Jefferson County is “positioned at the right place and at the right time for historic opportunity and success,” County Executive Dennis Gannon said in his State of the County speech on Monday at Herculaneum High School.
About 280 people attended the event, sponsored by the Jefferson County Growth Association and other local organizations and businesses.
Gannon recapped the county government’s accomplishments in 2022 during his speech.
Among those highlights were:
■ Progress toward developing a container-on-vessel port in Herculaneum.
■ The announcement that the James Hardie building materials company will build a manufacturing plant in Crystal City.
■ An uptick in employment over the previous year.
“Our numbers reflect that the unemployment rate at the end of the year was just 2.2 percent,” better than 3.6 percent the previous year.
“Jefferson County’s greatest asset is its people,” Gannon said. “We should invest more in workforce development to drive the number of people employed in our county even higher.”
■ Movement toward widening I-55 from two to three lanes from Pevely to south of Festus.
“My administration put on a full-court press with our area legislators along with stakeholders, and we were able to move up the timeline on this project,” he said.
A contract to award the design firm, which will hire a contractor, is expected later this year, he said.
Construction would begin sometime after that and be completed in 2026.
■ A project to build a crime lab for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office also is proceeding, Gannon said.
“Our goal is to break ground on a new crime lab this year,” he said.
■ The county’s Animal Resource Center reported a 55 percent increase in adoptions of dogs and a 53.3 percent increase in cat adoptions over 2021.
“I think that’s pretty good,” he said.
Gannon stressed the importance of collaboration to continue the county’s growth.
“After all is said and done, the real state of Jefferson County is what you and I make it,” he said. “Everyone has a role to play.”
Dan Govero, president of the Jefferson County Growth Association, told the audience that he had suffered a stroke at work last spring and was rushed to the hospital by attentive ambulance district personnel, which helped him recover.
“I’m grateful to them because I’m still here because of them,” he said. “You’ve heard me say before that shopping Jefferson County can save your life. I’m a testament to that. I’m thankful that the ambulance workers were gifted with quality training because (the district) had the taxes to pay for that.”
Herculaneum High students Carmen Weier and CJ Asinger emceed the event.
The Herculaneum High Jazz Band provided musical entertainment, and student Brooklyn Buckner sang the national anthem. The cheer and dance teams performed, and members of Cub Scout Pack 467 presented the colors.
Afterward, Govero said he was happy to see the event return to a more normal format. Because of COVID-19, seating was limited at last year’s event, and it was held virtually the previous year.
“(This year) we were only limited by the size of the venue,” he said. “We were sold out, and I think it went really well.”
Dunklin R-5 Superintendent Clint Freeman thanked the staff and volunteers who helped set up and work the morning affair.
“We probably had over 60 volunteers, both students and adults,” he said. “I don’t know how we’re going to top it next year. I guess we’re going to have to start thinking about it soon.”