It has been said that economic development starts at home. While the three legs of the economic development stool—business retention and expansion, business recruitment, and new business development—go hand in hand, the starting point for a
successful economic development strategy should be keeping major employers.
Our cover story this month provides a case study on precisely this. Brown Shoe Chairman and CEO Ron Fromm announced in April that not only would the company be building new facilities to continue its 130- year HQ relationship with St. Louis, but that Brown Shoe also would be relocating its Famous Footwear division here from Madison, Wis.
Brown Shoe went through an extensive evaluation of its options, including staying and expanding in the St. Louis region, accepting an attractive offer to move from Dallas, or moving its entire operations to Madison. The successful outcome was the result of a strong team effort, including the City of Clayton, St. Louis County, the State of Missouri, and the RCGA working in tandem with Brown Shoe and its development partners, U.S. Equities and Clayco. The new Brown headquarters, within a $568 million mixed-use development, will ultimately employ more than 1,300 and will be a wonderful addition to the region.
With a number of mergers and acquisitions of major companies that have taken place in recent years, it is worth noting that since the turn of this century St. Louis has actually expanded its Fortune 1,000 headquarters from 17 in 2000 to 21 today.
This month's issue of St. Louis Commerce Magazine also takes an extended look at information technology and the vital importance of IT to a region. Six top IT executives give their thoughts on the state
of IT in the St. Louis region
in a roundtable discussion. Participants include: Mark Showers, chief information
officer, Monsanto; Gil Hoffman, senior vice president, chief information officer, Maritz; Mary Freeman, senior director, Microsoft; Siva Sankar, IT
project manager, Boeing; Pat Smith Thurman, vice president, group head, MasterCard Worldwide; and Randy Schilling, CEO, Quilogy.
This month's issue also examines an initiative by RCGA and a number of civic partners called Greater St. Louis Works. This initiative aims to ensure that St. Louis is a great place for IT talent. This IT issue of Commerce also explores how the media is making the most of technology in a world of 24/7 access; looks at high-tech healthcare; discusses the importance of IT with national site selection consultant Tim Nitti of KLG; and provides an inside look at the Newberry Group, which recently converted to an employee-owned corporation.
This month's "Day in the Work Life"
features one of higher education's newest leaders in our region, Chancellor Zelema Harris of St. Louis Community College. She brings experience and energy to the unique and important role that the community
college, the second largest education system in Missouri, plays in our region.
This month's "In the Spotlight" features Bryan Doerr, chief technology officer for Savvis.ÊBryanÊprovides technology leadership for infrastructure and product development, M&A support, and next generation platform evaluation.
Finally, this month's issue acknowledges a milestone for our fellow civic organization Downtown St. Louis Partnership. Recognizing the critical importance of a vital city
center to a competitive region, we commend the good work that Downtown St. Louis Partnership is performing for the region
and wish Downtown St. Louis Inc. a happy
50th birthday.
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
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