated equipment to handle towel and tissue production, which is expected to start late in 1999.

When completed, the P&G plant will contain 2,150,000 square feet under roof. That translates to more than 50 acres.

The current plant has more than 1.3 million square feet -- 30 acres -- under roof. It is the largest manufacturer of disposable diapers in North America.

The new plant will manufacture Bounty paper towels and Charmin toilet tissue.

Machinery for the new plant is being made in Sweden. Machines weighing about 200 tons each will be brought up the Mississippi River by barge and moved into position by rail and truck.

A rail spur to the new plant is near completion.

Production of paper towels will begin in October 1999, and production of toilet tissue should begin in April 2000. Bounty paper towels are P&G's No. 1 moneymaker and the top-selling brand in the nation.

The expansion, announced in April 1997, is one of the top three industrial projects that have occurred in Missouri over the past decade.

It is the largest project for the state since 1993, when Ford Motor Co. added to its Hazelwood plant at a cost of $400 million to expand production of its Ford Explorer.

"This is the third-largest industrial investment in Missouri during the past decade," said Jim Gardner of the Missouri Department of Economic Development. In 1992, Ford added a paint facility to its Kansas City assembly plant at a cost of $375 million.

The selection of Cape Girardeau County for the expansion last year culminates a nationwide search for an expansion site. Only a handful of sites were under consideration before a decision was reached.

Cape Girardeau was selected to take advantage of the present site and because of its proximity to growing markets.