SE MO Redi is ready to tackle regional economic development

This article draws directly from remarks made and presentation slides shown to the Dec. 19 study session of Jackson Board of Aldermen.

Presenter: James Stapleton, co-founder of Cape Girardeau’s Codefi and the new chairman of the SE MO Redi (Southeast Missouri Regional Economic Development; formerly Cape Area Magnet) Board of Directors.

Stapleton told the Southeast Missourian that SE MO Redi’s Board will begin the search this month for a full-time director of the organization.

Catalysts for change: need for robust employment gains; widespread regional population declines; average wages; majority of new jobs from regional service industries; attracting/retaining young professionals; need for investment in economic development.

Qualitative outcomes: identified as residents unaware of empirical regional deficiencies; lack of a local or region-shared economic vision; lack of strong allies in business, industry, education or state and local government; Board of Directors relied completely on executive staff; widespread lack of understanding of the organization’s plans, activities, or outcomes.

Goals

• Business Growth and Innovation: strengthening existing businesses, especially regional and external revenue generation; accelerating diversification of the economy, especially in tech, ag and growth-oriented professional services; fill gaps to help support more new local businesses; target recruitment of new businesses to strengthen existing companies and industries.
• Talent and Workforce Development: create career pathways for trades, digital and professional technical training; reduce barriers to new and incumbent workers to high-end quality occupations; launch a talent attraction and retention marketing campaign focused on Southeast Missouri State University students, including non-traditional matriculating students.
• Branding and Marketing: redefine the area’s pro-business, pro-talent, and career-opportunity brand essence; integrate new brand essence into all recruiting and attraction efforts; help proactively strengthen outbound marketing, talent recruitment and business recruitment.
• Short-term: ally engagement by continuing to raise awareness and getting input from local, regional and state stakeholders; working committees — led by active board members — to complete development of initiatives and action plans; sponsor and investor recruitment by securing increased investment to support future operations, programs and projects.

Board of Directors

• Executive Committee: James Stapleton, chairman, Codefi; Dwain Hahs, chairman-elect, City of Jackson mayor; Mandi Brink, past chairwoman, SEMO Port Authority; Tim Goodman, secretary/treasurer, Benton Hill Investments; Jeff Maurer, trades workforce, Mayson Capital; Matt Huber, recruitment and retention, Liberty Utilities; Rob Gilligan, entrepreneurship and innovation, Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce.
• Other directors: Robbie Guard and Dan Presson, Cape Girardeau City Council; Charlie Herbst and Jason Crowell, Cape Girardeau County; Dustin Whitworth, City of Scott City; Scott Crader, Crader Distributing; Marc Harris, Arnold Insurance.
• Ex-officio: Brian Gerau, Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce; Carlos Vargas, president, Southeast Missouri State University.

Selected remarks

“We’ve published the outcomes of a competitive analysis from Ernst & Young (to) measure how we were doing as a region against some peer regions around this part of the country. Frankly, there was more alarming or concerning news than there was good news: things like the sluggish employment gains we’ve been experiencing for awhile; widespread regional population decline — maybe not locally, but as a region; and certainly lacking average wages,” Stapleton said. “What we really needed to do was start over; that we really needed to step back and take a look at what we needed to do to redevelop the organization to better prepare it to have success moving forward. I think this is a challenge for everyone. I think everyone’s basic nature is to keep doing what we’ve been doing. That’s a lot more comfortable than going through change that is sometimes hard and less comfortable. But as a board and organization we committed ourselves to doing that.”

Of note

For more information on the Ernst & Young study Stapleton referenced, note a Southeast Missourian story published Dec. 13, 2021, and accessible at www.semissourian.com/story/2922702.html.

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