urbanSTL

As my first year as publisher of the St. Louis Business Journal comes to a close, I thought I’d share some thoughts and observations from my first 12 months here in the Gateway City. Some of these may be brief and random, while there are others that could fill an entire publisher’s notebook column. 
First, a few personal notes...

• The most frequent question I get out in the community is, “How do you like it here?” And then I receive puzzled looks when I answer by saying how much I love this city. Why is that? I thought it was part of our city’s charm the first few dozen times it happened. Now I find it borderline offensive. Yes, I love it here. My wife and daughters love it here. Over the past year, I’ve met a number of business executives who are transplants from other cities. Nearly 100% of them feel the same way I do about St. Louis. I’ve come to the conclusion that the people who act surprised by my family’s happiness are the ones whose families have lived in this region for generations. I challenge those people to seek out a few of us not born and raised in the region and ask them why they love it here. The number of reasons might surprise you.
• This is a great sports town. My wife and daughters, who hadn’t seen a hockey game in their lives, took in every minute of the Stanley Cup Finals. And don’t get me started on the magic of opening day at Busch Stadium. Enough said.
• The food scene in St. Louis is amazing. The diversity of cuisine here is something the rest of the country should take note of. Our oldest daughter arrived from college in Central Florida for winter break last month with a list of restaurants we needed to visit while she’s in town.
• This is a great city for the arts. The St. Louis Symphony is an absolute treasure. Our museums are amazing. Grand Center is one of my favorite places. There’s no shortage of things to do and see there.
• Just about every person I meet seems to be worried that my family and I will hate the weather. I get it. We moved here from the Sunshine State. Many St. Louis natives have vacationed in Florida multiple times. Florida has sunshine, warm weather, beaches and multiple theme parks. You know what Florida doesn’t have? Seasons. Yes, it gets hot in St. Louis, and July and August here feel a lot like Central Florida. Then fall arrives and it’s more beautiful than I can put into words.  And, believe it or not, I like winter. I look forward to the snow. I’ve already told my wife I’m never going to be able to live in a house without a wood burning fireplace. In the spring, the air smells wonderful and the tulips, my wife’s favorite flowers, bloom in multiple locations on the side of Highway 40 (notice I didn’t say 64? I’m practically a native now).

On the business side of things...

• We are a passionate business community. People care about this region and want to see it succeed. But with that passion comes some challenges.
• There are too many cooks in the kitchen here. Too many municipalities and organizations that all have their own agendas and ideas on how our region can and should move forward. I truly believe that they mean well, but we don’t have one clear sense of direction, which leads to nothing getting done. Were the Better Together and airport privatization efforts the magic bullets to get our region back on track? I don’t know the answer to that question. Nobody has a crystal ball. But I do know that they were initiatives that would have moved us in a direction. The fear of change and the “we’ve always done it this way” mentality are strong here. Until that changes, we’ll continue to watch other cities pass us by.  
• We have some VERY talented people here in St. Louis. After a year, I’ve run through a cycle of our awards events and I’m so impressed with the people in our region. The stories from our 40 Under 40 and Most Influential Business Women features are inspiring.  
• Our startup and tech communities are vibrant and growing. We’ve placed a greater emphasis on this in our reporting over the past year.
•  We are a community that gives back. The first event I emceed for the Business Journal was our Corporate Philanthropy Awards. I was blown away by the people and the companies that we recognized. What our United Way is able to accomplish each year is so impressive, and there are so many other smaller nonprofits out there doing great things as well.

My last observation is one that makes me very proud — and that’s the passion that the business community has for the St. Louis Business Journal.  Many kind words have been shared with me about people’s experiences with the Business Journal over the years. I’ve talked to companies that attribute their success to working with us in some capacity — whether it’s news coverage, using the Business Journal for the business intelligence we provide to help companies grow, or how advertising with us put their company in front of the right people.    
I’ve also received some critical feedback that we’ve taken to heart. Business leaders in this city aren’t shy about calling me or our editor when they think we could have done something better. We welcome that critical feedback also, because it can help make us a better news organization.
So, thanks for helping make my first year in St. Louis a good one. Here’s to many, many more.