Governor visits candle company in Nixa to focus on success of exports

August 26, 2011|by videographer Robin Yancey, KY3 News | ryancey@ky3.com

NIXA, Mo. -- Mostly Memories Candles Company is an example of how exporting products is important to Missouri's economy. Ten percent of the sales from the family business are due to exports.

Gov. Jay Nixon visited the company on Friday morning.

“What started in an attic in Springfield almost 20 years ago has grown into the thriving business we see today, with clients across country and around the world, and this is the kind of prosperity we must bring to companies across Missouri so that the people of the world continue to know the quality behind those three words: ‘Made in Missouri,’" the governor said.

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Edited news release from the governor's office:

NIXA, Mo. -- A key component to job creation is continued export growth among companies in Missouri, Nixon said during a visit to Mostly Memories Candles Company, a family-owned business that attributes more than 10 percent of its sales each year to exports. Because of companies like Mostly Memories, Missouri’s exports for 2011 are up nearly $1 billion over the same period last year.

Mostly Memories Candles Company is one example of how a small, family-owned business has been able to thrive in Missouri by exporting its products to customers overseas, the governor said. The state’s international exports are up by 13 percent through the first two quarters of 2011, after increasing an impressive 35 percent during 2010. To continue the success of export growth and job creation in Missouri, Gov. Nixon urged the legislature to pass a Made in Missouri Jobs Package during the upcoming special session of the General Assembly, which will begin Sept. 6.

“To help more Missouri businesses achieve this level of success, I’m calling on the General Assembly to pass a bipartisan, Made in Missouri jobs bill to provide the economic tools needed to help more local businesses create jobs and grow,” Nixon said. “Working together we can continue to help more Missourians find work, while balancing our budget and holding the line of taxes.”

Mostly Memories Candles Company began in an attic in a Springfield in 1993, and has since grown into a successful business located in Nixa, with clients across the country and throughout the globe. Owned and operated by David Aguirre and his family, Mostly Memories prides itself on creating hand-made products produced in the United States. All of the company’s poured candles are made with an environmentally friendly soy-blend wax and use lead-free wicks.

Mostly Memories has been working with the Missouri Department of Economic Development’s International Trade & Investment Office since 2009 to identify distributors in Japan, South Korea and China, in addition to its exports in Thailand and Mexico. Approximately 13 percent of the company’s annual sales are attributed to exports.

Nixon called a special session of the Missouri General Assembly to pass a bipartisan jobs package that will foster growth in science and technology industries and expand Missouri exports, along with passing tax credit reform legislation to pay for these additional investments and ensure continued fiscal responsibility.

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