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October 05, 2006 11:35 am
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Photos
T. Rob Brown / The Joplin Globe
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Editor's notes: With photo
today in this story is 10-6-06
Economy looking brighter for many
The stock market blew through old records this week. Gas fell below $2 a gallon. The government reported rising inventories. A cooperative Saudi Arabia said it wants to keep oil prices low.
From staff reports
CNHI News Service
Joplin, MO. — The stock market blew through old records this week. Gas fell below $2 a gallon. The government reported rising inventories. A cooperative Saudi Arabia said it wants to keep oil prices low.
LaBarge Inc. just announced a new, $15 million contract for its Joplin plant, on the heels of a $5.5 million contract last month. EaglePicher and Gestalt are planning to make announcements today.
Construction spending in Joplin, while not on pace with last year’s figure, will be the city’s second-highest ever.
And Roy Stewart is walking away with some money in his pocket every time he fills up his gas tank.
It used to be that the Ozark man needed $25 to $27 to fill his vehicle every other day or so for his daily commute to Joplin. Now, he figures he’s spending $15 to $17 on those fill-ups.
“It’s saving me $30 to $37 a week,” he said Wednesday.
“My wife spends it all,” he added.
Fueling the economy
Money that Americans are now saving at the pump may be revving up the economy, which is good news for Stewart, one of the executive team leaders for the Target store in Joplin. The store is seeing the benefit of that bump in discretionary incomes. Target in Joplin, he said, is “doing very well.”
“We’re actually projecting a huge, huge fourth quarter for this store,” Stewart said.
An expansion may be part of that. The Joplin store is adding 20,000 to 25,000 square feet, which Stewart said already is drawing in people who haven’t otherwise been regulars. The additional space will allow an expansion of the infants department and others, for example, and will accommodate a full-line grocery store, deli and dairy section.
Nationwide, Target Corp. said this week that it is projecting a 5 percent jump in same-store sales for September, up from an earlier forecast of 3 percent for the month. Kohl’s also said this week that things were going better than expected, and it raised its profit forecast for the third quarter. Kohl’s reported that sales at stores open at least one year rose 16.3 percent in September.
Holly Wright, assistant store manager at the Kohl’s in Joplin, said business is “definitely picking up,” but added there is no mechanism for comparison since the store has been open only a year.
“It was great,” Wright said of that first year, noting that the Joplin Kohl’s store is ahead of forecasts for both the year and the month.
The only retail dampening came from Wal-Mart, which on Wednesday revised its earnings forecast for September downward. The retailer had been hoping for a same-stores sales increase of 1.8 percent, but dropped that to 1.3 percent.
$88 million in building
Guy Hand, an independent contractor in Joplin, said he is positive about the growth of the economy right now, and that gas prices are the cornerstone affecting the growth.
“I think the economy is getting better,” Hand said. “Prices for building materials are coming down. When gas prices jumped up to almost $3 a gallon, it almost shut me down.”
Construction in Joplin has not matched last year’s record-setting pace, but this year’s activity will be the city’s second-highest ever.
“We’re still going to have a pretty good year,” said Steve Cope, the city’s building and code enforcement supervisor.
Through September, the city had issued more than $88 million in building permits this fiscal year, records show.
That is enough to eclipse Joplin’s second-highest mark — more than $86.5 million in the 2002 fiscal year — and the city still has until Oct. 31, when the current fiscal year ends.
More than $124.5 million worth of construction took place in Joplin between Nov. 1, 2004, and Oct. 31, 2005. The primary reasons for last year’s record-shattering pace were:
n $54 million in new business construction, which included the retail developments at North Park Crossing and 1717 Market Place.
n $42 million in additions to existing businesses, notably projects at Freeman Hospital West and St. John’s Regional Medical Center.
Through September, the city had issued a total of 67 new business permits this fiscal year valued at nearly $29 million. A total of 83 permits totaling more than $25.7 million had been issued for additions to businesses.
The city has seen growth in construction of apartments and duplexes compared with this time last year.
As of September 2005, only one permit had been issued for construction of new apartments, valued at more than $983,000. Six permits were issued for duplexes, totaling more than $845,000.
As of September 2006, seven building permits had been issued for apartments, totaling almost $8.2 million. Thirteen permits were issued for duplexes, for more than $2 million.
Larger apartment projects over the past year include the beginning of construction of a $2.3 million complex named Magnolia Heights, near 30th Street and McClelland Boulevard. It will have 24 units and serve the mentally ill.
New contracts, growth
Joplin’s industrial giants, including LaBarge Inc., are optimistic about the city’s economic future.
LaBarge on Wednesday announced $15 million in additional contracts with Eclipse Aviation to continue producing 80 different wiring harnesses for electronic systems controlling fuel monitoring, landing gear, and engine and cockpit functions. The work will be done at the Joplin and Berryville, Ark., plants. Eclipse Aviation is the manufacturer of the world’s first certified very light jet.
Wednesday’s announcement was the most recent multimillion-dollar contract for the defense-related manufacturer. Last month, the company was awarded nearly $37 million in contracts from three different companies. Colleen Clements, director of corporate communications for LaBarge, credits the Joplin plant’s continued success to the workers.
“We’ve been very successful in generating additional business from the customers we already had and bringing on new customers as well,” Clements said. “The reason I think is because of the high quality work our people do. Our products have a high cost of failure, meaning they have to work, so quality is very important to us.”
The Joplin plant employs 390 people. The company has grown 23 percent in the past three years, and 4 percent from fiscal 2005 to fiscal 2006. Clements said that at the end of fiscal 2006, the company has backlogged orders valued at $184 million.
After a September celebration of its battery cell’s 1 billionth hour in space, EaglePicher has emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Art Fiacco, EaglePicher media representative, said several project announcements will be made in the next several weeks regarding the Joplin plant.
“We feel very good about the company and the prospects for our future,” Fiacco said in an e-mailed statement. “We plan to be much more open about our accomplishments.”
Gestalt, a business and technology consulting firm with an office in Joplin, reported 50 percent company growth in the past year. Bill Loftus, president and chief operating officer, said his business is on the economic upswing, with lots of new contracts. Loftus said Gestalt did $24 million in business last year, and he expects to wrap up this year at around the $34 million mark. Including a significant backlog, Loftus said Gestalt has $100 million in contracts this year alone.
“You say Joplin’s lucky to have us; I see it just the opposite,” Loftus said. “I think we’re lucky to be in Joplin. We want to grow and compete with the big guys in the industry, and this year we did. Our future looks very bright.”
Staff writers Andy Ostmeyer, Dustin Shipman, Derek Spellman and Melissa Dunson contributed to this report.
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