In our February issue, we identified the printing industry as a strong sector in the Jefferson City area and took a look at the local companies representing that sector such as Command Web, Modern LithoPrint, and RR Donnelley. What other industry sectors drive our local economy? This month we’ll take a look at the plastics industry which is also prevalent in our area.

Alpla located in Jefferson City in 2004 to manufacture and supply plastic bottles to Unilever, another one of our solid companies. Alpla’s 135,000 square foot facility in the Partnership Industrial Park on the east side of town houses 64 employees. An international, privately owned company with 101 facilities in 179 countries, Alpla is going great guns with their blow molding operation. On the opposite side of town is Sonoco, another successful plastics/packaging plant. This company landed in Jefferson City in 2005 as Matrix Packaging Company. Sonoco purchased Matrix Packaging in 2007. With 340 operations in 34 countries, Sonoco is a strong operation that is keeping pace with Unilever’s plastic bottle demands. Housed in a 65,000 square foot building, Sonoco has 130 local employees.

We’re pleased to have these strong companies in Jefferson City. Supporting our existing industries, while working to attract new business, is a vital part of the Chamber’s mission. It’s important to identify the local industries that are succeeding and have potential to grow. These industries drive our local economy.

Attending the National Plastics Expo last month is part of the strategic plan to market the Jefferson City area to this growing industry. This show, which takes place every three years, never ceases to amaze me. I have been in the economic development world now for 20 years, and this was the 5^th plastics show I’ve participated in over that time period. To give you an idea of the magnitude of this show, it occupied 939,972 square feet of exhibit space and featured 1,933 exhibitors. I was one of 55,359 professionals representing 19,283 unique companies.

Why do we attend this show? NPE is the largest US show where companies working with plastics attend. We see many companies and consultants and meet with lots of people interested in expanding their business. The show gives us the opportunity to talk to them in person about the infrastructure we have in Jefferson City and the state of Missouri that can support their industry. Face-to-face meetings help build relationships, and relationships can lead to partnerships which, in turn, can strengthen our local companies and can also lead to an opportunity to attract a new business.

In my last few columns, I’ve talked about the fierce competition in attracting new business to a community. There is some “luck” involved – but consider this: “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” (Seneca, Roman philosopher)

Working with local companies, creating incentives packages, building solid infrastructure, and attending events such as the plastics show are strategies to help us be prepared to meet opportunity!

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Westinghouse — a global leader in nuclear technology — has chosen Missouri as the location to develop and manufacture new generation small modular nuclear reactors.

Gov. Jay Nixon says it’s a once-in-a-generation opportunity that could spark a next-generation manufacturing industry in our state.

Kate Jackson, Westinghouse Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, says the partnership coupled with Missouri’s workforce, strong foothold in the nuclear industry and central location create a competitive advantage.

Westinghouse will apply to the Department of Energy for project funding in May; Jackson is confident it will be approved.

No state legislative action or statutory change is needed to move forward … no taxpayer money would be used to fund the project.

Warner Baxter, president and CEO of Ameren Missouri, says the project will have a huge economic impact on our state.

The goal is to market the American-made reactors globally.

Westinghouse will apply for the competitive federal cost-share investment funds next month. If Westinghouse receives the investment funds — and Jackson says they will — they and Ameren Missouri would seek appropriate licenses from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to move forward with construction of a Westinghouse SMR at Ameren Missouri’s Callaway site.

Westinghouse says the project has unprecedented collaboration of all of Missouri’s electric power providers, including Ameren Missouri; the Missouri Association of Electric Cooperatives; the Missouri Public Utility Alliance; Associated Electric Cooperative Inc.; Empire District Electric; and Kansas City Power and Light.

Jackson adds that Westinghouse’s “experience, capabilities, and licensing expertise, coupled with Ameren’s working utility knowledge and Missouri’s highly skilled workforce, strong foothold in the nuclear industry, and central location create a competitive advantage to rapidly deploy SMR units here in the United States and elsewhere in the world.”

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It’s far easier to talk about entrepreneurship at the 30,000-foot level. Do this, don’t do that and you should have a good shot at success. In reality, entrepreneurship is a grind filled with peaks of exhilaration and valleys of anxiety and self-doubt. What got me through some tough times were examples of success that I could model.

I want to shine the spotlight on a local startup that might soon be known nationally to provide an example of what can come from Mid-Missouri and inspire others to take the plunge.

Zapier makes it easy for small- and medium-size businesses to create integrations between third-party applications such as Google Apps, Twitter, Basecamp and, currently, 25 other applications. What if I want to take everyone I talked with on Twitter over the past week and put them into Salesforce to make sure I contact them?

Before Zapier, I would have to spend a significant amount of time tediously searching, copying and pasting between the applications. Now, all of that is done for me by Zapier, only requiring that I spend a few minutes setting it up, and it will sync at least every hour moving forward.

To get some background on the company’s progress, plans and history, I sat down to chat with co-founders Wade Foster, Bryan Helmig and Mike Knoop.

Brent: How did you guys get started?

Zapier: It all started at Como’s Startup Weekend last September. We had known each other for quite some time, having all attended Mizzou and worked for Brant Bukowsky at Veterans United in the marketing department, but really didn’t think about starting something together until that weekend. We teamed up to build a prototype of Zapier, which won Como’s Startup Weekend, and pretty much haven’t stopped since.

Brent: What traction have you all gotten so far?

Zapier: It’s been a wild ride. We’re working with more than 500 companies in 20-plus countries helping them manage their data transfers and cloud integrations. To date, we’ve provided more than 5 million actions on our customers’ behalf through our software and have teamed up with some of the fastest-growing companies in the world.

Brent: What advice would you give aspiring entrepreneurs in Mid-Missouri?

Zapier: Starting a tech company is possible anywhere with an Internet connection. Columbia might seem small for tech, but there’s a tight group of people working in tech that we run into everywhere.

It’s great to be able to rely on their help and past experiences. Our advice is just to jump in and start getting connected. That said, we’d love for there to be more Python (a programming language) developers in town.

Brent: What’s next for Zapier?

Zapier: We just finished our version 1.0 release to our beta users. It’s gotten great reception, and we’re working hard to grow our customer base and add new integrations to the platform. The next step is to launch the app publicly. We’re aiming for early-summer release and hopefully widespread adoption. We’d really like to stay in Columbia, but depending on the investors we take on and the needs of the company as we scale, it may not be possible. With that said, we’re working hard to make staying here a reality.

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MEXICO, MO. — Dozens of new manufacturing jobs are coming to Mexico, Missouri.

Governor Jay Nixon made that announcement on Tuesday morning at Mexico’s Spartan Light Metal Products Facility.

Plans call for a $12.5 million expansion of Spartan Light Metal Products. Company officials plan to add 2 new production lines at their Mexico plant. The expansion creates 42 new jobs over the next 5 years.

V.P. of Operations Ted Waltemate said, “Any growth in business, obviously, is good for the economy, especially coming off the downturn in 2008 and 2009. It’s good to be bringing jobs back and they are stable jobs.”

Workers on the 2 new production lines will make auto parts for Volkswagen, General Motors and Toyota.

Governor Nixon said the 42 new jobs in Mexico are just the tip of the iceberg. Over the past 2 months, more than 24,000 new jobs have been created in Missouri. Nixon said the Mexico plant’s expansion is another example of the auto industry’s resurgence in Missouri.

Nixon said, “This is great news for the local economy and the regional economy. I’m pleased my administration could help make this happen through a package of economic incentives. It’s also nice to touch those cylinder head covers for the F-150’s out here that not only go in here in Missouri, but go around the world.”

The Nixon Administration helped approve more than $300,000 in tax credits for the company’s expansion.

Missouri’s unemployment rate has fallen to a 39-month low of 7.4%.

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For companies looking to build solar installations and get the energy onto the nation’s grid, one of the biggest hurdles is a familiar obstacle for business: red tape.

“The true cost of permitting in the U.S. is 40 percent of your project costs,” said Victor Kirkland, an executive vice president of Omaha-based Free Power Co.

But Kirkland, speaking at the seventh annual Advancing Renewables in the Midwest conference on the University of Missouri campus yesterday, gushed over what he called Columbia’s “business friendly environment.” Free Power is building solar arrays around the city with a goal of producing about 1 percent of the Columbia’s power through solar. Compared to larger metro areas, Columbia’s regulatory costs make up about 1 percent of Free Power’s expenses, Kirkland said. That’s not because the city has reduced fees, he said. It’s because Columbia is an easy place to do business.

“Columbia’s the perfect storm because of the work ethic, the taxes and the infrastructure,” Kirkland said.

Kirkland was one of many in the renewable energy sector on campus yesterday to network and share their insights on how the Midwest could promote renewable energy and detailed obstacles to moving away from coal, gas and oil.

Kirkland’s presentation described the costs associated with solar power arrays, and he put in plenty of good words for Columbia. Since December 2010, when Free Power entered into an agreement with the city to build solar panel arrays on city-owned property, it has been working towards its goal of installing 12,000 megawatt-hours of annual electric capacity.

That’s enough to power about 1,454 homes, said Dan Stokes, an engineer with the Missouri Public Utility Alliance who worked for Columbia Water and Light for 20 years. Stokes gave a presentation about Columbia’s renewable energy standard, which mandates the city receive 15 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2023.

Solar represents the smallest component of the city’s renewable energy portfolio. Columbia gets about 4 percent from wind power it buys, 1 percent from biomass it burns at the municipal power plant and 3 percent from methane gas it gathers from the city landfill. Free Power’s project would bring Columbia’s solar power from about .0037 percent of its portfolio up to 1 percent.

It’s more than just Columbia’s commitment to renewable energy that attracted Free Power to the city, Kirkland said. The city’s electric infrastructure — owned and operated by Columbia Water and Light — is in good shape and has the capacity to take on Free Power’s energy quickly. If the company wanted to build solar arrays in California, for instance, Kirkland doesn’t know how long it would take to actually sell the power because the grid there is at capacity, and it would have to get in line to transmit its energy, he said.

Columbia already is buying energy from Free Power, and Kirkland said the company is able to sell it at about half of what solar costs elsewhere. “We make money,” Kirkland said. “We make a lot of money.”

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COLUMBIA — Columbia Regional Airport will offer a daily, nonstop midday flight to Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in a partnership with Delta Airlines beginning June 7.

Mayor Bob McDavid announced the partnership with Delta and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport at a news conference Friday morning. According to the Hartsfield-Jackson’s website, Atlanta’s airport is the busiest in the world, with more than 230 destinations in 53 countries.

Flights to Atlanta will leave Columbia at 10:10 a.m. and return at 4:15 p.m.

McDavid said the Atlanta flights are a first and major step toward what he calls the “40 in 2020″ initiative.

“’40 in 2020′ means that by the year 2020, Columbia Regional Airport will host 40 percent of all airline travel for mid-Missourians,” McDavid said. “We want those 600 mid-Missourians who drive daily to St. Louis Lambert International Airport to instead fly out of Columbia Regional Airport. We want those 300 mid-Missourians who drive daily to Kansas City International Airport to instead fly out of Columbia Regional Airport.”

McDavid said the partnership will expand opportunities for international travel.

“You’re going to find the world is a whole lot closer,” McDavid said.

He also said flights to and from Atlanta will be a good fit for Columbia as the Missouri Tigers prepare to join the Southeastern Conference.

“How’s this sound? MIZ-COU,” he quipped.

City Manager Mike Matthes said city officials have been working with the Atlanta airport and Delta to establish the new flights for more than a year.

The news conference featured brief remarks from an array of local dignitaries, including state Reps. Mary Still, Chris Kelly and Stephen Webber, state Sen. Ken Schaefer and MU Vice Chancellor for Administrative Services Jackie Jones.

Delta already provides three daily flights to and from Memphis International Airport at the Columbia airport. The Memphis flights have proved popular since they began in August 2008.

Delta started the Memphis service under an Essential Air Service contract with the U.S. Department of Transportation, which provided a $2.2 million annual subsidy. That marked the first time passengers could fly commercial jets from Columbia to anywhere other than St. Louis or Kansas City.

When Delta renewed its contract in 2010, however, it announced it would no longer require the federal subsidy.

In 2010, Delta also replaced its Saab 340 jets, which seated 34 passengers, with 50-seat Canadair Regional Jets.

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The ceremony took place during a meeting of the Columbia Missouri Employer Committee (MEC) hosted at the Boone Electric Cooperative Community Room, Columbia. The 10 companies recognized are based in Mexico, Fulton, and Columbia. Missouri Career Center–Columbia Supervisor Bryan Barnes presided over the ceremony, along with Workforce Development Specialist Lori Miller-Acton, local MEC coordinator.

Governor Jay Nixon launched the Show-Me Heroes initiative in January 2010 to help Missouri’s Veterans and members of the National Guard & Reserve re-enter civilian life with meaningful careers. The program also publicly recognizes Missouri employers who aid that effort. The program is a cooperative effort of the Missouri Division of Workforce Development and the Missouri National Guard. In announcing the program, Gov. Nixon proposed, “I want every employer in this state, every technical school, every community college, every university… every city and county, every state department with a job opening, to sign this pledge and show that ‘Missouri Hires its Veterans!’”

Missouri’s employers have responded to that challenge. To date, nearly 1,800 organizations have signed a pledge to hire veterans, and more than 1,300 veterans have gained employment in fulfillment of those pledges.

Participating employers who hire veterans are eligible for the Flag of Freedom award, each of which is unique to the recipient, emblazoned with a subdued American flag uniform patch actually worn in a combat theater by an individual soldier or airman currently serving in the Missouri National Guard and Reserve. The back of the plaque includes information about the individual or duty.

In addition to the program award, the 10 companies honored on Feb. 14 received commendations from the Mayors of their host communities. Mexico Mayor Ronald W. Loesch, Fulton Mayor LeRoy D. Benton, and Columbia Mayor Bob McDavid all appeared in person at the ceremony to present their proclamations and to congratulate the employers. Further honor came in the form of a resolution from the Missouri House of Representatives presented by Rep. Chris Kelly (24th Dist.).

Organizations presented with the Flag of Freedom were:

Mid America Brick, Mexico. Mid America is the only brick manufacturer in Central Missouri, specializing in a variety of colors and textures.

OCCI, Fulton. OCCI specializes in marine and heavy construction, including lock and dam rehabilitation and bridge construction.

Midway Electric, Columbia. Midway is an electrical contracting company providing service, repairs, and installations for commercial, industrial, and residential customers.

Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans Hospital, Columbia. The Truman VA offers a full range of inpatient and outpatient services.

VA Mortgage Center (Mortgage Research Center), Columbia. The mortgage company specializes in VA home loans and assisting veterans with their benefits.

MBS Textbook Exchange, Columbia. MBS specializes in textbook distribution and point-of-service systems.

First Student, Columbia. The transportation company provides school bus services and specialized charters.

Reality House Programs, Columbia. Reality House manages detention-alternative facilities and housing for transitional clients.

University of Missouri Health Care, Columbia. The comprehensive healthcare network maintains seven hospitals and numerous physician-staffed clinics.

Kelly Services, Columbia. A workforce-management services provider, Kelly arranges temporary, temp-to-hire, and direct-hire employment.

For additional photos of individual presentations, visit the Division of Workforce Development’s

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