July 26, 2010         

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.

RCGA Board, Leadership Circle Members Invited To Special Briefing And Rams Practice Wednesday, August 11th:  A first hand viewing of the Ram’s workout at Rams’ Park in Earth City, a reception and special briefing on the upcoming season for RCGA Board and Leadership Circle members, will be held on Wednesday evening, August 11th, beginning at 5:30 p.m., at the Russell Training Center in Earth City, One Rams Way.

#1 Draft Pick Sam Bradford, Coach Steve Spagnuolo and Running Back Steven Jackson

Our members will get a close-up view of the Rams 2010 talent and will enjoy a VIP reception in the owner’s suite --- with views of Coach Steve Spagnuolo, with Sam Bradford and Steven Jackson hard at work preparing for an exciting new season of Rams football.  Rams Executive Vice President of Football Operations Kevin Demoff will welcome our group and will present “State of the Rams” remarks prior to the practice.

For reservations, please contact Lori Meier at the RCGA, at 314.444.1147, or e-mail her at lmeier@stlrcga.org.

“Graduate! St. Louis Workforce Consortium” Launched To Help Reconnect Displaced Workers & Meet Employer Demands In Key Industry Sectors:  This past Tuesday we were pleased to join the chancellors of five community colleges from throughout the bi-state region, Mayor Francis Slay and St. Louis Agency on Training and Employment (SLATE) Director Michael Homes at City Hall in the launch of a major workforce initiative.  SLATE was awarded a grant totaling $4,404,781 from the U.S. Department of Labor to launch the “Graduate! St. Louis Workforce Consortium.”

The Consortium will prepare the bi-state St. Louis Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) workforce to meet employer demands for qualified staff in the healthcare, information technology (IT) and emerging green industries.

This project is a unique and regional collaborative partnership between SLATE, St. Louis Community College, St. Charles Community College, Jefferson College, East Central College, Southwestern Illinois College, and the RCGA.   In addition to the St. Louis Workforce Investment Board (WIB), the following WIBs have endorsed and will participate in the Consortium: St. Louis County, Jefferson/Franklin Counties, St. Charles County, and St. Clair County. The WIBs will participate in an advisory capacity to share information, monitor project activities and outcomes, and provide strategic input to the Consortium leadership.

This grant will enhance area training programs, add capacity for 2,200 participants and successfully place an estimated 1,500 of the program graduates into jobs.

The concepts, programs and relationships that made up this winning application were developed in a series of long and productive meetings between college officials, SLATE and the RCGA at our offices and at area community colleges over the past year.

RCGA was pleased to participate in this community effort since it aligns directly with 3 of the 4 strategic initiatives adopted by the RCGA Board:

1. Sharpening our Economic Development Focus (Focus on Specific Clusters)
2. Attracting, Developing and Retaining Top Talent in the Region
3. Regional Sustainability as Good Economics 

A related component of the overall “Graduate! St. Louis” effort on which the RCGA Regional Talent Council is working, under the leadership of Doug Koch, Senior Vice President and Chief Talent Officer at Brown Shoe, is focusing on raising the level of “college attainment” in the bi-state region.  College attainment levels not only represent opportunities to grow personal income and the regional economy, but are also important factors for national site consultants in recommending to their corporate clients where to locate companies and jobs. 

In this context, according to a 2008 U.S. Census Survey, some 444,000 St. Louis area adults started college at some point in their lives but never completed their degree.  The overwhelming majority of these individuals are presently in the workforce. The surest way for us to improve our workforce, raise their incomes, and attract business to strengthen the region is to help these individuals to complete their higher education. I noted in last week’s news conference that a recent national study by CEO’s For Cities documented that raising the nation’s current 29.4% College Attainment level to 30.4% would stimulate gross national product and would increase aggregate personal income by $124 billion. 

The consortium will partner with RCGA in its overall Talent initiative to target these 444,000 adults who have completed some college but have not graduated --- aimed at enhancing the region’s college attainment levels.

The “Graduate! St. Louis Workforce Consortium” announced last week it will primarily serve laid off workers affected by the recession.  Over the three year project period, the consortium partners will increase the number of classes offered through the continuous education college system, invest in needed training equipment, hire faculty and develop a regional web portal in order to facilitate an online community of trainers and job seekers.

“A New Decade, A New Dollar” Is Subject Of John Cook School Of Business Program Tomorrow, July 27th:  The RCGA is once again partnering with The Boeing Institute of International Business at the John Cook School of Business at Saint Louis University to present the “A New Decade, A New Dollar” program tomorrow, July 27th, beginning at 7:30 a.m., at the Anheuser-Busch Auditorium, 3674 Lindell Blvd.

The keynote breakfast speaker is Vassili Serebriakov, Vice President and Currency Strategist, Wells Fargo & Company, New York.

Vassili Serebriakov

Serebriakov will explore global currency issues, such as:

• Global economic recovery, financial market volatility and the U.S. dollar
• Recent European developments and the implications for the euro
• The outlook for China’s currency policy

In addition to the RCGA, the other program sponsors are: U.S. Department of Commerce; World Affairs Council; World Agricultural Forum; and the World Trade Center Saint Louis.  This program is partially funded by a Business and International Education grant from the United States Department of Education.

For reservations and more information, please call 314.977.3898, or e-mail:  biib@slu.edu.

Richard C.D. Fleming
President and CEO