Area Leaders Hear Economic Blueprint Presentation

A crowd of dozens of area civic, business and political leaders were on hand in St. Charles Friday morning to witness the unveiling of Missouri’s recently completed economic development blueprint.

“I think you’ll see that this is a plan that represents every corner of the state,” said David Kerr, director of the Missouri Department of Economic Development. “It doesn’t just focus on the urban areas. It reflects the needs of the regions as well as the state as a whole.”

The 274-page Missouri Strategic Initiative for Economic Growth is the result of work by a 41-person steering committee that included input from the business, labor and academic communities. Released earlier this spring, the report synthesized feedback from a number of forums held in various areas across the state and was facilitated by Market Street Services, an Atlanta consulting firm.

The result produced eight strategies for implementation including a commitment to support existing businesses in the state, a promise to invest in technology and innovation to promote future growth industries and an aggressive marketing campaign both domestically and internationally. Other priorities focused on improving education and training to build an effective workforce, optimizing tax and regulatory policies, developing a “best-in-class” foreign trade initiative, providing necessary infrastructure and encouraging small and minority-owned business development.

Kerr said the findings were intentionally kept down to a small number as it was hoped this would avoid the effects of creating too many recommendations, something he said had happened with similar plans in the past.

“In one particular instance, the end result was 77 recommendations,” Kerr told the group of a previous experience. “In the end, what do you think happened? Not a whole lot because people cannot agree on what the priorities are when you have 77 recommendations.”

The plan also lists seven target industries it identifies as being key to the state’s future. Among them were advanced manufacturing which Kerr said accounted for more than 13 percent of Missouri’s economy.

“As the governor likes to say, we want to put the ‘P’ back in GDP,” Kerr said. “We know that Missouri is going to consume manufactured goods so let’s manufacture those goods right here in Missouri instead of buying them manufactured from someplace else.”

The report also highlighted information technology as another area of possible growth.

“One of the reasons we have those opportunities is because data centers, like manufacturing are heavy consumers of energy,” Kerr said, “and Missouri has the fourth most competitive energy costs of any state in the nation. We are well-positioned because of our energy costs and our geography for information technology industries.”

The plan spoke about financial and professional services as well with Kerr noting the presence of two Federal Reserve Banks in the state and a high concentration of individuals making a living in finance. Energy solutions, health care sciences and services and biosciences were also listed.

“The plant sciences industry right here in St. Louis has the highest concentration of plant scientists anywhere in the United States,” he said.

Kerr also talked about the final target industry – transportation and logistics. He said the state was ideally positioned to take a leading role in the field.

“Missouri has two assets that most states don’t even have one of,” he said, “that is, two metro areas in which we have a confluence of all transportation hubs coming together – water, rail, air and highway.”

Twenty-eight tactics were listed to implement the eight strategies. The seven target industries also included breakdowns into various niches.

Kerr stressed that the proposal had been created not in Jefferson City but by voices from around the state.

“This particular plan was not developed by the governor or the Department of Economic Development but was developed by the businessmen and women, labor, economic development and higher ed professionals throughout the state,” he said. “They built this plan.”

Kerr said it was important to ensure that the blueprint be implemented and the panel that created it will meet yearly to ensure it is kept up-to-date.

“When we finalized the plan, we did not dissolve the steering committee because I believe to make this a living document and make sure it doesn’t go on a shelf and stays in the middle of our desk we need to, on a regular basis, review it, update it and revise it to reflect any changes,” he said.

Various politicians attended the event including state senator and Majority Caucus Whip Tom Dempsey (R-23rd) and state Rep. Anne Zerr (R-18th). Both delivered brief remarks on the last legislative session.

St. Charles Mayor Sally Faith was also in attendance and spoke to the crowd both before and after Kerr’s speech, lauding the department’s work in coming up with an economic game plan for the state.

“We’re all familiar with those famous words that those who fail to plan, plan to fail,” Faith said. “These words could never be truer than in today’s economy and this economic development market.”

St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann also spoke to those assembled telling them that the most important part of the plan was that it was a statewide effort. He noted that too many counties and cities compete to lure businesses away from one another rather than attracting them from other states or nations.

“That’s economic relocation,” he said, “not economic development.”

Interviewed after the event, audience member Gaspare Calvaruso said he had been impressed with the proposal.

“I think it’s great that the state is putting together a plan and getting it organized,” said Calvaruso, president of . “We have to, as a state and as a region, be at the forefront of this. Otherwise, other states and regions will take advantage of the situation.”