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St. Louis Lambert International Airport checkpoint expansion highlights growth (AUDIO)

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St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL) officials have announced that they’ve finished a checkpoint expansion project that creates a seventh security screening lane that will be used during peak hours in terminal two.

This is terminal two at St. Louis Lambert International Airport (photo courtesy of St. Louis Lambert International Airport)

Lambert spokesman Jeff Lea says the airport has been coordinating the project with the TSA.

“We’ve gone from six to seven (lanes),” Lea says. “This was crucial because we’ve seen just an expansion of flights out of terminal two from Southwest and thus passenger growth.”

Lea notes the TSA conducted more than 2.8 million passenger screenings in 2017 in terminal two, a 5.5 percent increase. He says the new checkpoint expansion in that terminal will help accommodate that growth.

“And we’ve partnered with the TSA to really achieve an opportunity to reduce the waiting times and get a faster throughpoint for our passengers so they can make it to the secure side and get to their gates and onto their flights on time,” says Lea.

Terminal two mainly houses gates for Dallas-based Southwest Airlines. Lea says Southwest added new service from St. Louis to San Jose and Sacramento earlier this month.

Meantime, you’ll soon be able to fly nonstop from St. Louis to Iceland. Lea tells Missourinet the additional lane will also accommodate the new international service on WOW air between St. Louis and Iceland.

“The service begins four days a week but it begins May 17th and in June it will expand to five days a week, adding a Sunday flight,” Lea says.

Lea says he’s hearing “nothing but positive news” about ticket sales.

He says Lambert officials are currently working with WOW air to get terminal two set up for them to operate.

Lea says WOW air will take over counter space adjacent to the Southwest counters, and will operate from gate E-29.

Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and St. Louis Lambert International Airport spokesman Jeff Lea, which was recorded on April 18, 2018:

Contentious bill over disposal of coal ash from power plants heads to House floor

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A proposal described as legislation that would allow the state to regulate one of the largest types of industrial waste in the country is moving through the Missouri House.

The bill, which has already cleared the Senate would give the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) the authority to establish rules and approve target levels for the management of “coal ash”.

Coal ash is produced from the burning of coal in coal-fired power plants.  It can be recycled for use in materials such as concrete, but large quantities of coal ash from power plants are disposed of in disposal units known as landfills and ash ponds.

Utilities create ash ponds by digging holes in the ground next to their coal-burning power plants.  They transport the coal ash to those holes with water.

Coal power plants are most often located next to bodies of water in order to use that water as a cooling agent in their creation of energy.  Since the water is readily available, it’s also used to deliver the coal ash to the ash ponds.

The proposal, which was heard Wednesday in the House Utilities Committee, was changed after leaving the Senate to beef up some of the regulations.

Missouri has long provided supervision over coal ash landfill sights.  Water discharged from ash ponds into lakes and rivers has also been regulated under permits granted by DNR.  The bill in the House deleted the Senate language that would have precluded the permitting process for ash pond disposal.

Disposal of coal ash is sensitive because it contains toxins that are harmful to humans, including arsenic, mercury, cadmium, and lead. Exposure to those elements, which are heavy metals, can cause cancer, brain damage, and liver damage.

The need to regulate coal ash disposal became apparent after the devastation left from two spills.  The spills in Kingston, Tennessee in 2008 and Eden, North Carolina in 2014 caused widespread environmental and economic damage to nearby waterways and properties.

To address the risks resulting from improper disposal and discharge of coal ash, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established national rules in 2015 for its management and disposal.  In 2016, Congress passed the Water Infrastructure for Improvements to the Nation (WIIN) Act, which gave states a window to customize the rules to fit their needs.

Republican Senator Sandy Crawford of Buffalo, who is sponsoring the measure, says it would let the state DNR tailor regulations for Missouri that would still comply with EPA guidelines.

“This bill will allow DNR to manage a program that’s more state-specific, more than the one-size-fits-all approach that we would have if we go with the EPA program,” said Crawford.

The House bill also does away with a provision Crawford included in the Senate plan that would’ve prevented the state from enacting more robust regulations than the EPA does.

Regulated utilities would finance the state’s program through fees they would pay.  Crawford says the Natural Resources Department and the utilities collaborated to craft the legislation together.  She also notes that the EPA still has to approve the state’s plan to manage coal ash and can reject it if the regulations are deemed to be too weak.

The utilities that operate coal-fired powered plants – investor-owned power companies such as Ameren Missouri, customer-owned cooperatives, and city-run municipal power companies – plan to close down and discard many of their coal ash ponds in the upcoming years.

Trey Davis, President of the Missouri Energy Development Association, thinks Crawford’s legislation will serve to streamline the process.

“Through the WIIN Act and through this state-specific program, you have DNR right there at the forefront managing with the utilities the closure of these sights,” said Davis.

Patricia Schuba with the Labadie Environmental Organization has a much more critical view of the utilities’ plans. She contends they want the coal ash bill passed quickly in order to skirt EPA closure requirements set to go take effect in October.

“One of the requirements for closure under the federal rule is that the ash cannot be in contact with groundwater,” Schuba said.  “None of these sights meet that criteria.”

Should the bill become law, it would go into effect in late August 28th.  Labadie Environmental Organization is a non-profit group that was formed out of concerns over plans for waste disposal at Ameren Missouri’s Labadie power plant west of St. Louis.

One of the most contentious components of the bill allows for “risk-based” based management of coal ash ponds, meaning if a utility can prove there is no immediate risk to the drinking water of the local population, a pond can be closed down and capped with no further action.

Schuba says it would free utilities from responsibility if toxins such as arsenic spread around in the future.  “The utilities in the room know that,” said Schuba.  “They know that’ll provide an opportunity for them to close these sights in place, with contamination at the sight, and not have to clean it up for closure requirement.”

The coal ash proposal passed through the Utilities Committee by an 8-3 margin during the same hearing.  The committee’s three Democrats provided the no votes. The measure will now be scrutinized by another committee before heading to the House floor.

If it’s cleared by the full chamber, it’ll still have to go back to the Senate for approval because of the changes made in the House.  The bill will have roughly a month to progress through the entire process before the legislature ends its current session May 18th.

Munzlinger, Houghton hopeful Missouri working animal bill will pass (AUDIO)

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Compromise legislation that would prohibit Missouri cities and towns from banning the use of a working animal was heard Tuesday afternoon by a House committee in Jefferson City.

State Sen. Brian Munzlinger (R-Williamstown)

Missouri Senate Agriculture, Food Production and Outdoor Resources Committee Chairman Brian Munzlinger, R-Williamstown, testifies efforts to ban carriage rides in St. Louis prompted this bill.

Munzlinger emphasizes he’s worked with all parties on the bill’s language.

“This bill does not take away local control and the ability of the cities to make rules about working animals on public streets, especially when it comes to the health and welfare of the animals or the citizens,” Munzlinger testifies.

Munzlinger’s bill defines “working animal” as the use of any animal for the purpose of performing a specific duty in entertainment, transportation or educational exhibits.

Munzlinger notes the bill creates a definition that lawmakers have never had before. Livestock animals are not included in the definition.

During his testimony, Munzlinger emphasized multiple times that his legislation to prohibit cities and towns from banning the use of working animals still protects local control.

“So if the city of St. Louis feels that they need to say there should not be any horse-drawn carriages out in rush-hour traffic, that’s okay, as long as the rules and regulations are not intended to ban the whole industry,” says Munzlinger.

Munzlinger testified before the Missouri House Agriculture Policy Committee, which is chaired by veteran State Rep. Jay Houghton, R-Martinsburg.

Chairman Houghton hopes the compromise legislation will be approved by the end of session, which is May 18.

Houghton’s committee heard about 45 minutes of testimony Tuesday, including Missouri Farm Bureau’s testimony expressing concern with some of the bill’s language.

“The concerns that I’ve heard deals with a city or municipality imposing fees upon these folks that own working animals that could possibly keep them from doing business in a town,” Houghton says.

Munzlinger responded to Farm Bureau’s language concerns during the hearing, saying that the bill has been “out there” for four months.

Houghton tells Missourinet his policy is for the committee to hear a bill one week and vote on it the following week, indicating the committee will likely vote next week.

The Senate has already passed the bill, and Munzlinger and Houghton are both hopeful the House can pass the same version by the end of session.

Houghton admits time is a factor, with the session’s end one month away.

This is the eighth version of Munzlinger’s bill.

Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and House Ag Policy Committee Chairman Jay Houghton, R-Martinsburg, which was recorded on April 17, 2018 at the Statehouse in Jefferson City:

After passing the Missouri House, state Senators consider bill to fund broadband expansion

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A bill to expand rural high-speed internet access is making a run through the Missouri Senate after having cleared the House.

The proposal from Republican Representative Delus Johnson of St. Joseph would establish a grant program within the Department of Economic Development to expand broadband to unserved and under-served parts of Missouri.

The grants would provide 50% funding to build infrastructure that would offer internet download speeds of at least 10 megabits per second and an upload pace of no less that one megabit per second.  The grants could work with matching federal funding of 50%.

According to Representative Johnson, the legislation would work to achieve 90% coverage in the state and then seek to improve broadband speeds to underserved areas.

An unserved area is anyplace in Missouri where broadband access isn’t available.  Johnson says geographically 61% of the state is unserved right now, which impacts about a million people.

He says the 10-megabit download/1-megabit upload requirement is set to meet the standards set forth in two Federal Communications Commission (FCC) broadband grants that are available.

At a Senate committee hearing on his bill, Johnson projected that $2 billion in FCC broadband grants would be available soon.  He said the state grants would be based on money the legislature chose to appropriate for them.

A major stumbling block for delivery of broadband to unserved areas is the cost of getting it to those consumers, who are typically in rural locations.  Unserved areas lie in geographic spots that are often referred to as the “last mile” of internet infrastructure.

Johnson says he’s received estimates showing the cost of installing fiber-optic lines that provide at least the 10-megabit download/1-megabit upload times is $8,000 per mile.  But he said delivery of faster speeds could cost up to $22,000 per mile.

Richard Telthorst, President of the Missouri Telecommunications Industry Association (MTIA) spoke at the Senate’s panel hearing which went before the chamber’s Commerce, Consumer Protection, Energy and the Environment Committee.

Telthorst thinks it’s important that any broadband grant program does not exclude any provider or any available technology from being funded.  “It really ought to be open to everyone who’s got the capability to provide service, whether that be a telecom carrier, a cable company or an electric co-op, or whoever else might be eligible,” said Telthorst.

He warned that focusing on faster speeds in the grant program will cost more money and ultimately end up covering fewer unserved areas.

Telthorst said a possible solution to that issue would be to install a system that guarantees 10-megabit download/1-megabit upload times which could then be upgraded to produce faster speeds in the future.

He further said it would be important to avoid directing any state grant money to any of the numerous broadband expansion programs already in place that are receiving federal dollars, contending it would be a poor use of state funds.

Representatives for several other organizations who weighed in at the Senate committee hearing also said grant money should be reserved for projects that aren’t already subsidized.

The $1.3 trillion congressional omnibus bill to fund the government this year includes an additional $600 million for broadband expansion.  Telthorst thinks the state grant program that would be established by Johnson’s proposal would be in a perfect position to tap into the influx of those federal dollars.

“If we have this grant program already in place, that’s a wonderful way to attract those dollars to Missouri,” Telthorst said.  “Without the program in place, perhaps those dollars will go elsewhere.”

The FCC uses census blocks, the smallest geographic unit by which the FCC organizes data it collects from households, to establish the availability of broadband.

A problem with misrepresentation arises because a census block is determined to be served if any residents inside have access to broadband.  Telthorst suggested the problem can be dealt with by adding language to Johnson’s proposal that designates unserved areas within a census block.

Johnson has said his proposal is nearly identical to a program currently operating in Minnesota to expand broadband access.  BJ Tanksley, a representative from the Missouri Farm Bureau, says the state will have put a priority on faster speeds if it wants to keep up with download/upload goals set by Minnesota.

“We’ve been talking about 10/1 and 25/3 (in Missouri),” said Tanksley.  “Their state broadband goal (in Minnesota) is for everyone to have access to 100/100 by 2025, which isn’t that far out if you really think about it.  So, when we talk about speeds, we’re talking on a pretty low end compared to what other states are setting as goals.”

Daryl Dewey with the Missouri Cable Telecommunications Association echoed the sentiment that higher speeds need to be a focus of any broadband expansion program.

“To talk about the digital divide between urban and rural, well if you subsidize the build-out of 10/1 and everybody else is on a gigabit, you still have that same divide, said Dewey.  “You can’t operate a business on 10/1.”

Doug Galloway representing internet service provider CenturyLink said flexibility in broadband speeds should be written into the legislation.

“We can craft this so that it says if the federal government increases the speeds and provides funding, then this would automatically match that,” said Galloway.  “So, you’re not going to have a situation where you’re going to fund 10/1 and two years from the FCC wants to fund 25/3.  Then you come back and have to change this law.”

According to BroadbandNow, Missouri ranks 42nd in the United States for broadband access.

Justin Arnold, General Counsel of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said his organization supports the broadband expansion proposal, contending it would provide widespread benefits across rural Missouri.

“From our perspective, you’d see a broad impact on all sectors of the economy, not just small businesses and households, but health care and agriculture,” Arnold said.

No one spoke against Johnson’s bill to establish a broadband grant program in the Senate hearing.  The measure has time to make it through the legislature, depending on the attention it’s given by Senators during the final month of the current session.

Curls: farmers’ market bill will help Missouri agriculture and low-income seniors

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Legislation that would establish a Missouri senior farmers’ market nutrition program is expected to head to the House floor in Jefferson City.

State Sen. Kiki Curls (D-Kansas City)

The House Agriculture Policy Committee voted last week to approve the bill, which is sponsored by State Sen. Kiki Curls, D-Kansas City.

“It will increase the availability of more nutritious food for our seniors, increase the profitability of our local farmers and help to strengthen our local economies,” Curls testified Tuesday.

Curls’ legislation would require the Missouri Department of Agriculture (MDA) to apply for a federal grant to provide low-income seniors with vouchers that could be exchanged for eligible food at farmers’ markets and roadside stands.

A diverse coalition ranging from the Missouri Soybean Association to Empower Missouri testified for Curls’ bill last week.

The Missouri State Alliance of YMCAs and the American Heart Association also testified for it.

“Missouri is one of only seven states that do not participate in this worthwhile program,” Curls testifies. “All of Missouri’s neighboring states participate, putting Missouri farmers at a competitive disadvantage.”

Curls says investing in Missouri agriculture is always a great way to support economic development and to provide nutrition for low-income seniors.

The Missouri Senate has already approved Curls’ bill, which now heads to the House Rules Committee. It would then go to the House floor.

Senator Curls testifies that under the bill, a couple over the age of 60 with an annual household income less than or equal to $20,826 would be eligible.

The Silver Haired Legislature said in January that about 330,000 Missouri seniors would qualify for the legislation.

Copyright © 2018 · Missourinet

Both sides in Missouri right-to-work debate focus on jobs/wages (AUDIO)

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A Democratic state lawmaker from St. Louis is urging Missourians to vote against a right-to-work referendum, saying right-to-work is “wrong for Missouri.”

The sponsor of the right-to-work bill, however, says it would increase union jobs in Missouri.

State Rep. Bruce Franks speaks on the Missouri House floor on May 24, 2017 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at Missouri House Communications}

State Rep. Bruce Franks Jr., D-St. Louis, who opposes right-to-work, notes his father was a longtime union member.

“Right-to-work states usually have more unsafe workplaces as well as lower wages,” Franks says.

Right-to-work says a person cannot be required to join or refrain from joining a labor organization, as a condition of employment.

Franks rallied against right-to-work in late March outside the Statehouse in Jefferson City, with a few thousand labor union members.

“Unions have fought to get us 40-hour workweeks and overtime and all of the benefits that we now benefit from in our workforce,” says Franks.

Missourians will cast ballots on a right-to-work referendum in November, unless the Legislature designates a different date for Proposition A.

State Rep. Holly Rehder, R-Sikeston, the right-to-work bill sponsor, has filed legislation to move the election to August 7.

During a recent interview with Missourinet, House Economic Development Committee Chair Rehder says she’s looked at right-to-work states.

“Those states are the ones increasing in jobs and those states have union membership increasing, while Missouri has had union membership decreasing every single year for the last, what, 30 years,” Rehder said.

Missouri Governor Eric Greitens (R) campaigned in 2016 for right-to-work, and signed Rehder’s bill into law in February 2017.

During the 2017 bill-signing ceremony, Greitens said that from 1995-2015, the five fastest states for job growth were all right-to-work states.

Union members and their supporters gathered enough signatures to place the referendum on the statewide ballot, so Rehder’s bill is essentially on-hold until the ballot measure.

As for Representative Franks, his large district includes downtown St. Louis, along with large sections of both the north and south sides.

“I got strong union folks throughout the 78th (House) district. My dad was a 20-year Teamster, Local 688,” Franks says.

Franks’ district includes Anheuser-Busch.

About 60 percent of Missourians rejected a right-to-work ballot measure in 1978.

 

Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and State Rep. Bruce Franks Jr., which was recorded outside the Statehouse in Jefferson City on March 28, 2018:

 

Copyright © 2018 · Missourinet

Missouri Senate Ag Committee Chair optimistic about industrial hemp bill (AUDIO)

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The Missouri House Agriculture Policy Committee voted Tuesday in Jefferson City to approve legislation that would create an industrial hemp pilot program in Missouri.

State Sen. Brian Munzlinger (R-Williamstown)

The bipartisan vote was 11-2.

Senate Agriculture, Food Production and Outdoor Resources Committee Chairman Brian Munzlinger, R-Williamstown, the bill sponsor, tells Missourinet he’s optimistic it will pass.

“I think it would be a new agricultural product that Missouri can raise and one that they used to raise here in Missouri, you know, to help the war effort,” Munzlinger says.

He’s referring to World War II.

Both chambers have already approved industrial hemp bills, but only the House version contained language that the Missouri Highway Patrol “may perform aerial surveillance” to ensure that marijuana plants are not being cultivated near industrial hemp.

The House Ag Policy Committee, chaired by State Rep. Jay Houghton, R-Martinsburg, approved an amendment adding that provision on Tuesday, a provision that Munzlinger supports.

Munzlinger’s bill now heads to the House Rules Committee, before heading to the House floor.

Munzlinger says State Rep. Paul Curtman’s industrial hemp bill should be ready to go to the Missouri Senate floor soon.

Proponents and opponents of the legislation testified on Tuesday.

A southern Missouri food/health company called “Beyond Organics” supports the bill.

Lobbyist Brian Grace tells lawmakers that Chairman Munzlinger’s bill allows Missouri to capitalize on the ag component of hemp.

“I can go down the street right now to a grocery store and I can buy granola bars or protein powders or lotions that contain hemp,” Grace testifies. “None of that hemp is being grown in Missouri so Missouri farmers are missing out on that profit.”

While Grace testifies the bill is not a “steppingstone to legalizing marijuana,” retired Missouri state trooper Ed Moses tells the committee there have been shootings and “other criminal behavior” in Kentucky hemp fields.

Munzlinger’s bill would allow those licensed by the Missouri Department of Agriculture (MDA) to grow, cultivate and market industrial hemp.

He tells State Rep. Deb Lavender, D-Kirkwood, that applicants would undergo a fingerprint criminal history background check, under the bill.

“With marijuana out there and other things, I don’t know,” Munzlinger tells Lavender.

“Yeah, and I’m ok for the checking and perhaps paying a fee to be able to grow it,” Lavender responds.

Representative Lavender says she’s still disappointed that background checks are required to grow what she calls an ag product.

Under Munzlinger’s bill, permits could not be issued to anyone found guilty of any state or federal felony offense involving a controlled substance in the past five years.

Curtman, R-Pacific, the House sponsor of industrial hemp, says the legislation aims to “keep Missouri economic development dollars in Missouri.”

 

Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and Missouri Senate Ag Committee Chairman Brian Munzlinger, R-Williamstown, which was recorded on April 10, 2018 at the Statehouse in Jefferson City:

 

 

 

Nestle restores enthusiasm in northwest Missouri by purchasing Conagra

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The Conagra factory is by far the largest employer in northwest Missouri’s Trenton, according to Phil Tate. Conagra recently announced it was making final preparations to close the plant at the end of May – a devastating blow to the town of 6,000 and its neighboring communities. Conagra has been shuttering its doors and cutting costs at several of its factories across the country.

Photo courtesy of the Trenton Republican-Times

Tate, a former Missouri Department of Economic Development official, and Micah Landis of the North Central Missouri Development Alliance have been working quietly and tirelessly for several months to find a company to not only save the Conagra plant, but in many ways, save the community. That day finally came this month when Nestle announced it has reached an agreement with Conagra to take over the facility on June 1 – keeping the assembly line flowing without any disruptions.

According to Landis, a job fair held in Trenton last Thursday has yielded the hiring of more than 100 people and the company plans to hire another 20 salaried workers in the next two weeks. That figure is not the nearly 300 jobs once at the plant, but it has a great impact on many area households and businesses.

The factory that has employed nearly 300 people with good-paying jobs has brought stability to the area’s main street businesses, real estate, utilities, and school districts. Some of that stability has been lost by Conagra’s planned closure, but the community can now work to restore what has gone astray.

You can hear the undying relief and gratefulness in the voices of Landis, Tate and State Rep. Rusty Black, R-Chillicothe, as they talk about Nestle’s acquisition. Tate, also a former Democratic State Representative from Gallatin, tells Missourinet the community feels like a huge burden has been lifted off its shoulders.

“I’ve worked a lot of projects for the Department of Economic Development where went into Kansas City and announced maybe 500 new jobs or 700 new jobs. I’ll tell you what, when you come in to a small community like Gallatin or even one larger than Trenton and announce 150 jobs, you will get a whole lot more enthusiasm and energy than you will in Kansas City or St. Louis for the bigger numbers jobs because it makes a big difference in a small community,” Tate says. “Nestle is such an outstanding corporation with a real community conscience. That’s the reason we were able to negotiate this kind of a favorable agreement for the community.”

State Rep. Rusty Black speaks on the Missouri House floor on February 21, 2018 (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Black agrees that Nestle has lifted the spirits of the people.

“Boy this was a cloud over the community. No matter what good thing happened, this was putting a shadow over it. The attitude with the people I’m around have totally changed. This is more than just jobs for that area. This is an important economic engine within Grundy County and within the City of Trenton,” he says.

According to 2016 statistics from the Missouri Department of Economic Development, the average annual income of individuals living in Grundy County is about $33,000.

Black thinks Nestle saving the factory will spark an increased focus on area businesses.

“I think it’s going to cause a new emphasis on ‘Let’s go out and try to do something great or let’s try to help another company be stronger in our community. It’s very important to retain what we have, especially in the area I’m from because it’s not as fluid,” Black tells Missourinet. “New companies don’t show up and just open doors overnight in that rural area.”

A negative impact that could have been felt by the area from a plant closure would have been by way of utility costs.

“Forty percent of Trenton municipal utility’s revenue, forty percent came from this plant. If this plant had closed, you can only imagine what kind of increases there would’ve been on the population of the people of Trenton to make up those differences,” Tate says.

The company is hiring full-time employees with the possibility of adding more lines and workers in time. The full-time approach is welcomed in an era when many manufacturing businesses are hiring temporary workers to avoid paying benefits and arguably spending greater costs re-training new employees because of an increased revolving door.

Tate says Nestle’s hiring strategy has always been to hire full-time staff. The approach also brings a sense of security to workers who want something permanent, instead of 90 to 180-day employment, for example.

“Being able to come back with 150 jobs at a very similar pay rate and the health care and benefits as well, is going to take care of by far the largest number of people who would have been unemployed,” Tate says.

The Missouri Department of Economic Development tells Missourinet the average annual salary position of a Nestle worker in the small rural town will be more than $41,000. The Conagra plant is an organized union factory and Nestle plans to continue operating it as one. Nestle has assured Tate that it has both union and non-union factories and it has no intention of “union busting” the Trenton location.

Tate and Black are also thrilled there are no incentive “giveaways” to the company. Through negotiations, a local agreement has been made of up to $75 million in Chapter 100 industrial revenue bonds that can be purchased by the company. Tate says these bonds mean there is no risk to the community. The bonds ensure that Trenton area taxing entities will continue to receive the same amount of tax revenue from the company for the first five years and a slightly lower amount for the following five years.

The Ohio-based company is starting off with a $55 million project but it wants bonding capacity of up to $75 million. Tate says that indicates Nestle is planning on additional equipment and improvements to the building.

“That just means more employment and more jobs for the people of the region,” he says. “We think that is very much of a distinct possibility over the next few years,” Tate says.

The Missouri Department of Economic Development is also allowing $2 million in incentives paid for through tax withholdings – not through the state budget – which would otherwise be collected by the company. Tate thinks the state could also do some additional funding in job training for the company.

Nestle’s ownership of the Trenton factory is not its first rodeo there. The company owned the location years ago, but it’s unclear when and why Nestle parted ways. The renewed relationship with the northwest Missouri region is one that Black says has ended the mindset that “the sky is falling” and will instead give a much-needed boost to the community.

Copyright © 2018 · Missourinet

British official emphasizes free trade and security in address to Missouri lawmakers

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The British Consul General in Chicago called for a free trade agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom, during an address this week to the Missouri House in Jefferson City.

British Consul General John Saville (left) listens as Senator Roy Blunt addresses the Missouri House on April 4, 2018. House Speaker Todd Richardson is on Mr. Saville’s left (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

British Consul General John Saville tells House members that the United Kingdom is the fourth-largest export market for Missouri companies.

“Missouri goods and services exports to the U.K. are worth well over $1 billion annually and support over 8,000 jobs here,” Saville says.

Saville says a trade working group has been formed.

He tells lawmakers that about 150 British companies currently employ more than 23,000 Missourians, adding that Missouri-based companies Monsanto and Emerson Electric employ thousands in the United Kingdom.

St. Louis-based Monsanto’s website describes the company as “a global modern agriculture company.” Monsanto has facilities in 69 nations.

Ferguson-based Emerson’s website says its “newly energized focus” is on its two core business platforms: automation solutions and commercial and residential solutions.

Saville says about one million people in the U.K. work for American companies, and that about one million Americans work for British companies.

He says tariffs between the two nations are low.

Saville also addressed security issues during Wednesday’s address, describing the United States as the United Kingdom’s greatest ally.

He says Missouri is the “birthplace of the special relationship” between the U.S. and the United Kingdom.

“Later today, I’ll be following in the footsteps of Winston Churchill when he visited Westminster College (in Fulton) at the invitation of President and Missourian Harry Truman over 70 years ago to deliver his Sinews of Peace,” says Saville.

The speech was later called the “Iron Curtain” speech.

Then-President Truman (D) joined Churchill at the 1946 event at Westminster College, which drew about 30,000 people to Fulton.

During a 2017 interview with Missourinet, former U.S. Sen. John Danforth noted that Churchill did not call it the “Iron Curtain” speech.

“He (Churchill) called the speech ‘Sinews of Peace’, meaning binding the world together, the post-World War II world together, free nations together, in the face of the threat of the Soviet Union and the Iron Curtain,” Danforth told Missourinet in 2017.

During Wednesday’s address in Jefferson City, Saville blasted Russia for recent actions, noting 60 Russian diplomats were expelled from the United States.

Bagpipe players from the Boone County Fire Protection District perform in the Missouri House on April 4, 2018 (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Saville tells lawmakers the partnership between the U.S. and the United Kingdom “is vital to international peace and security.”

The Boone County Fire Protection District’s bagpipe players were in the House chamber, performing before Mr. Saville’s address.

Missouri Congressman defends Trump tariffs: “China has been a bully on the playground for a long time”

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Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-Missouri, says President Trump’s method of negotiating with other countries is to “grab them by the neck and shake them a little bit to get their attention.” He tells Missourinet affiliate KWIX in Moberly that Trump is a businessman who thinks at 30,000 feet and long term. Luetkemeyer, whose district covers 13 counties east-central Missouri, is defending Trump for threatening $50 billion and possibly another $100 billion in tariffs on Chinese imports.

Missouri Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer

“You have to be watching out for a whole lot more things than just a straight tariff war going on between the two countries. The Chinese have been big bullies on the playground for a long, long time. They have subsidized their industries to try and undermine ours, our economy and our workers. This is just the president trying to push back against that bully,” he says. “These guys are some bad actors. The president is trying to get their attention to get them to the table.”

Luetkemeyer, who serves as the U.S. House Small Business Committee vice chair, says China often “slips in the back door” and tries to buy American companies.

“If they (China) can’t buy it one on one in this country, they’ll buy a Canadian company and try and get in that way,” he says.

China is fighting back by proposing $50 billion in tariffs on U.S. products including wheat, pork, beef, corn, cotton, automobiles and aircraft.

“He (Trump) starts at the top with some sort of big, rash statement and then sort of gets down to where he wants to get down to, which is in this situation, a negotiation with the Chinese to be able to stop the nonsense of trying to undermine our industries here,” Luetkemeyer says.

He says it doesn’t make sense for China to impose tariffs on American corn and soybeans. Luetkemeyer says China has built up its agricultural production through hogs and cattle to the point the country can’t do without corn and soybeans.

“There are some other markets in the world they could go to, but they get huge amounts of it from us. So, it’s going to be hard to replace that amount. If they don’t, they’d just raise the price of the corn and beans to their own producers by 25%. So, it’s going to have an inflationary effect on their own economy,” says Luetkemeyer.

Opponents of Trump’s tariffs say his approach could cripple the U.S. economy for many years.

Trump’s tariffs are not set to take effect for 60 days.