St. Louis’ scattering of private-sector economic development groups are weighing a merger under one banner, according to people familiar with the matter, with completion targeted by the end of the year.
The move would signify a remarkable shift in the region’s civic landscape, long fractured in a way that’s not comparable with its peers.
Under the plan, being shepherded by Jason Hall, a longtime state and chamber of commerce executive who now leads a civic-booster firm, the following organizations would merge:
- St. Louis Regional Chamber, the region’s chamber of commerce
- AllianceSTL, the chamber's economic development affiliate
- Civic Progress, the organization made up of the heads of the region’s largest companies and institutions
- Downtown STL Inc., a nonprofit focused on bettering downtown St. Louis
- Arch to Park, the investment firm led by Hall that has worked to analyze and coordinate development in the city's central corridor
The organizations' boards still must OK such a move.
Representatives of the organizations referred questions to a spokeswoman, Laurna Godwin, who released a statement saying they are "constantly examining ways in which we can more effectively collaborate to attract new businesses and thus new jobs to the region and help existing businesses and startups thrive."
"For the past several months, AllianceSTL, Arch to Park, Civic Progress, Downtown STL Inc., and the St. Louis Regional Chamber have all been located in the same building," One Metropolitan Square downtown, the statement continued. "That has allowed us to work more seamlessly. As a natural next step, we are exploring best-in-class models in other regions as we consider what a more consolidated economic development organization might look like. We are excited by the potential for even greater collaboration to serve St. Louis."
Not to be included in the merger are St. Louis Development Corp. and the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, economic development organizations primarily funded by the city of St. Louis and St. Louis County, the people said.
The Regional Business Council, a consortium of presidents and CEOs from 100 of the region’s largest companies, would also not be included.
The sheer number of civic organizations in the region — along with the region’s disappointing growth — have long drawn attention.
The Business Journal in 2018 showed that St. Louis pays more for the services provided by those organizations than in its peer cities. Kansas City, Denver and Nashville spent less, often because the functions are consolidated in fewer organizations, while often performing better than St. Louis in past decades.
In 2019, Bob Clark, CEO of construction firm Clayco and a frequent commentator in media, called for the consolidation of St. Louis’ economic development agencies, saying “they don’t work.”
"I don't know why we have more than one," Clark said of the region's various economic development agencies. "It can't just stand the way it is ... we have to blow up the economic development agencies."
Time and again, though, some of the heads of those organizations defended the arrangement and their work, saying each had a different “geography,” “role” and “objective.”
But 2020 has brought new challenges.
The chamber, which has posted a deficit for six years in a row, laid off staffers. Then, in June, CEO Tom Chulick said he would step down at the end of the year. A person familiar with the matter said the organization has done no work with a search committee to find a replacement.
Also this year, Downtown STL, under pressure from disaffected property owners, said it would end its financial relationship with downtown’s taxing district, making unclear where the nonprofit would get future funding. It has long performed — and been reimbursed for — services requested by the taxing district, which collects about $3.6 million a year in assessments, or extra property taxes. Long-term existence of the district, called the Downtown St. Louis Community Improvement District, is also in question, as it fights a renewal campaign this year. It is set to expire at the end of 2021.
In addition, the region’s largest public company, Centene Corp., has withdrawn from Civic Progress, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, a revelation that came after Centene CEO Michael Neidorff laid into civic leadership here in an interview with the Business Journal, saying the health care giant chose to add an East Coast headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina — and not expand further here — in part because of St. Louis’ problems.
