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ACROSS
THE BOARD
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World
Trade Center/Saint Louis Enhancing the region’s global competitiveness.
By Pam Droog
2004 will be an important year for the St. Louis region, as
it commemorates the 100th anniversary of the 1904 World’s Fair
and, hopefully, hosts the semi-annual gathering of the World
Trade Centers Association. “All 330 World Trade Centers from
more than 100 countries convene twice a year in a location throughout
the world, like Trieste, Italy or Osaka, Japan,” says Robert
J. Frueh, executive director of the World Trade Center/Saint
Louis. “It’s a truly grand event that could easily bring 600
international executives to St. Louis in a most momentous year.”
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Seated,
left to right: Randy Myers, Garnett Smith, Jane
Peterson, Bruce Adaire, Dr. Seung Kim, Robert
Frueh, Joe Koenig, B.J. King, Kevin Whitehead,
Max Summers Standing, left to right: Fred Bartelsmeyer,
Diane Beffa, Bruce Buckland, Jorge Toro, Norm
Thomas, Leonard Guarraia, Joe Roldan, Chris Gutierrez,
Stanley Raskas, Edward Albert, Bill St. John,
Terry Brewer, Alfredo Legoretta, Dick McWard,
Tom Bottini, Voytek Zmijewski
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Between now and that notable year, the World Trade Center/Saint
Louis will continue to help regional businesses identify and
compete for profitable trade overseas. “We are a full-service
trade organization, not just an export promotion shop,” Frueh
explains. “The primary focus is to serve as an information clearinghouse.
Our market research component provides quick and concise answers
to companies’ everyday trade questions as they seek to expand
their activities into overseas markets.”
The seven-year-old organization’s 250 regional clients are served
by a full-time staff of seven, and guided by a 46-member board
of advisors, mainly from the private sector. The board is led
by Seung H. Kim, professor of finance and international business
and director of the Institute of International Business at the
School of Business and Administration at Saint Louis University.
Kim, a founding member of the World Trade Center/Saint Louis
advisory board, says he had been teaching at Saint Louis University
nearly 30 years when he realized “something was lacking here.”
He explains, “Although St. Louis had perhaps a thousand companies
involved in international business, we didn’t have a central
coordinating body to support these, particularly small and mid-size
businesses.” Kim had visited other World Trade Centers, in New
Orleans, Atlanta, Dallas, San Francisco, New York, Seoul and
Taiwan, and envisioned a World Trade Center in St. Louis.
His vision became a reality led by a diverse advisory board.
“The board is diverse by design,” Frueh says. “They bring to
the table years of experience, running their own businesses
or managing international divisions of companies. They offer
a unique perspective on how a regional agenda for international
trade should be carried forward.”
It’s also a large board, representing a large region. “In addition,
the size of the board recognizes the intense travel schedules
of our members,” Frueh says. “It’s not uncommon for up to half
of them to be out of the country when we meet. But that’s the
type of board this organization needs, that is, an actively
engaged board that truly does international business while serving.”
Members serve three-year terms that are staggered so one-third
of the board is reviewed for renomination every year. There
are no formal term limits. New members are nominated by the
executive committee. Board members meet quarterly.
“We focus primarily on operational and strategic issues that
will drive the quality of the membership,” Frueh says. “Also,
out of respect for our members’ time, we have a lot of breakfast
meetings and we try to minimize the number of committees we
have.” Currently, there are three: the executive committee,
which provides general oversight, and the Growing Global and
Global Connections committees.
The Growing Global committee planned and presented the recent
Growing Global 2000 program at the Ritz-Carlton. This popular
annual luncheon spotlights current international topics affecting
companies as they expand globally, and recognizes local business
leaders who have demonstrated an ongoing commitment to developing
international business in the region. Nearly 300 people attended
the event.
The newly established Global Connections committee will plan
up to 50 international events annually. “Yes, that’s roughly
one a week,” Frueh notes. Workshops, trade delegations, speakers,
seminars, government/industry roundtables, receptions, CEO briefings
and more will fill the agenda. One such event was the recent
World Trade Center/Saint Louis-RCGA program on international
work force issues.
Currently, the board is engaged in finding a new, larger home
in order to offer expanded services. “We’re committed to the
idea of an enhanced physical facility for the organization on
behalf of the region, to symbolize the importance of international
trade for our region,” Frueh says. Ideally, the new building
will include an upscale private club where members can enjoy
business lunches and cocktail receptions. “Naturally it would
have an international menu,” Kim adds.
In addition, the board is an advocate for legislative initiatives,
such as making Missouri the second state in the nation to become
an international duty-free zone. “The World Trade Center in
New Orleans led the effort to establish a statewide tax-free
status for international tourists 10 years ago,” Frueh explains.
“In Louisiana, more than $7 in new economic development and
spending is generated for every dollar of tax refunded. So it’s
a very justifiable effort.”
The board continually seeks innovative ways to use the organization’s
website—www.worldtradecenter-stl.com.
An international job bank recently was added to the site, which
is available in Spanish, French, English, Portuguese, Chinese
and Japanese. A travel service offering discount fares, hotel
reservations and car rental services also was launched recently.
Both are available to members and non-members.
Pam Droog is a St. Louis-based free-lance writer.
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