CU knows where its customers are coming from

A total of 11,159 new utility customers migrated into Springfield in 1999.

And City Utilities knows where they lived before.

The utility prepares data that shows whence its customers move: The answer is mostly from within Missouri, but Arkansas, California, Kansas and Texas are frequent previous addresses for new utility customers in Springfield.

The numbers reflect gross new customers, or the number of new meter hookups, said Ernest DeCamp, spokesman for the utility.

The utility tallies the new meters monthly, then prepares a 12-month tally each January.

The map is available to all comers, and so far those in real estate, and at the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce and city of Springfield have requested the data.

Greg Williams, vice president of economic development for the chamber, said the organization uses the information as a point of interest.

"It is interesting, but it's more of a conversational piece," Williams said.

The chamber does get inquiries about the data from time to time, and it shares the map with its members, Williams said.

The map reveals that most new CU customers come from other places in Missouri 7,379 of them in 1999. States with high totals of transfers in 1999 include Arkansas, with 402; California, with 378; Kansas, with 340; and Texas, with 322.

The chamber and the city get raw data each month from CU on migration, DeCamp said.

Brian Williams, business partner for loans for The Bank, said "we use anything we can get our hands on" about relocation data.

He said he did not know whether The Bank had used the map itself. Williams did say, however, that it relies heavily on the demographic information provided by the chamber.