Site Selection magazine ranks St. Louis third for economic health

From St. Louis Business Journal. Tuesday, March 4, 2008

St. Louis was ranked No. 3 in Site Selection magazine's annual Top Metropolitan Areas ranking that gauges the relative and long-term health of a metro area's economy.

There were 95 corporate facility projects in the St. Louis area in 2007, the third-highest number of projects in the country for metro areas with a population over 1 million.

In the article, Dick Fleming, president and CEO of the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association, said branding and marketing efforts have brought economic development deal-flow to an all-time high in the area.

"We now have some 90 deals today in which St. Louis is on the short list, and those deals collectively have a potential of generating more than 14,000 jobs and more than $3 billion in new capital investment in the 16-county, bi-state St. Louis region," Fleming said. "A substantial number of these deals are very high-paying, technology-oriented jobs."
Chicago captured its third consecutive No. 1 spot in the ranking with 236 corporate facility projects. Cincinnati was ranked No. 2 with 111 such projects.

The rankings are done by POLICOM, an independent research firm based in Palm City, Fla. POLICOM tracks 28 different measurements to gauge the relative and long-term health of a metro area's economy, and does it for every metro and micropolitan area in the United States.