Missouri Legislative Session Significantly Strengthens St. Louis Region's "Deal-Making" Capacity

May 21, 2007

For more information, contact
Gary Broome at (314) 444-1171

For Immediate Release:

ENHANCED ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TOOLS FROM 2007
MISSOURI LEGISLATIVE SESSION SIGNIFICANTLY STRENGTHENS
ST. LOUIS REGION'S "DEAL-MAKING" CAPACITY

ST. LOUIS - Legislation strengthening the State's economy and helping to build our region fared very well in the just-completed session of the Missouri Legislature. The St. Louis Regional Chamber & Growth Association (RCGA) applauds Governor Blunt and the General Assembly for passage of a comprehensive economic development bill, which includes:

•  an urgently needed expansion of the Quality Jobs program;
•  adoption of New Markets and Venture Capital tax credits to stimulate entrepreneurial development;
•  a program to encourage assemblage of land in distressed areas for urban revitalization and economic development purposes.
  

"While there are some "barnacles" on this long and complicated bill, as noted in the media, the RCGA urges Governor Blunt to sign the 2007 Economic Development bill (HB 327) because of its time urgency and critical importance," noted RCGA President & Chief Executive Officer Richard C.D. Fleming. "The centerpiece of this legislation is the absolutely essential reauthorization and increase in the tax credit cap of the Missouri Quality Jobs program, and the entrepreneurial development and urban revitalization portions of the legislation are welcome and vital new economic development tools."

"If this bill does not become law, the Quality Jobs program will literally be "tapped out" at the previous tax credit cap of $12 million annually (now virtually exhausted), and Missouri will have lost the use of its most effective and successful business recruitment and retention tool," Fleming added. "At present, there are dozens of live economic development prospects -- deals in which the St. Louis region is on the short list for expanding and relocating companies -- representing thousands of prospective new jobs and billions of dollars in capital investment, which our State, regional and local economic development agencies are aggressively pursuing for the future."

For example, highlighting just 5 of over 60 active prospects, the St. Louis area is currently a finalist in these 5 projects that represent the potential for a combined total of 4,180 new jobs, $199,560,000 million in new annual payroll, and a capital investment conservatively estimated of nearly $200 million. "While we may not win all 6 deals, the State and region will most assuredly lose them all if they do not have Quality Jobs resources available with which to negotiate these projects. HB 327 would give Missouri and the region those resources, by raising the annual tax credit cap to $30 million, providing a short term but much needed extension of this proven, highly successful program," Fleming said.

Another highlight of the Session was partial funding by the General Assembly of the Life Sciences Trust Fund. While the RCGA actively supported the Governor's proposal for full funding of this program ($35.7 million), it is noteworthy that the Legislature's decision to appropriate $13.5 million marks the first time that any State funding has been made available for this previously authorized Fund. This new funding is an important and necessary initial investment that can be used to support world-class research projects by our leading universities/research institutions.

And finally, a third action of importance to the St. Louis region was passage of the Governor's Lewis and Clark Discovery Initiative ("MOHELA"). This measure will facilitate construction of science facilitates at higher education institutions and improve the workforce across our region, by providing funding for a long-overdue renovation of the science building at UMSL, development of an early childhood and parent education center at Harris-Stowe, and completion of various facilities in the St. Louis Community College system.

About the St. Louis Regional Chamber & Growth Association (RCGA)
The RCGA is the chamber of commerce and economic development organization for the 16-county, bi-state region. The mission of the RCGA is to unite the region’s business community, and to engage dynamic business and civic leadership to develop and sustain a world-class economy and community.