At last week's Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce Industrial Appreciation Dinner, emcee ALAN GREGORY shared with the large crowd some summary comments of previous award winners. LONE STAR was the repeat winner this year (you can repeat after five years).

Gregory's information deserves sharing as it signifies that much of Greater Cape's growth continues to come from the expansion of existing industries:

"It has now been 10 years since the first Commitment to Excellence Award was presented. This is an exciting time in our community. Our local economy is healthy, our local industries are expanding and providing many additional jobs. The future looks bright. But, before this award enters its second decade, let's take a few minutes to review the progress of the past recipients of the Commitment to Excellence Award.

1988 -- GENERAL SIGN CO. -- General Sign Co. is the largest custom sign maker in Missouri. The company's annual sales are now at $6.5 million. Since receiving the award in 1988, General Sign has expanded.

1989 -- LONE STAR INDUSTRIES INC. -- Lone Star Industries' Cape Girardeau plant produces approximately 1,100,000 tons of cement annually. Since winning the award, Lone Star has manufactured enough cement to produce the equivalent amount of concrete to pave a two-lane highway for approximately 7,500 miles.

1990 -- BIOKYOWA INC. -- Biokyowa has recently announced two major plant expansions. The first expansion will increase the production of L lysine, and the second expansion will add a new product. The estimated cost of this expansion is approximately $100 million and will provide approximately 100 additional jobs.

1992 -- CONCORD PUBLISHING HOUSE INC. -- In 1992 when Concord Publishing House Inc. won the award, it operated four daily newspapers, one weekly newspaper and one printing operation and operated in one state. Today Concord Publishing House operates 10 daily newspapers, 26 weekly newspapers and seven printing operations and operates in six states (the combined operations are all under the Rust Communications umbrella).

1993 -- DANA CORP./SPICER AXLE DIVISION -- Dana Corp. began production in Cape Girardeau in 1990 with 20 employees. Dana currently has over 400 employees and produces annually in excess of 5 million automotive axle components primarily for sport utility vehicles.

1994 -- FLORSHEIM SHOE CO. -- Florsheim Shoe Co.'s employment is at 350 employees. Florsheim has recently experienced an increase in production. Florsheim's 1998 production was 2,800 pairs of shoes per day, and it is committed to 3,500 pairs of shoes per day in 1999.

1995 -- SPARTECH CORP. -- On March 31, 1998, Spartech Corp. completed its purchase of Polycom Huntsman Inc., a leading supplier of proprietary polymer compounds color and additive concentrates and toll compounding service with annual sales of approximately $115 million. Spartech now has annual production capacity of more than one billion pounds from its 34 facilities located throughout North America and Europe.

1996 -- THORNGATE LTD. -- Today Thorngate is continuing to add new product lines and new technology, while adhering to the same quality standards that its reputation demands in men's tailored suits and sports coats. Thorngate currently produces approximately 6,000 men's suits and sport coats per week.

1997 -- M&W PACKAGING U.S. INC. -- M&W began production in the spring of 1990 with 49 employees and one customer. Today M&W has 270 employees and over 100 customers producing 213,600,000 bags per year. -- Alan Gregory, Gregory Construction Co.

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An interesting statistic that I picked up on the St. Louis RAMS football team was that 12 of their last 14 games have been decided by less than eight points, and they lost the majority of them.

Their BIG 30-10 victory last Sunday came with quarterback TONY BANKS looking like a new man and ISACC BRUCE back in the lineup opening up AMP LEE when Bruce wasn't the receiver. The Rams won their first home victory in the last nine home games. Hopefully this was a turnaround game for the franchise.

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Where have all the soldiers gone? The incredible shrinking military:

Consider the following:

*709,000 regular service soldiers

*293,000 reserve troops

*8 standing army divisions

*20 Air Force and Navy air wings with 2,000 combat airplanes

*232 strategic bombers

*13 strategic ballistic missile submarines, with 3,114 nuclear warheads on 232 missiles

*4 aircraft carriers

*121 surface combat ships and submarines plus necessary support bases, shipyards, and logistical assets.

These impressive forces do not represent the military capacity of some foreign power. According to Ed Dyer, information manager of the Dannemiller Memorial Education Foundation, a review of Janes, the world authority on military strength and equipment, indicates these are the U.S. forces, which have vanished since President Clinton took office. Unfortunately, the hemorrhaging is not over.

The "peace dividend" declared after the collapse of the Soviet Union might be real, but the ravaging of the armed forces in the name of economy is having devastating effects on morale, readiness, and overall capability. The world is not a safer place. Nuclear weapons and the means for delivering them are proliferating -- and many of them into the hands of rogue nations which have employed international terrorism as a means of achieving their goals. The concept of fighting two major conflicts simultaneously -- considered by many experts as the minimum capability necessary to assure our national defense -- has been scrapped under the pressures of extracting every possible dollar from the defense budget.

Enormous cuts in overall strength, coupled with an increased operational tempo for peacekeeping missions around the world, have drained the resources available to the active military resulting in reduced levels of readiness, training, morale and operational capability. Suffice it to say that the ability of this nation to defend its people, the first responsibility of the government, is in question. It is not a lack of commitment by the men and women who serve. It is a combination of weak political will and a shallow understanding by our national leadership of what is required to maintain a world-class military force. -- Washington Update

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Drucker joker: I received this joke from a coworker the day after I read Peter Drucker's article ("The Next Information Revolution," August 24). It seemed to pretty well sum up his point about the current status of all T and no I: A man is flying in a hot-air balloon and realizes he is lost. He reduces height and spots a man down below. He lowers the balloon farther and shouts, "Excuse me, can you tell me where I am?" The man below says, "Yes, you're in a hot-air balloon, hovering 30 feet above this field." "You must work in information technology," says the balloonist. "I do," replies the man. "How did you know?"

"Well," says the balloonist, "everything you have told me is technically correct, but it's no use to anyone." The man below says, "You must work in business." "I do," replies the balloonist, "but how did you know?" "Well," says the man, "you don't know where you are or where you're going, but you expect me to be able to help. You're in the same position you were before we met, but now it's my fault."

Information has no meaning to a man except to the degree he chooses to use reason and is able to recognize its present or potential relationship to what already exists or could exist. -- ASAP

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"The highest purpose of journalism is to give citizens the information they need to govern themselves." -- Paul Tash, executive editor, St. Petersburg Times

~Gary Rust is president of Rust Communications, which owns the Southeast Missourian and other newspapers.