Moberly remains hopeful for future business

Roofing manufacturer GAF’s sudden announcement that it will no longer build a factory in the industrial park area of Moberly left many city officials in disbelief. Friday morning, the Moberly Area Chamber of Commerce met for its monthly meeting, but there was very little talk of GAF’s decision to back out of building.

State Rep. Chuck Basye was at the meeting. He said he was shocked when he learned the news of GAF.

“When you’re talking about jobs that pay 50, 60-thousand dollars a year, that’s a lot of money that the community could have benefited from, so it’s very disappointing,” Basye said.

Basye said the GAF factory would have created even more than the promised 125 jobs with employment in trucking and railroad transportation. He said local businesses and retails may have benefited as well. He believes conflicts between GAF and Missouri’s Department of Natural Resources over permits is what caused the roofing company to change its plans to build.

“It’s always disappointing when un-elected bureaucrats, as they say, get involved and throw in problems to keep things from happening,” he said.

ABC 17 reached out to DNR, but the department did not return calls for comment.

Despite the loss of a big business, Davide Gaines, Vice President of Moberly Area Economic Development, remains optimistic for the future.

“Business is thriving despite the growth that GAF promised is not going to materialize,” said Gaines.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate for Moberly in April 2015 was 6.2%, while the national average was lower at 5.4%. April’s figures show improvement from March 2015 when the unemployment rate was 6.9%. The city’s numbers have not yet been announced for the month of May.

Gaines said the loss of promised jobs by GAF will not affect the unemployment rate because no one was ever employed at the facility. He is confident Moberly will be able to bring new work to the area and says the state is an attractive area for businesses.

“You can get an affordable, quality workforce and you can service markets between Los Angeles and New York and Montreal and Mexico City and you can do that from right here in the middle of the country.”