St. Louis, Chinese Air Hub & Aerotropolis initiative

moorlander · PostSep 13, 2012#17762012-09-13T18:47+00:00

New report out today names China as the new #1 trade destination for goods from the StL region. #resurrectthechinahubnowdamnit

bking4 · PostSep 26, 2012#17772012-09-26T14:52+00:00

Tim Nowak, executive director of the World Trade Center St. Louis, will discuss “The Midwest Cargo Hub Update” at 8 a.m. Oct. 4 at World Trade Center St. Louis in Clayton, Mo... Nowak will provide an update on current negotiations.

http://blogs.umsl.edu/news/2012/09/25/china-hub/

newstl2020 · PostSep 26, 2012#17782012-09-26T15:29+00:00

"World Trade Center St. Louis in Clayton, Mo."

ImprovSTL · PostSep 26, 2012#17792012-09-26T16:14+00:00

newstl2020 wrote:"World Trade Center St. Louis in Clayton, Mo."

I'm ok with this. Most airports that bear the city name don't actually exist in city lines.

beer city · PostOct 01, 2012#17802012-10-01T16:59+00:00

Interesting -

http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/news ... ities.html

While I think there is some future in STL, Chinese commerce, I can't help think about what could have been. Thanks again outstate...

gone corporate · PostOct 04, 2012#17812012-10-04T16:52+00:00

WAY TO GO MID AMERICA AIRPORT!!!!!
MASCOUTAH, A GLOBAL DESTINATION!!!!!

MidAmerica Airport Forms Partnership With Airport In China
Must read: http://www.aviationpros.com/news/107982 ... t-in-china

This announcement was made Wednesday at the International Air Cargo Association's 26th Air Cargo Forum in Atlanta.
Turns out, this agreement has been in effect since January!
Target: Cargo flights between China, STL, and South America!

I was at the talk being given by the World Trade Center - Saint Louis this morning, focusing on the Trade Hub talks and being given by WTC-StL Executive Director Tim Nowak (more good news coming later...). It was an early morning meeting, and some people had asked about this in the Q&A session, that they heard of it on the radio this morning. Tim didn't know about this announcement being made, but upon hearing it he immediately proclaimed "That's awesome!" and fully encouraged the work being done at Mid America and in Saint Clair County, that what helps SoIL helps STL, and vice versa.

Good times.

goat314 · PostOct 05, 2012#17822012-10-05T01:27+00:00

I love all the talk of St. Louis economic development lately. With all of the start ups, business incubators, logistics deals, economic agreements etc., but I have yet to see any noticeable impact to the local economy and despite all the pats on the back we have been giving ourselves, most economists still have a grim economic outlook for the St. Louis metro area. We are still projected to be a slow growth, lagging region for the foreseeable future. What is the disconnect? Are we just planting good seeds that have the "potential" to grow or are we on the cusp of a real turn around?

the count · PostOct 31, 2012#17832012-10-31T16:35+00:00

An attempt to analyse the current situation: Smarter Efforts for a Gateway to Asia

gone corporate · PostNov 05, 2012#17842012-11-05T23:27+00:00

First international shipment coming in to Mid America Airport on 11/10
Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/news ... erica.html

If you build it...

stlcardsblues1989 · PostNov 07, 2012#17852012-11-07T04:14+00:00

Not directly related to the Air Hub, but it looks like Jay Nixon will be reelected. He's at 52% right now with 42% of precincts reported. The St. Louis votes haven't been counted yet, but I suspect they'll go for Nixon also.

insomniacafe · PostNov 07, 2012#17862012-11-07T14:59+00:00

stlcardsblues1989 wrote:Not directly related to the Air Hub, but it looks like Jay Nixon will be reelected. He's at 52% right now with 42% of precincts reported. The St. Louis votes haven't been counted yet, but I suspect they'll go for Nixon also.

Yup, wasn't even particularly close. Nixon did a solid job convincing rural voters that he'd earned another term, and, honestly, Spence's campaign never seemed terribly organized on the ground.

beer city · PostNov 07, 2012#17872012-11-07T16:00+00:00

Jim Lemke - (R) Mo Senate was defeated last night- Outspoken opponet of China Hub, and also was trying to kill the historic tax credit. Good day for the metro.

gone corporate · PostNov 07, 2012#17882012-11-07T17:06+00:00

The two main legislative opponents to the Trade Hub - Crowell and Purgason - are term limited out. Good times.

Got to say, Jim Lembke was not in favor of this (tax credits supporting it), but he's also a real nice guy. When we led a group to Jeff City last year to advocate on the Trade Hub, Lembke not only welcomed us in his office, and made himself at our disposal, he even opened his fridge to us so we could all grab Cokes & a bite while lobbying for what he was against. Absolutely, a class act.

Crowell, meanwhile, was and is an arsehole.

the count · PostNov 07, 2012#17892012-11-07T22:06+00:00

^Seconded.

innov8ion · PostNov 08, 2012#17902012-11-08T01:48+00:00

ImprovSTL wrote:
newstl2020 wrote:"World Trade Center St. Louis in Clayton, Mo."
I'm ok with this. Most airports that bear the city name don't actually exist in city lines.

This doesn't sound so much like a building than a business. With that said, they could have chosen a better name than one synonymous with the WTC towers. Shrugs..

Btw, there's a Missouri delegation headed to China led by Gov Nixon coming up soon.

pat · PostNov 08, 2012#17912012-11-08T14:44+00:00

^ Is it really being "led" by Nixon? I feel these trips are just a convenient way for to get face time. If bolstering trade with China was so important to him, why the half arsed support for the China hub?

gone corporate · PostNov 09, 2012#17922012-11-09T21:05+00:00

innov8ion wrote:... they could have chosen a better name than one synonymous with the WTC towers. Shrugs..

It was the World Trade Center - St. Louis well before the Towers came down.

pat wrote:^ Is it really being "led" by Nixon? I feel these trips are just a convenient way for to get face time. If bolstering trade with China was so important to him, why the half arsed support for the China hub?

The Governor is the representative of the State because he is the State's leader. There is no other elected official in MO who has as much power, clout, or official capacity as the Governor has.

"Half-assed support" by Nixon is complicated... He wanted the issue of tax credits, especially for historic redevelopment & low income housing, to be a dividing point between the GOP legislature. While some see value in tax credits, others see many as being wasteful as they are managed. The split in the GOP over the value of tax credits precluded the trade hub legislation.

Nixon was perfectly happy letting Crowell, Purgason, and the minority fight the GOP majority, while he sits back and watches his opposition party's representatives fight, all from the view of the Governor's office. His whole strategy was for the GOP to be in complete disarray across MO in preparation for the MO Dems to make another grab at power in the '12 elections.

Then the "Aerotropolis" bill was introduced, this potential became real, and he was stuck: Do I further this economic development initiative that could really build up STL & MO, or do I play politics by doing nothing and watch my opposition fight?

At first, Nixon was OK to watch the GOP fight over this, regular conservatives versus the extremist "no-nothings", even at the cost of the Trade Hub's viability in 2011. He did join in and start participating as the legislative year kept going, but he preferred to shame the GOP, making sure to deride the "Special Legislative Session" while really doing nothing to further the cause.

That is, until he was in Beijing in the fall of 2011, standing before our Chinese counterparts, and, in what turned into a very brief meeting for which he'd flown halfway around the world for, Nixon had to tell the Chinese that MO failed to stick to its end of the bargain, the Chinese incredulously asked how this could have happened (lack of leadership), and the meeting ended.

Keep hope alive for the Trade Hub in 2013...