June 9, 2008      

GOOD DAY!                

This is MONDAYMEMO, the weekly report from the RCGA President to Board members and other key investors. MONDAYMEMO is published by the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association, One Metropolitan Square, Suite 1300, St. Louis, MO 63102. To unsubscribe or change your address or method of delivery, reply to mondaymemo@stlrcga.org.

St. Louis Region Wins 2008 All-America City Award:  The St. Louis region, represented by a diverse contingent of 20 citizens and leaders, won the 2008 All-America City Award on Friday evening, presented by the National Civic League, at an awards ceremony in Tampa.  St. Louis was the only region to make the finalist group from among more than 100 nominees, and is the only metro region in the nation this year to be designated an All-America City.

This is a great, great moment for the St. Louis region.  As I noted in the Saturday St. Louis Post-Dispatch article, this award means that the citizens of the St. Louis region, both in Missouri and Illinois, can be very proud of the many positive developments in the region over the past several years.  Being recognized as a region that is building a stronger community by tackling challenges through collaboration, inclusiveness, and innovation underscores the theme of our region’s branding effort, “St. Louis: Perfectly Centered. Remarkably Connected.”

Now in its 59th year, the award is considered a ‘Nobel Prize’ for constructive citizenship and recognition for civic progress and improvement.  It is the oldest and most prestigious civic recognition in the nation. This is the first time since 1956 that St. Louis has been recognized as an All-America City.

St. Louis Regional Delegation, following presentation to the Awards Jury in Tampa. Seated left to right:  Lakeisha Joyce, Boomerang Press apprentice; Justin Wilson, Boomerang Press apprentice; Kelly Duggan, Fleishman-Hillard; Kimmika Warren, Boomerang Press apprentice; Anne Klein, Great Rivers Greenway District Chair, Director of Policy Development, St. Charles County; Tom Reeves, former executive director Downtown NOW! and current President Pulaski Bank St. Louis; Nancy Krelle, Project Manager, St. Louis RCGA; and Cedric Curry, Boomerang Press apprentice. Standing left to right: Michele Fontaine, Program Counselor, St. Louis ArtWorks; Linda Leonard, RCGA Vice President of Economic Development; Priscilla Block, Executive Director, St. Louis ArtWorks; John Sensensey, Fleishman-Hillard; Dick Fleming; Mayor Francis Slay; Susan Glassman, President, St. Louis ArtWorks and Senior Vice President Urban Strategies; Jim Cloar, President, Downtown St. Louis Partnership; David Fisher, Executive Director, Great Rivers Greenway District; Mike Buehlhorn, Executive Director, MetroEast Park and Recreation District; Ronda Sauget, President, Validus Business Strategies; and Anne Cloar..

As the Civic League itself notes, winning the All-America City Award reinvigorates a community’s sense of civic pride.  All-America City winners and finalists also experience heightened national attention --- since Friday evening’s award announcement in Tampa, coverage of the St. Louis award has generated 86 separate media stories nationally and locally (including Forbes.com) --- a proven boost for the recruitment of industry, jobs and investment to an area.  Perhaps as important as the tangible benefits of being named an All-American City, are the benefits a community derives from completing the All-America City Award process.  The application process presents a unique opportunity for communities to evaluate themselves and foster new community partnerships.

Most importantly, All-American Cities teach and inspire communities throughout the nation that are struggling with similar issues, how to face difficult situations and to meet those challenges in innovative and collaborative ways.

The region celebrated the All-America City Award at Saturday’s grand opening of the McKinley Bridge Bikeway and Trestle at Branch Street.  The bikeway is the latest addition to The River Ring – a unique, 600-mile web of 45 biking trails and greenways that will encircle and criss-cross the St. Louis region. The River Ring played a key role in the region’s winning nomination for the All‑America City Award.

St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay noted, “It has been more than 50 years since St. Louis won this outstanding award.  This is a strong acknowledgement by an objective source of the improvement in the quality of life in both the City of St. Louis and the entire region."

Over 100 communities submitted applications this year for the All-America City Award presented by the Denver-based National Civic League.  St. Louis was one of 16 communities named as finalists in March. 

Spearheaded by RCGA Vice President of Economic Development Linda Leonard, the St. Louis region’s nomination and presentation focused on the challenges of revitalizing the region’s central city, the need for connecting the region through trails and parks that was holding the region back from competing with other metro areas in environmentally-friendly mobility, and the need to empower youth to succeed in the arts and business.  Three successful initiatives were highlighted in the finalist presentation:

• Project 1: Downtown Now! is a public/private partnership formed in 1997 to develop a seven year plan for revitalizing downtown St. Louis.  It was developed and implemented by a diverse region-wide coalition of government officials, private citizens, entrepreneurs, business leaders, investors, and community groups.  Over $4.25 billion has been invested downtown in the past seven years, with another $1 billion currently underway. This level of investment in historic restoration and adaptive reuse has led to Missouri becoming the number one state in the use of federal tax credits.
  
  
• Project 2: The River Ring is a unique, 600-mile web of 45 biking trails and greenways that will encircle and connect the St. Louis region, it is being created by the Great Rivers Greenway District. Both the Great Rivers Greenway District and the Metro-East Park and Recreation District were established in November 2000 by the successful passage of the Clean Water, Safe Parks and Community Trails Initiative (Proposition C) in St. Louis City, St. Louis and St. Charles counties in Missouri and Madison and St. Clair counties in Illinois. Together the Great Rivers Greenway District and the Metro-East Park and Recreation District make up the nation’s first bi-state, multi-county park district to develop an interconnected trail system.
  
  
• Project 3: The Boomerang Press, a division of the community-based arts collaborative St. Louis Art Works, was launched after winning the 2007 Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation Competition at Washington University in St. Louis’ Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurial Studies.  Boomerang Press provides meaningful employment and job training, enabling students aged 14-19 to produce commissioned art with real-world clients in paid positions under instructor guidance.

All-America City Award “A Nobel Prize For Constructive Citizenship”:  Back in 1949, Gideon Seymour, managing editor of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, appointed reporter Jean James to cover the annual National Conference on Government in St. Paul.  In addition to covering the event, James was assigned to ask the National Municipal League, now known as the National Civic League, to support an award to recognize the best-governed cities in America.

Instead, it was suggested that the award recognize citizens where citizen action had succeeded in making these communities better places to live. Thus was born the All-America City Award.

George Gallup, Sr., the renowned public opinion pollster, served as president of the National Civic League and chaired the jury that selected the winning cities in the first several years.  Gallup described the award as, “a Nobel Prize for constructive citizenship”. In the beginning, winning cities were often those that had demonstrated local government reform and efficiency, as well as improvements in the city’s infrastructure, including housing, public works, and education.  But, more recently, the focus has shifted to broader community initiatives, such as economic development, health, youth projects, and efforts to improve race relations.

There is a great deal of forward momentum in St. Louis’ economic development today, and it’s a truly great day to celebrate the St. Louis region winning its first All-America City Award in 52 years! 

I-64 Project, Carsharing Among Topics At Employer Networking Lunches On Wednesday And Thursday, June 18th & 19th:  Where does the I-64 Project stand?  What is WeCar and CARSHARING?  How do these programs affect your employees' commutes?

Answers to these questions and more will be presented at the next Employer Networking Lunches
sponsored by Citizens for Modern Transit; the Downtown St. Louis Partnership; Enterprise Rent-A-Car; the RCGA; the St. Louis Regional Clean Air Partnership; and Thompson Coburn, on Wednesday, June 18th, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Thompson Coburn, One US Bank Plaza, downtown; or on Thursday, June 19th, from 11:30 to 1 p.m., at Enterprise Rent-A-Car, 600 Corporate Park Drive, in Clayton.

Both luncheon programs will feature discussions on the following topics:

• Phase II of the I-64 Project
• WeCar & Carsharing in the St. Louis area
• Business and Air Quality Updates

MoDOT representatives will be on hand to discuss Phase II of the I-64 project and its impacts on the community.  Phase I has gone well, but there will be a whole new set of challenges and new people affected with the 2nd phase closure.

The St. Louis Regional Clean Air Partnership will provide updates on good employer practices for air quality.

Representatives from WeCar, the brand new carsharing program introduced by Enterprise Rent-A-Car in St. Louis earlier this year, will present on how carsharing can benefit your worksite and the steps necessary to get started.

Please register on-line today at www.cmt-stl.org; seating is limited, so please make your reservation early.  For more information, please contact RCGA Vice President for Infrastructure Susan Stauder, at (314) 444-1155, or e-mail her at sstauder@stlrcga.org.

Several RCGA Events Mark Start To Busy Summer:  We hope you can join us for one or more of the following upcoming RCGA programs and events:

• The RCGA Breakfast with the Gazelles program tomorrow morning, June 10th, features HOK Group, Inc. Vice Chairman, and RCGA Board Chair for Infrastructure Clark Davis, FAIA, at the Noonday Club on the 40th floor of One Metropolitan Square (211 North Broadway), from 7:15 a.m. to 9 a.m.  The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is the media sponsor of this series, which is now in its 12th year.  Clark's presentation topic is, "Global Opportunities In Planning and Design." 
  
  

  For reservations for this RCGA Breakfast with the Gazelles program, please call Lori Meier today at the RCGA at (314) 444-1147,or e-mail her at lmeier@stlrcga.org.

• The RCGA’s talent affiliate, Greater St. Louis Works, will bring its first year to a successful conclusion on June 20th with a half-day conference, “Tech Talent Net: St. Louis Collaborates for a Great IT Workforce.”  Anyone and everyone with a stake in the region’s technology future is invited to attend, from 7:30 a.m. until 12 noon, at the Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark.
  
  

  Tech Talent Net will feature a big-picture overview of IT talent trends by Rob Preston, Editor-in- Chief of InformationWeek.  Local business, education, and government partners will roll-out a 9-point strategy to enhance St. Louis’ IT talent pool in 2008-2009.  And, a St. Louis IT original -- “Wiki Groups” -- will convene to advance the regional dialogue on the qualities of a great workforce:  prepared, productive, diverse, dynamic, and resilient.
  
  There is no charge for registration at www.greaterstlouisworks.org.

• Also, the RCGA's Public Policy Speaker Series on Friday morning, June 20th, beginning at 11:30 a.m., at the Noonday Club, features Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon (D-MO).  This is the final program in a series of RCGA Public Policy programs featuring candidates for Governor of Missouri.  U.S. Rep. Kenny Hulshof (R-MO 9th) spoke on May 2nd; Missouri State Treasurer Sarah Steelman (R-MO) spoke on June 5th.
  
  

  Please plan to join us on Friday, June 20th, with Attorney General Jay Nixon.  For reservations and more information, please call Marlo Young today at the RCGA at (314) 444-1134, or e-mail her at myoung@stlrcga.org. 

• In addition, on Thursday, June 26th, RCGA Business After Hours will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., at Lumière Place Casino & Hotels, at 901 N. First Street, downtown.  RCGA Business After Hours are networking events, informal gatherings held at member companies, and are a popular way to meet new people.
  
  

  To register for Business After Hours on Thursday, June 26th, please call or e-mail Lori Meier today at the RCGA at (314) 444-1147, or e-mail her at lmeier@stlrcga.org.

Richard C.D. Fleming
President and CEO