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Today's Headlines |
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| ST. LOUIS COUNTY CONTINUES TO SPRING FORWARD |
| St. Louis County, like many metropolitan areas, has had its share of tremendous successes and disappointing results. However, because of our economic fortitude, we have the ability to turn each outcome into a growth opportunity.
Serving as the region’s “Economic Engineer”, St. Louis County has created impressive returns on our development efforts. Investments from the likes the Kerry Group and Edward Jones demonstrate the significant role our communities play in the growth of the greater St. Louis metropolitan region.
St. Louis County Economic Council takes a long term perspective on every project we work on because we recognize our efforts not only impacts our municipalities, but many times an entire region.
If you need a location to help solve both your short term and long term issues, then consider St. Louis County because we are…the “Economic Engineer” for the entire St. Louis region.
Thank you.
Denny Coleman
President and CEO |
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| KERRY GROUP COOKS UP BETTER INVESTMENT FOR AFFTON |
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Irish based food ingredients producer, Kerry Group plc, which recently announced the purchase of the former Nestle plant in Affton; has announced it will increase its investment and add more jobs.
Under an agreement reached late in 2006, Kerry Group plc had planned on investing $10 million into the operation and employ 40 people. After reviewing the many assets of the location, the company decided to increase the project to $18 million and eventually create 150 new jobs.
“I commend Kerry Group and their site location team for recognizing the benefits of the Affton site and expanding their investment,” stated St. Louis County Executive Charlie A. Dooley.
SLCEC President and CEO Denny Coleman praised staff members Steve Anderson, Vice President for Business Development, and Monica Conners, Business Development Project Manager, for continuing to work with company representatives to increase their total number of jobs in the community.
“Our staff did a terrific job in managing this project for Affton,” stated Coleman. “Their local leadership, along with the strong supportive role from Lori Becklenberg of the Missouri Department of Economic Development and Doug Rasmussen from the St. Louis RCGA helped bring this investment to fruition.”
“A significant factor in finalizing the agreement was the ability of our staff and DED to craft a proposal to include Missouri BUILD,” he added.
Coleman also cited the cooperation from the Chicago site location firm of Deloitte Tax LLP.
“Deloitte’s keen understanding of the client’s needs and professionalism in handling this project clearly demonstrates how everyone can win in this process,” he added. |
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| AUTOMOTIVE MARKET STILL LOOKS STRONG IN ST. LOUIS COUNTY |
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In early February, officials at DaimlerChrysler AG announced the company would reduce restructure its global operations. Part of the restructuring included the elimination of 13,000 jobs worldwide.
Included in the cuts were 1,300 second shift employees at Chrysler’s South Assembly plant in Fenton. It is anticipated the cuts will not become effective until 2008.
St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley, while disappointed in the news, also expressed optimism for the operations.
A focal point for the optimism is the company’s plan to invest over $1 Billion to re-tool both the south and north plant in Fenton to make them compatible with a new flexible manufacturing process.
“We believe the expansion that was announced in 2006 will help cushion the blow of potential job losses,” Dooley stated. “Fenton has done an outstanding job in making itself an attractive place for Chrysler and other industries,”
St. Louis County Economic Council President and CEO Denny Coleman, agreed with County Executive Dooley’s assessment.
“The flexible manufacturing process makes the St. Louis County plants an even stronger asset,” stated Coleman. “This should make the Fenton plants more economically viable for the entire company.”
In addition to the changes at the facility, Coleman pointed out the supplier networks that have already established a foothold in the region because of the Chrysler expansion.
Global automotive suppliers like TRW, Visteon, HBPO, and Dakkota Integrated Systems will be opening new operations in the county. These announcements are a direct result of Chrysler’s investment in Fenton.
“We estimate that because of the Chrysler announcement from last year, St. Louis County has already gained over 600 new jobs and seen over $120 million of new investment,” Coleman added. |
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| AIR PRODUCTS TO EXPAND MARYLAND HEIGHTS OPERATIONS |
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Air Products recently announced plans to expand its current 25,000 square-foot manufacturing plant in Maryland Heights allowing the company to gain much needed space to increase production. Additionally, the expansion will create between 30 and 45 new jobs.
The company considered several sites, before choosing to expand the Maryland Heights location. An incentive package by the St. Louis County Economic Council factored significantly in the choice.
“We’re delighted Air Products chose St. Louis County for its expansion,” said St. Louis County Executive Charlie A. Dooley. “This is a great example of economic incentives making the difference in the retention and expansion of good jobs for our workers and residents.”
“The expansion of the St. Louis County plant ensures we can maintain our leadership and meet increasing requirements for membrane separators from our customers,” said Charles Page, business manager for Air Products’ PRISM Membrane division. “The expansion will support the tremendous worldwide growth in demand that we have experienced over the last two years across most of our major market segments.”
SLCEC President and CEO Denny Coleman, while praising the decision by Air Products, noted the importance of this project.
“Retaining major employers, like Air Products, is just as significant as getting companies to relocate operations to St. Louis County,” Coleman stated. “This success reflects the high degree of satisfaction local companies have in our local workforce and the benefits to their operations gain from being in St. Louis County.” |
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| ST. LOUIS COUNTY SCHOOLS MAKING THE GRADE |
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Officials with the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) recently recognized a number of school districts in the state for earning the State’s “Distinction in Performance” award. The citation was developed to recognize school districts for their academic achievement and progress during the 2005-06 school year.
Among those educational institutions recognized, eleven (11) were St. Louis County-based school districts. Those acknowledged were: Affton, Brentwood, Clayton, Kirkwood, Ladue, Lindbergh, Mehlville, Parkway, Pattonville, Rockwood and Webster Groves.
“This signifies the strong educational component of the County”, stated SLCEC President Denny Coleman. “One of the more important elements of this achievement is that this award hits our entire geographic range in the County.”
The Distinction in Performance award is based on the 14 academic performance standards that are now used in the accreditation of K-12 school districts. |
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| ST. LOUIS COUNTY RECEIVES $500,000 FROM EPA FOR BROWNFIELDS REMEDIATION |
| St. Louis County properties plagued
by hazardous substances, pollutants
or contaminants could receive new life, thanks to a $1 million revolving loan fund created through grants from the Environmental Protection Agency.
The EPA authorized the St. Louis County Economic Council to loan up to $500,000 for remediation projects at brownfields, which are properties that must be cleaned before reinvestment can take place.
Funds are distributed through the Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority of the County of St. Louis, an affiliated entity of the St. Louis County Economic Council that assists in the redevelopment of blighted and underutilized areas in the county.
St. Louis County is one of the few communities nationwide to receive this level of assistance from the EPA, according to John B. Askew, regional administrator for the EPA.
“St. Louis County has done an excellent job assessing, cleaning up and redeveloping brownfields sites,” Askew said. “These brownfields projects spur economic development, enrich communities and positively impact people’s lives.” |
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| ST. LOUIS REGION EXPANDS REACH WITH WORLD TRADE CENTER MERGER |
St. Louis County Executive Charlie A. Dooley and St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay recently announced the merger of the World Trade Center - Saint Louis (“WTCSTL”) with the St. Louis Center for International Relations.
The newly-named WTCSTL will focus more aggressively on attracting foreign companies to the St. Louis region and, also, serving local enterprises that conducts business internationally or wants to do so. The new entity also now serves as the region’s official foreign affairs gateway.
St. Louis County Executive Charlie A. Dooley said, “The merging of World Trade Center – St. Louis and St. Louis Center for International Relations brings together the international trade and outreach resources our local governments offer that make global markets available to the business
Today, WTCSTL provides enterprises in Missouri and southern Illinois with valuable services such as strategic global market research, business introductions, trade resources and educational seminars. In addition, WTCSTL organizes foreign trade missions to major cities worldwide, and hosts more than 40 trade-related events annually. It is affiliated with 280 other World Trade Center organizations in 78 nations.
“World Trade Center - Saint Louis is the official international business assistance office for metropolitan St. Louis,” said Robert R. Heuermann, WTCSTL executive director. “We are utilizing our expanded resources to build and attract new economic activity for St. Louis in commerce, education, technology, healthcare, culture and the arts from around the world. Key to this will be strategically marketing St. Louis as an international business destination in major markets across the globe.”
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| GRADUATIONS EXPAND OPPORTUNITIES FOR WEST COUNTY ENTERPRISE CENTER |
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| ST. LOUIS COUNTY NEWS FROM THE SUBURBAN JOURNAL |
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