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Economic development
doesn’t happen by accident. Even during the best of times–such as
the economic boom the nation enjoyed during much of the 1990s–it
takes regional teamwork and a unified strategy. In St. Louis, that
approach has been epitomized by the Campaign for a Greater St. Louis.
In 1994, then-RCGA Chairman Earle Harbison set out to overcome what
he saw as the fragmented landscape of the region, in which jurisdictions
“raided” each other for jobs, resulting in decades of virtually
no new job growth. His leadership helped the RCGA to establish the
Campaign for a Greater St. Louis, a multi-year economic development
effort.
From the beginning, the goal was ambitious: create 100,000 new jobs
in the region between 1995 and 2000. To the region’s delight, this
goal was actually surpassed, with 112,000 net new jobs created.
Those were heady times, and the RCGA and its local partners were
“playing offense,” capturing the region’s share of a growing U.S.
economy.
The second economic development campaign, which began in 2000 and
concludes at the end of this year, was organized around a set of
regional initiatives intended to improve the St. Louis region. Although
the economic and geopolitical challenges that faced the entire U.S.
made it impossible to enjoy another wave of job creation like we
saw during the first campaign, the region has made solid progress:
• Not withstanding a challenging national
and state economy, the second economic development campaign has
had an aggregate regional job impact of nearly 50,000 jobs since
2000.
• Distinctive cluster strategies have
been developed to guide business development, retention and expansion
in life sciences, IT, and advanced manufacturing.
• The business and civic leadership
is unified behind a clear and focused infrastructure agenda for
the region, including a new $1.6 billion Mississippi River Bridge.
• The revitalization of the region’s
central city and community capitalism efforts have added $2.1 billion
in new private and public investment.
• The region’s workforce and talent
needs and trends have been documented as a foundation for a talent
retention and recruitment strategy to support job growth in the
region.
• The Regional Business Council, now
a consortium of 95 CEOs of leading mid-cap companies, was organized,
spun-out of the RCGA, and is now a thriving civic contributor.
As we approach the third campaign, which would begin next year,
we have engaged Jim McGraw, president of KMK Consulting. He and
his partner, Paul Jacobs, have been meeting with current and potential
investors, and already several themes are emerging: The new campaign
must focus on deal-making, marketing and selling the region.
Leadership from the business community and our public sector partners
is critical to this effort. Today, approximately 130 public and
private investors fund the $2.7 million annual operating budget
for the economic development initiative. Throughout the next eight
months we will be working to engage existing investors in this third
campaign, as well as broaden our base of support through new investors–leading
up to a proposed January 2005 launch of the new five-year program.
RICHARD C.D. FLEMING
President and Chief Executive Officer
St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association
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