Building our way out
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
June 22, 2010
editorial by Denny Coleman
A recent letter to the editor gave a negative impression of St. Louis County's record in fostering entrepreneurial growth. The facts are that our support for small business and new-business starts produces real results.
As the economic engine of Missouri, St. Louis County long has been a leader in new-business starts, with nearly 2,000 in 2009, despite the worst recession in our lifetime. Since 2008, our small-business incubator program has created 795 jobs and $176 million in annual sales; our recent Regional Business Plan Competition generated more than 225 applications and awarded prize money to three top startups. Our support of the one-year old BRDG Park technology commercialization center, on the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center campus, already is 75 percent occupied; and our recent acquisition and impending renovation of the Helix Center will assist early-stage plant- and life-science companies. These initiatives all point to the healthy environment for new businesses in St. Louis County.
We are committed to further enhancing the spirit of entrepreneurship as we, and the rest of the nation, build our way out of this deep recession.
Denny Coleman -- Clayton President & CEO, St. Louis County Economic Council
