Leroy Wright not only graces the cover of this month’s St. Louis Commerce, but his cellular success was also just featured in a major story in the July 5 issue of Forbes magazine. In both pieces, Wright is singled out as an entrepreneur who has created his own opportunities. Forbes points to Wright’s tenacity as one of the reasons for his achievement. “When banks refused him a loan, Wright hit up people he had done business with, raising $125,000. ‘They were impressed with my salesmanship,’” he says in the story.
Wright is one of many of St. Louis’ growing number of entrepreneurs who are making the St. Louis region stand out as a center for high-tech firms. The Forbes article profiles other St. Louis area entrepreneurial businesses as well, AeroTech Service Group, Cutting Edge Optronics, World Wide Technology, Growth Networks and AP Materials. (For more on the Forbes story, see page 12).
In another national publication, Upstart, a bi-monthly supplement to Telephony magazine, the region’s telecommunications gurrus were featured in an article entitled, “Wish You Were Here” with the subhead, “Wondering where the latest hotbed of savvy upstarts is? Try St. Louis.”
In this eight-page cover story, writer Sarah Schmelling focuses on veteran St. Louis-based telecommunications entrepreneur Bob Brooks, founder of such highly successful companies as CenCom Cable and Brooks Fiber. Schmelling notes, “Believe it or not, St. Louis has fueled the creation of a surprisingly large crop of splashy new telecom carriers with a wide range of services.”
The article, which appears in the May 31 issue, also features interviews with key executives of St. Louis-based telecom companies, such as Digital Broadcast Network (DBN), Gabriel Communications and Savvis. Jim Roberts of DBN notes, “St. Louis is becoming the hub for the digital railroad.” (See page 14).
These are just the most recent instances in which the St. Louis region has been recognized nationally for its commitment to encouraging new business growth. St. Louis has been on Entrepreneur magazine’s top 10 places for small business four of the past five years, ranking second in the nation in 1998 in their annual Dun & Bradstreet assessment. Inc. magazine recently placed St. Louis among the Top 10 areas for growing firms, and Black Enterprise magazine named St. Louis one of six new business meccas for African-Americans. In fact, in June, Black Enterprise named World Wide Technology National Company of the Year (see page 13). Earlier this year, Industry Week and Computerworld similarly ranked the St. Louis region in the Top 10 in the nation. The Christian Science Monitor also recently dubbed St. Louis the “Silicon Valley of Biotech” in a front-page story.
This national attention confirms St. Louis’ continuing emergence as an “entrepreneurial hot bed.” The region also claims other shining examples of cutting-edge medical technology. In particular is the development of a diagnostic imaging tool called positron emission tomography or PET. PET traces its roots to St. Louis, where a team of researches at Washington University’s Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology developed the first PET instrument, which detects the existence of tumors as small as five millimeters, increasing the probability of correct diagnosis and treatment. There are only 150 PET scanning devices in use worldwide, six of which are in St. Louis. (See page 30). This technology, along with the region’s entrepreneurial excellence are just some of the recent developments that portrays the region as a picture of “good health.”
Richard C.D. Fleming
President and Chief Executive Officer
St. Louis Regional Commerce and Growth Association
