Innovation is the answer
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
06/12/2009
BY tim logan
Plant sciences. Wind energy. Smart newcomers. Trade with China.
If St. Louis hopes to come out of this recession in better shape than it entered, those will be a big reasons why, local economic development experts say.
If, as many believe, this recession is some sort of economic pivot point, then right now is a good time to be thinking about where St. Louis goes from here, how it becomes more competitive in the global scrum for jobs and growth. For while the bust hasn't hit St. Louis as hard as some places, the boom wasn't so big here, either, with higher-than-average unemployment and slower-than-typical growth for much of the last decade.
Now a conversation is bubbling about how to change. How St. Louis can jump from slow-growth to ahead-of-the-curve when the economy revives and attract more of the new jobs and investment that often wind up elsewhere.
The answer, some say, lies in building off the diverse economic base St. Louis already has, while at the same time developing a few high-growth niche industries.
"We have to ask 'what can we own?'" said Richard Fleming, president of the Regional Chamber & Growth Association.
In recent years, Fleming's group has focused on a handful of industry clusters -- plant and life sciences, information technology, advanced manufacturing, logistics and financial services. It's now in the process of "sharpening" those clusters, Fleming said. Just saying "biotech" isn't enough -- dozens of cities focus on "biotech." St. Louis needs to target niches like plant sciences, and even particular slices of the plant science industry where it may find the best potential for growth.
"Where within those sectors where we're already strong can we really drill down and own the niche?" he said.
One place people see potential is manufacturing for wind energy.
While St. Louis is not an ideal location for wind farms, it's close to places that are. And it has a skilled manufacturing work force to make parts of turbines that are now built much further away, said Chris Chung, president of the Missouri Partnership, an economic development group. That's opportunity.
"We've got this base of knowledge and experience, and we don't want to lose it," Chung said. "So if there are ways to re-purpose that for alternative energy, that would be a good thing."
Another niche may be plugging St. Louis' strong transportation industry more firmly into global trade. That's part of the thinking behind yearlong talks with China about developing a Midwestern air cargo hub in St. Louis, and developing manufacturing and logistics in a huge Foreign Trade Zone around Lambert St. Louis International Airport. It's the kind of project, its backers say, that could create thousands of new jobs.
Still, much of St. Louis' growth in whatever economy comes next is likely to be with companies that are already here. Helping them thrive is important, said Denny Coleman, president of the St. Louis County Economic Council.
Part of that means fostering innovation, and not just high-tech innovation that creates new products, but ways that strong firms like Express Scripts or Enterprise Rent-a-Car can become stronger and more competitive.
"There has to be a broader strategy of rewarding innovation in this community," he said.
One thing nearly everyone agrees on is the need for a strong work force.
The region's skilled, well-educated populace is one of its strongest assets, said Andrew Shapiro, a site selection expert with Biggins Lacy Shapiro & Co., in New Jersey, who spoke at a conference here this month.
But slow growth is a concern, and Fleming said he knows of several companies that considered moving to St. Louis but chose not to because of "long-term concerns about growth and talent."
Keeping skilled but laid-off workers in St. Louis through the recession has been a priority for some workforce development groups. And attracting a new generation of talent - creative young adults who launch and grow businesses - is high on the to-do list of city officials.
They're thinking and talking about how to use St. Louis' history and quality of life to make the city a stronger magnet for newcomers, said Jeff Rainford, a top aide to Mayor Francis Slay. It's a strategy that has boosted places like Seattle and San Jose. It could work for St. Louis, too, Rainford said, boosting the region in a future where "cutting edge ideas" will create more jobs than manufacturing.
"We're going to have to think differently than we have before," he said. "We're a place that's been stagnant for a while, and if we want to start growing, we have to take advantage of what we have."
