• Monday, August 24, 1992
• By William Flannery Of the Post-Dispatch Staff

HARVEST GREENVILLE'S EARLY 'SEEDS'
BLOSSOM IN SUCCESS STORY

GREENVILLE, Ill.

The economic blossoming of Greenville, Ill. is a classic case of a ''40-year, overnight
success story.''

Construction has started on a new $40-million federal prison that will bring 250 new
jobs.

The chemical firm Sigma-Aldrich Corp. has selected Greenville for new protein extraction
plant that will initially employ 80 workers in 1995 and perhaps 200 to 300 when fully
developed.

These facilities join four other firms employing more than 450 people that have located
in Greenville in the last 15 years.

But community leaders said it took decades of groundwork to attract new businesses to
their town of 5,200 people on the Illinois prairie 50 miles east of St. Louis.

''There was a recognition of a need for industrial development back in the '50s, early
'60s,'' said Duane L. Reeves, editor and publisher of the 134-year-old Greenville
Advocate, the local paper. ''There were lots of early seeds planted.''

During those years, voters approved upgrading the water, gas and electrical systems.
Greenville became one of the first small towns in downstate Illinois to switch to the
city manager form of government and to pass zoning laws.

Civic pride and town cooperation are key factors in drawing outside business, said
Mayor Eldon Turley.

''We've got a positive attitude here,'' Turley said. ''When I say cooperation, that's it.
We seem to work well together.''

This cooperation was shown by the town's vote to approve new water and sewer
projects in the last three years.

''The [favorable] vote was 80 percent on the water plant,'' Turley said. The water plant
underwent a $900,000 expansion, doubling its size to 3 million gallons a day from 1.5
million. In addition, voters approved a new $5 million sewer treatment plant.

But lifetime resident Jerry C. Wall admitted the town's sense of civic cooperation was
tested when Greenville won the bid for a new medium-security federal prison in 1989.

''The town was roughly divided 50-50 on the idea,'' Wall said.

''But we were able to bring it up to an 80 percent [favorable] rating in a couple of
months after educating the people'' on the economic benefits, Wall said.

(One of the chief benefits, Wall added, is permanence. ''There has been only one
[modern] federal prison closed down and that was Alcatraz,'' Wall said with a smile.)

In the late 1960s, Greenville established a development commission, Turley said.

''Also at that time, the 36 Club was formed where people could contribute a dollar a
month for 36 months,'' Turley said. Some chipped in more.

''We raised, though grassroots support, money for our first 40-acre industrial park,''
Turley said. ''From '69 to '79 we didn't get anything. I had a lady say, 'Eldon, I don't
know why you are working on industry. No one will ever come to Greenville.' But we
never quit.''

But in 1979, Carlisle SynTec Inc. located a rubber roofing material factory in Greenville
and more companies followed.

''There was a change in industry thinking, too, that helped,'' said Reeves. ''Companies
wanted to get out of the metropolitan areas with their high labor costs and [urban]
problems.''

Nor is it just the new companies that are expanding. Dick DeMoulin is the fourth
generation to run DeMoulin Brothers & Co., one of the nation's largest producers of
marching band uniforms. The DeMoulin factory was established in 1892.

''We're proud that we have added jobs,'' DeMoulin said. ''We've added 13 this year and
last year over 15. That doesn't sound like a lot, but in an environment that is
constricting as it is, that's not bad.''

Other long-time industries in the town include Nevco Scoreboard Co., a manufacturer of
high school and college scoreboards and Pet Inc., which put a condensed milk factory in
Greenville in 1885.

DeMoulin said Greenville offers several advantages to manufacturers.

''We are right on Interstate 70. We have easy access for all the common carriers,''
DeMoulin said. ''Also, you have Interstate 55 just 20 miles west [and] you've got
Interstate 57 about 45 miles east.''

For heavy manufacturers needing rail service, the east-west Conrail line to St. Louis
runs through Greenville's industrial park.

Greenville also has an airport with a 4,000-foot paved runway that will soon be
expanded to 5,000 feet.

''The location is also wonderful for us because we can use professional services out of
St. Louis,'' DeMoulin said. ''We use St. Louis firms for legal counsel, auditing,
advertising, printing - things of that nature.''

City manager Larry Stoever said lower land prices are another Greenville selling point.

''The land cost is significantly lower here,'' Stoever said. ''Sigma-Aldrich bought 550
acres for $3,000 an acre.''

Stoever said rural land outside of the city's limits is even less expensive, running
$1,000 to $1,200 an acre.

Because Greenville is a rural community, its work ethic is strong, Tuley said.

''I heard Tom Zuzzio, the manager out at Carlisle SynTec . . . say several years ago his
absenteeism was seven-tenths of 1 percent,'' he said. ''And I've been telling people
that.

''But about month ago [Zuzzio] told me, 'Eldon, you're wrong; it's not seven-tenths of 1
percent.' And I thought, 'Uh-uh,' '' Turley said. ''Zuzzio said, 'It's been averaging
three-tenths of 1 percent.' And on a national average, for heavy industry, it's 7 or 8
percent per day.''

Local leaders stress the importance of Greenville College, a four-year liberal arts
school, and the area's high education standards as attractions for business.

''The folks at Sigma-Aldrich said the college was a consideration for coming here,'' said
Reeves. ''They talked about [science-trained] students working part-time, during the
summer and like.''

Greenville's high school attendance rate averages 93 percent, which is high by Illinois
standards, Turley said.

Ironically, one the area's disadvantages is an advantage in attracting business: the
high unemployment rate.

''Unemployment in Bond County is 11.5 percent,'' said Mark Beatty, president of First
Bank. ''We have ranged between 10 and 15 [percent] for the past few years. It's higher
than the state and national level.''

The region's high unemployment rate qualifies Greenville for a state enterprise zone,
which is located on the south side of Greenville, Turley said.

The enterprise zone offers a number of incentives, including property tax abatement,
sales tax exemption on building materials for new construction, tax credits on capital
improvements and training assistance for workers.

To draw the Propellex Corp. plant to the area in 1987, Stoever said, Greenville
cooperated with neighboring communities to find the right site for the factory. Propellex
makes explosives for the military.

''But there was a problem with land cost,'' Stoever said. ''So Greenville, Hillsboro and
Bond County and Montgomery County came up with the difference in the cost and got
the project approved.''

Cooperation among local communities is common, Turley said.

Besides being Greenville's mayor, Turley also wears the hat of coordinator for the I-70
Growth Association. This group pools the resources of 14 small towns along the
Interstate 70 corridor in central Illinois to attract new business.

To encourage rental and retail building, Greenville is offering incentives of five-year tax
abatement for multifamily residential construction and three-year tax abatement for
commercial construction.

While Greenville's new-found economic growth is welcomed, community leaders remain
cautious.

''What we want is controlled growth,'' Wall said. ''We don't want it where we make a lot
of mistakes; where we have to go back and patch and repair and redo.''

''That is why we try to do these things in advance of development,'' Stoever said.
''That's why we have the water plant under construction, the sewer under construction
and why we have submitted a grant for the new recreation complex and new shopping
center area.''