Business View Civil Municipal June 2023

144 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 6 Corporation, which then went on to create a spec building. Several failed businesses later, the Perryville Development Corporation invested in a startup named Gilster-Mary Lee, which is now one of the largest private food manufacturers in the country, and they opened a factory here in Perryville. So that was a real beginning catalyst for us many years ago.” Since that time, the Perryville Development Corporation has worked to bring other large manufacturers, including TG Missouri, a tier one auto parts manufacturer that has expanded to 1,700 employees and has over 1.3 million square feet under roof in Perryville today . “There have been other industries and countless companies that we’ve really been blessed with,” Buerck adds. “Among other things, we’re the number one county in the state of Missouri for hardwood exports. We have very strong natural resources, everything from trees to stone. We have two large stone companies that literally send their products all over the country. One of