Government forces: These Influentials are shaping public policy and trying to steer this region through the recession.

Brian Cassidy

Kit Bond, U.S. Senate

Bond is the ranking Republican member of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development subcommittee that considers about $109 billion in appropriations. Can he use his pull to bring some of those projects to Missouri? Bond announced this term will be his last, and contenders (Robin Carnahan and Roy Blunt) are already lining up for his seat.

Claire McCaskill, U.S. Senate

The freshman Democratic senator has done a good job making friends in Washington. She was a key early backer of candidate Barack Obama, and she was one of his most effective surrogates during the campaign. Now how can she use her closeness to the president to help Missouri? She says it's all about the economy, especially jobs, and seeing if Washington can do something for energy and health care along the way.

Charlie Dooley, St. Louis County

As county executive, Dooley presides over the largest county in Missouri, which contains 17 percent of the state's population and has a 2009 budget of $504.6 million. The economy and the prospect of shrinking revenue have Dooley facing his toughest budget year since he took office in 2003.

Denny Coleman, St. Louis County

Coleman has spent nearly two decades at the helm of the St. Louis County Economic Council. He spent late 2008 compiling his wish list for the new administration's national infrastructure economic stimulus package. The county's request has grown to $2.3 billion for 145 projects.

Darin Cline, St. Louis County

As one of Charlie Dooley's top assistants, Cline's duties include acting as liaison to the state of Missouri. He was Dooley's point man on the failed Metro proposition that would have raised $80 million annually for the agency. Cline also was Dooley's campaign manager in 2006.

Mike Jones, St. Louis County

Charlie Dooley's team includes Jones, who as senior policy adviser is involved in day-to-day operations and is the county executive's liaison to quasi-governmental agencies such as the Metro public transit system. Jones has been tapped as chairman of a commission aimed at making St. Louis an air freight hub for China.

Garry Earls, St. Louis County

In 2007, Charlie Dooley tapped Earls as his chief of staff, a role more formally known as chief operating officer. Earls previously had directed the county's Highways and Traffic and Public Works departments. He helped assemble the county's federal economic recovery wish list, which includes funds for infrastructure improvements as well as health and safety initiatives and housing.

Alan Dunstan, Madison County

During his tenure as Madison County's first countywide elected board chair, Dunstan has focused his efforts on improving infrastructure -- from repairing roads and levees to moving the new Mississippi River bridge project forward. The county has a $122.5 million budget.

Steve Ehlmann, St. Charles County

St. Charles isn't experiencing quite the same boom it had for so long, but its top executive thinks a high-tech rebound and the planned Page Avenue extension will help mitigate the impact of the housing downturn. Elected county executive in 2006, Ehlmann, a former lawmaker and judge, served as his predecessor's chief of staff. He oversees a $183 million budget.

Linda Goldstein, City of Clayton

With some high-profile private-sector projects moving ahead and others on hold, it's a mixed bag for Clayton. Mayor Goldstein oversees a $37 million budget. One of her top tasks last year was hiring a new city manager, Craig Owens.

Mark Kern, St. Clair County

Kern says his county, which has a $220.9 million budget this year, will weather the economic storm by staying the course. The county board chairman is a strong backer of the new Mississippi River bridge and strong promoter of MidAmerica St. Louis Airport as a cargo connection to Latin American markets. Levee improvements and home foreclosure prevention are among his other top priorities.

Patrick McKeehan, Leadership Council Southwestern Illinois

McKeehan's member-based economic development organization serves Madison and St. Clair counties. Southwestern Illinois has been experiencing significant growth: Almost $9.4 billion in public and private investments were announced, under construction, or completed in 2008.

Jerry Costello, U.S. House of Representatives

Costello is one of the senior Democrats on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and chairs its aviation subcommittee, and it doesn't hurt that he's from the same home state as the new president. Look for Costello to be key in shaping federal infrastructure investments. He spearheaded the introduction this month of a $70 billion, four-year bill to improve airports.

Susan McCollum, State of Missouri

As Gov. Jay Nixon's director of transition recruitment, McCollum is spending her days with stacks of resumes. McCollum and her husband, Todd Epsten, are well-known for their generous support of area charitable causes and Democratic Party candidates. She founded McCollum and Associates, a strategic marketing and communications consulting company, in 1994.

Linda Martinez, State of Missouri

Jobs. Jobs. Jobs. As the state's new director of economic development, Martinez's key focus will be creating jobs and worker training, particularly in the automotive sector. She'll work with the Missouri Development Finance Board to create a $2 million pool of funds for small business loans.

Allen Icet, Missouri House of Representatives

All appropriations bills initiate in Missouri's House. That means the budget committee, now chaired by Icet, takes (or leaves) the governor's recommendations and creates an annual spending plan. The state's current budget is $22.4 billion. Icet, a Republican who pushes for fiscal restraint, represents a district that includes Wildwood.

Daniel Burkhardt, State of Missouri

Burkhardt has led Gov. Jay Nixon's personnel search for the high-profile departments of Economic Development, Revenue, Higher Education and Insurance. Following his retirement from Edward Jones in 2006, Burkardt was named managing director of Oakwood Medical Investors, a biotech venture capital fund that has raised more than $77 million since its founding in 1997.

Margaret Donnelly, State of Missouri

Donnelly, who narrowly lost the Democratic Party's nomination to be the state's attorney general, is the new director of the Department of Health and Senior Services, which has an $855 million budget. First elected to the Missouri House of Representatives in 2003, Donnelly focused much of her legislative work on issues relating to families, seniors and health care. She'll get to grapple with the challenge of how to keep costs down while trying to cover more of the state's uninsured.

Mary Nelson, State of Missouri

In her capacity as Gov. Jay Nixon's director of boards and commissions, Nelson is the gatekeeper who will oversee the screening of applicants and nominations for hundreds of appointments. Nelson has practiced law in a variety of public and private sector capacities in St. Louis for nearly three decades. Most recently, she practiced construction and corporate law at Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale.

Ronald Levy, State of Missouri

Levy is guiding Nixon's efforts to transform health-care policy, beginning with the new governor's top priority of increasing access to medical coverage for children. In his capacity as director of the Missouri Department of Social Services, Levy also will oversee the state's adoption and foster care, food stamps, child support, juvenile justice and Medicaid programs. Previously, Levy led SSM-Health Care in St. Louis, a $900 million region of the health system.

Charles Burson, State of Missouri

The new governor tapped an old friend and consummate Washington insider to lead his transition team. Burson was attorney general of Tennessee when Nixon was elected as his counterpart in Missouri in 1992. Starting in 1997, Burson served as legal counsel and then chief of staff to Vice President Al Gore. He gave more than $7,000 to Nixon's primary and general election campaigns. Burson is advising Nixon on leveraging Sen. Claire McCaskill's close relationship with President Obama.

Joyce Aboussie, Aboussie & Associates

If you want to get a message to Jay Nixon or Barack Obama, give Aboussie a call. This political strategist, pollster and fund-raiser was former U.S. Rep. Dick Gephardt's right arm until he retired in 2005. She is best known for her involvement in electing top Democrats to state and national office.

Jack Oliver, Bryan Cave Strategies

Oliver is a senior adviser to Bryan Cave Strategies, an affiliate of $499 million Bryan Cave. His group provides government-relations counsel, and he's a handy guy to know if you're trying to lobby the federal government. He was a strategist for Bush-Cheney -- and previously held various political, financial and managerial roles in the campaigns and government offices of John Ashcroft, John Danforth, Kit Bond, Jim Talent and the Missouri Republican Party.

Rodney Boyd, Sonnerschein Nath & Rosenthal

A fixture in Jefferson City, Boyd represents the city of St. Louis on issues before the legislature and has retained other clients, including St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, Regional Business Council and the March of Dimes. He leads a group of three attorneys in Sonnenschein's public law and policy strategies group. His firm had $492 million in revenue nationwide.