Apropos of the August issue of St. Louis Commerce Magazine being the annual information technology issue, our cover story features Bob Reynolds, chairman, president and CEO of the St. Louis headquartered Fortune 500 Company, Graybar. Not only has Graybar become a national and international industry leader as a distributor of high-quality components, equipment and materials for the electrical and telecommunications industries, but it has done so in part because of its investment in technology. In fact, Graybar was the recipient of the annual Spirit of St. Louis Technology Award in 2004 in recognition of its $100 million infrastructure investment in an enterprise resource planning system. In our cover story, Bob Reynolds articulates how Graybar’s new technologies have enhanced their business model. Continuing on the theme of IT, this month’s special issue takes an in-depth look at the role that IT is playing in the overall regional economy. RCGA chief economist Bryan Bezold does a fascinating analysis of how the St. Louis region stacks up against the rest of the country in various aspects of IT. St. Louis stacks up quite well. Chronicling a remarkable St. Louis IT success, Brian Hook’s article “Express Scripts: Fortune 500 Goes Back to School” examines not only the new corporate headquarters of a rapidly expanding tech-based company, but also the unique partnership that Express Scripts has formed with the University of Missouri—St. Louis. Express Scripts is the largest Fortune 500 Company to locate its headquarters on a university campus. Other perspectives on IT in St. Louis in this month’s issue include: >> Insights into a relatively new IT Coalition in St. Louis and the broader efforts in innovation in the region through efforts such as Innovate St. Louis Inc. >> A story on an entrepreneurial company that is developing IT talent in rural Missouri in an ongoing effort too “onshore” rather than “offshore” IT employment. >> An examination of the future workforce from the perspective of the Missouri Math, Engineering, Technology and Science Coalition, and related efforts to improve the performance of elementary and high school students in math and sciences. >> A look at how IT is helping to deliver healthcare to remote locations, allowing doctors and nurses to monitor patients from hundreds of miles away. >> An article on sequencing genomes underscores the unique IT strength that Washington University’s Genome Sequencing Center plays as one of the three Human Genome Sequencing Centers in the nation. >> A look at how the St. Louis tech community is helping the non-profit sector through “technology philanthropy.” >> Background on OneMedPlace, a unique application of IT for promoting efforts on biotech, health and medical technology companies. >> A profile of Ram Bandi, president and CEO of Ramtek, an IT consulting company; the 35-year-old’s goal is to expand his company worldwide. From a facility standpoint, From the Ground Up this month examines the emergence of major data centers for the expanding IT needs of St. Louis’ companies. Taste of the Region features a return visit from Lester Miller of Busch’s Grove fame. This time we feature Lester’s Sports Bar and Grill and the unique technologies of his $500,000 audio-visual system that is the centerpiece of Miller’s new high tech sports bar and restaurant. And finally, this month’s Spotlight wraps up the IT theme with technology guru Patrick McNamee, CIO for Express Scripts. He talks about why he returned to St. Louis to lead the Fortune 500’s IT. We hope you enjoy reading this issue of St. Louis Commerce Magazine. As always, please send your comments and suggestions to us at dfleming@stlrcga.org. RICHARD C.D. FLEMING Publisher St. Louis Commerce Magazine

August 2007 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Bob Reynolds Shane Mayes UMSL STARS Dr. Gregory Ewald - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - www.stlrcga.org - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - U.S. Cellular Taste of St. Louis Central Institute for the Deaf Ian Patterson Patrick McNamee - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -