Economic director outlines Cameron’s building problem

Although nestled along two busy highways in I-35 and US Highway 36, Cameron’s biggest deterrent in attracting potential businesses may be its buildings, or lack thereof. 

Economic Development of Cameron Director Terry Rumery said nearly 85 percent of their leads in attracting manufacturers to set up shop in Cameron, but lack of available building space necessary for large-scale manufacturing. 

“They don’t build the manufacturing plant; they build the shell building. [Municipalities] can build whatever size building they decide - 50,000 (square feet), 150,000, 250,000 and up. All you do is build a shell that has light insulation and what I call light warehouse lighting … No plumbing, no floor and you can put in a dock door if you want,” Rumery said.

Rumery admitted constructing a spec building with taxpayer dollars has its risks. However, it also gets municipalities passed the first obstacle in attracting manufacturers. 

“You take a large risk, and it takes a long time to do it, but it could turnover in no time … We started with a spec building (in Chillicothe), and I may be the only person in the United States that’s ever done this, but we sold the building twice in the same day. I didn’t know I had,” We had two companies - Geared for Sports and APT Technologies,” Rumery said. “We were actually in Jefferson City doing a presentation for APT, and at dinner the CFO told me ‘We’ve decided to take the building.’ We were just ecstatic. It had sat there for three years or five years. My secretary got a fax and laid it in my seat from Geared for Sports with a fax that came at 2:30 p.m. Well, the 2:30 p.m. (offer) wins. What do you do? We built another spec building for APT and they immediately went into it.”

When it comes to constructing a spec building in Cameron, Rumery said many officials may be reluctant because of a long-held misconception regarding a previous Cameron foray into spec building construction.

“They had a problem here, there is a bad taste, which is mostly all misinformation. They had a spec building here. They all think they lost money, but they didn’t. They actually made money. People like [Cameron Fire Department Chief Mike O’Donnell] can tell you all about that. That’s where Eagan’s was. It was a spec building. That’s where the marijuana manufacturing is now. That was a spec building. They’re getting,” Rumery said.

As for the current state of spec buildings in Cameron, the old Eagan’s building may soon be an economic boon for Cameron. Bloom Medicinals, LLC, which has a medical marijuana dispensary in Cameron, recently began seeing the first yields of its medical marijuana operation. 

“It’s exciting. We have our own strains and cultivation going on. They’re growing from seed to sale. All of the products that are going to be coming out of the facility will come right here,” Cameron Bloom Medicinals General Manager Zac Coombs said. “There will be a whole range of different strains and flower coming out of there, as well as the production side of it which will make infused foods as well as cartridges for vape carts and concentrates … We’re also going to be filling other dispensaries around the metro as well as our own locations throughout the state.”