urbanSTL

So... how will this team be arriving? Flying to Chicago and then coming down? It'd be cool if they chartered a plane...

sirshankalot wrote:http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/news ... build.html

I know of Mr. Hewitt, and he is NO idiot. He knows something. And the fact that he mentions Mid-America as a component of the China Hub, bodes well, very well..

100% agree here. Let's all recognize that this is the first major outside capital being invested into the region for logistics. That this first money is from Hewitt & his team is extraordinary and is very positive.

Note as well the type of facility this will be. From the article:

With the completion of the new cargo building, MidAmerica said it would be the only airport north of Alabama with on-airport ramp access for perishable processing. That allows not only for the import of perishable goods, but also is critical for the potential export of Midwest beef, pork, poultry and fish.

That's another competitive advantage to the regional efforts.

Later in the article:

In the interim, the Public Building Commission has approved the installation of a temporary building that is being erected by the passenger terminal to meet the needs of the various partners that are planning additional test flights in the coming months.

I’m of the mind that MidAmerica is better suited than Lambert is today for testing cargo flights to the region, if for the simple reasons that MidAmerica has no other real traffic going on there, for open skies to conduct landings, and because there are fewer public eyes on it, to scrutinize what’s going on. Whether the planes land in StL or Mascoutah means little to me, especially right now. The region is being tested for long-term strategic planning for logistics, and we are demonstrating capacity and compatibility. With outside capital, we also demonstrate investment opportunities, economic viability, and most importantly demand. Now, I’m getting excited over what this all could be.

From StLCardsBlues' basketball story earlier: I see this as concrete diplomacy between StL and both China & the City of Beijing. This isn’t chance.

Jaynovahawk: I won’t guess as to how many jobs can arise from this, but given time and investment, they could be amazing numbers. We could be talking about the entire realignment of the StL economy, by establishing a whole new industry and bringing in new domestic companies to the area. I’d say the best thing would be to stay patient & see when the Chinese send flights to Lambert regularly, and then we’ll see what all can develop. Should that day ever come, I’d anticipate incredible opportunities would come with them.

We should again recognize that Taiwan and China are not the same country, and goods going to Taiwan might land first in Seoul or Tokyo instead of Beijing. Regardless, it's good for that "Gateway to the East" moniker.

DaronDierkes wrote:We should again recognize that Taiwan and China are not the same country

Fortunately relations have been better the past two years. Otherwise, I sense courting both could be ugly.

courting both got ugly

Let me just add-in that Gov Nixon is obviously not a fan of Urban Missouri and Lt Gov Kinder very much is, especially StL.
But can we do politics somewhere else, especially if we show partisanship? Thanks.

Meanwhile, the planned Nixon delegation to Taiwan and South Korea has been put on hold for the reasonable near future. This is directly related to the diplomacy behind the Hub Idea, based on the history between the People’s Republic and Taiwan. The Chinese Consul General for the US Midwest stated as much to the Midwest China Hub Commission (which incidentally had advised the Governor’s office previously to this), upon whose request the State based its decision to delay the mission.

Source: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt ... 0c717.html

This is a rather significant moment, with a small but notable problem being averted. The Chinese proactively reached out to the Hub Commission, which in turn advised the State, and with a nice turnaround time in-between. It was a pretty big thing for the Chinese to ask, noting the $600M in commerce currently anticipated being underway between MO and Taiwan & South Korea, as well as the historical business underway between MO and Taiwan & South Korea. By the State acquiescing to the Chinese request to stave off our relationship with Taiwan so openly, it demonstrates our willingness to engage China in potential commerce, something that the Chinese do recognize with appreciation. I’d say that we shouldn’t have been reaching out so strongly to Taiwan in the final stages of these negotiations (not so much a problem with South Korea). We’re not going to lose our relationships with Taiwan with any Hub being established, but we shouldn’t be flaunting this relationship at this time. Resolving this “hiccup” right now puts us back in a favorable light diplomatically.

Also in the news: The President of Tsingtao is receiving his Executive MBA from Wash U (through its Shanghai Campus) as part of his class’ immersion program in the US (here in StL). This includes tours taken of AB (former owner of Tsingtao) as well as a special program planned at Schlafly.

Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/news ... -gets.html

Let’s note that this program’s coming to StL is very much tied in to cooperative efforts in building better relations between StL and China. As well as the Olin School, the Boeing Institute’s EMBA program at the Cook School at SLU has been coordinating immersion programs between the US and China for some time. These business school relationships have been a boon to the area in building new relationships between StL corporations and their Chinese counterparts (including government officials).

Also: It’s Tsingtao’s President who’s taking the classes here. Rather significant. I’d assume that other high-ranking Chinese executives are studying here as well, or at the very least will look to Wash U (and maybe SLU) in the near future for their professional educations.

All very good things.