Southwest Missouri News

Joplin

Pillsbury plans expansion

Strained economic times have meant that many southwest Missouri companies have been forced to undertake layoffs. However, at Joplin's Pillsbury Co. plant, a $12.6 million expansion is planned.

Pillsbury has announced plans to build a three-story, 20,000-square-foot addition that will house a process line extension.

"We are confident of Team Joplin's ability to successfully construct and operate this expansion," said Randall Baker, Pillsbury vice president for operations, in a press release.

The expansion is expected to be complete by November. The plant currently has 12 production lines and employs 499 people.

Minneapolis-based Pillsbury is part of General Mills, and makes a variety of grocery items, frozen foods and refrigerated dough products.

Neosho

Applegate Steel opens plant

R.G. Applegate Steel Co. Inc. recently held the grand opening of its Elk River operation in Neosho.

The facility manufactures heavy-duty cattle handling, containment and feeder equipment. The 30,000-square-foot plant will employ approximately 25 people.

Chamber seeks award nominees

The Neosho Area Chamber of Commerce's Agriculture Committee is seeking nominations for the Seventh Annual Agribusiness of the Year Award.

The award will be presented at the Newton County Fair, which is scheduled for July 12-14. Businesses in Newton and McDonald counties are eligible.

SEC charges execs with fraud

Al Dunlap and several other former top executives of Sunbeam Corp. were formally charged with fraud in a lawsuit filed May 15 by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The federal agency alleges that top Sunbeam officials, led by Dunlap, "engaged in a fraudulent scheme to create the illusion of a successful restructuring of Sunbeam and thus facilitate the sale of the company at an inflated price."

Sunbeam operates a plant in Neosho, and is one of the largest employers in Newton County.

Dunlap became chief executive officer of the struggling appliance company in 1996. He quickly slashed half the jobs and closed many of the company's factories. More than 100 jobs were lost in Neosho, when the corporate headquarters of Sunbeam Outdoor Products was moved from Neosho to Boca Raton, Fla.

The SEC alleges that investors lost billions of dollars because of Dunlap's manipulation, which drove the company's stock to more than $52 per share at its peak.

Dunlap and others would have "reaped tens of millions of dollars from the sale of their Sunbeam securities" if the company had sold at the inflated price, the SEC alleges.

According to the federal lawsuit, at least $60 million of the $189 million the company claimed in "record earnings" in 1997 came from accounting fraud.

Besides seeking civil penalties of up to $100,000 per violation, the SEC also wants Dunlap and the others named in the suit to be barred from ever again acting as officers or directors in any public company.

Webb City

Property owners liable for utilities

The Webb City City Council has approved on first reading an ordinance that will authorize the city attorney to file suit against property owners in order to recover payments their tenants fail to make for water and sewer service.

The ordinance also allows the city to seek attorneys' fees from landlords as determined by the court.

State law gives communities the authority to file suit against an occupant or owner to recover any money due for water and sewer services.