Clayton, MO – January 2022 – With the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership set to sunset next year, now is the time to talk about what is next. We need a government level companion organization to the business organization Greater STL if we want to grow and prosper as a region.

The existing economic partnership is between St. Louis City and St. Louis County. It was created through legislation passed by the St. Louis County Council and the St. Louis Board of Aldermen in 2013. It is set to sunset next year. So what is next?

Let's use this as an opportunity to be bold. It is time for our region to reimagine and reengineer the partnership.

We should have all the regional governments on both sides of the river to join together to create a single agency to coordinate regional economic development in alignment with the collaborative model the regional business community has forged with Alliance STL and Greater STL.

The new Partnership’s function would be to convene key regional stakeholders to develop and implement a shared vision and strategy around workforce, job growth, entrepreneurship, racial equity and telling the story of the 4th largest economy in the Midwest.

OUR PROBLEM – A LACK OF REGIONAL LEADERSHIP & EFFECTIVE TEAMWORK

We lack leadership and effective teamwork as a region on the issue of economic development. While we can argue about a lot in our region, we can all agree our current approach to economic development as a region is not working.

We are failing to grow as a community even though we have assets that make other regions envious. The problem is that our regional efforts are too fragmented to be effective in a global economy. We are not well-coordinated, efficient, productive or accountable.

Pointing the finger of blame isn’t helpful. We all share a responsibility to each other. I don’t care if you live in Belleville, one of our O’Fallons, Ladue or some other corner of our region. We are all in this together.

We won’t succeed as a region until we come together around a common vision– with everyone rowing together in the same direction. At a minimum, business and government must unite to tackle this urgent issue to ensure the prosperity of our community.

THE SOLUTION – JOIN TOGETHER TO REIMAGINE & REENGINEER THE STLPARTNERSHIP

We have an opportunity to reimagine and reengineer the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership. I’m advocating we bring together all the local governments in Missouri and Illinois that are part of our region so we can focus collectively on regional economic development. Our political leadership should develop that shared vision together. We need a practical structural mechanism to collaborate.

Some will say the Partnership has been a failure. I can’t argue with them. Like county government, it was damaged by corrupt leadership.

But it is also true that the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership was created by the city and county for a good reason – to better coordinate our economic development efforts.

When the city and county came together to create the Partnership in 2013, they did so with open eyes and open minds. But they were also pragmatic.

They didn’t commit to forever. They set a legal sunset, allowing us the chance to revisit the approach.

Keep it. Throw it out. Change course. Expand it. You name it. We get to decide .

The need for a united approach isn’t any less today. Today, we still need a shared vision and shared strategy that will produce real results for our entire region. We will be stronger if we work together.

Our elected leaders should follow the lead of our regional business community that consolidated their fragmented economic development efforts recently with Alliance STL and Greater STL. The business community has come together to fund a coordinated effort to retain, grow and attract business to our regional community. They created Alliance STL to speak as one regional business community. Government should follow their lead creating a companion agency that deals with the government side of the that important equation.

Our regional community is bigger than St. Louis City and St. Louis County. Our region spans two states and 15 counties. Our region is the 4th largest economy in the Midwest, representing over 2.8 million people.

When we found ourselves competing to land Amazon , it was embarrassing to see how challenging it was for our region to get our act together on a pitch. If we already had an agency that represented our entire region we would have been much better situated to make the case.

We need to create a single Partnership that brings all of the key government agencies together to speak with one voice to the global community. To sell our community and to grow our economy, we need to work as one region. We need everyone on the bus. That means 15 counties in two states.

I know that that sounds like a pretty big diverse bus, but other regions didn’t have success until they built theirs. Just look at Atlanta. If we want to lure a big employer to our region or build a hyperloop between our region and Kansas City or Chicago, we need to speak as one voice. If we want to tornado proof our warehouses within the region by implementing new building codes, we should do it as one region.

I know those sound like big impossible ideas, but I am sure the Olympics seemed that way to Atlanta when they first proposed it – but they made it happen along with a lot other big things by working together.

St. Louis County should be a partner with not only the city of St. Louis, but also St. Charles, Jefferson, Franklin, Lincoln and Warren County in Missouri, as well as Calhoun, Jersey, Macoupin, Madison, Bond, Clinton, St. Clair & Monroe Counties in Illinois.

PLEASE NOTE - I am not suggesting that the new partnership would replace the economic development agencies for each jurisdiction ( St. Louis city , Jefferson County , St. Charles County etc.).

To the contrary, the new partnership would simply act as the one entity we have needed to help streamline and make sense out of the patchwork of local governments that make a business expansion, relocation easier. It would be a real partnership between all 15 jurisdictions.

Local governments would not be abdicating existing responsibilities, but rather collaborating. Partnering.

St. Louis city’s role within the existing partnership is an example of how the new model could work. Since the birth of the Partnership in 2014, SLDC has still lead all economic development within the city of St. Louis.

Each jurisdiction could contribute resources to make it work.

St. Louis County will have the biggest challenge as it can’t effectively handle economic development without working with all municipalities. That has been a problem since long before I worked for St. Louis County early in my career.

St. Louis County will need to work with the municipal league and county government to develop a separate economic development agency to coordinate things within St. Louis County while also being part of a regional partnership that could be housed or potentially staffed by East-West Gateway so it doesn’t look like it is St. Louis County taking over. I think that would be non-starter for most given their track record.

We should demand that our politicians work in partnership with one another. We should demand that they work with the business community and broader community to develop that shared vision and strategy. We won’t get anywhere worthwhile unless we work together.

When you look to the success other regions have had, one of the things that stands out is that those communities have come together in a strong way. They developed a shared vision and shared purpose with key stakeholders coming together as one powerful force for progress. That is what our region urgently needs to succeed. We need to demand more from our leaders.

Put aside your egos and petty differences. Do what is right for our region. Our childrens' future depends upon it.