On Tuesday, Feb. 20, the Business Edition of the St. Louis Speakers Series was sponsored by the Great Issues Committee. The second of four events in the series was a panel of business community leaders who discussed the future of the St. Louis Metropolitan area as a business center.
The panel discussion took place in the Anheuser-Busch Auditorium in Cook Hall at 7:30 p.m. The panel consisted of four business leaders: Heidi L. Conway, recruiting manager for Enterprise Rent-A-Car; William Carson, chair of the leadership group for the organization Metropolis St. Louis; James Saitz, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Missouri State Bank; and William Simon, vice president of the Center for Emerging Technologies. The discussion was moderated by Patrick Welch, Ph.D., professor in Saint Louis University’s Department of Economics.
Approximately 40 people attended.
After introductions, each panelist was allotted five minutes to speak on a specific issue regarding business in the Bi-State Area.
Carson spoke first about the present challenges and opportunities in the city. He talked about Metropolitan St. Louis and its mission to create an environment in St. Louis that attracts and retains young people.
“St. Louis must improve its image and look towards its future,” Carson said.
Saitz spoke next about mergers and acquisitions in St. Louis, focusing on the banking and financial service industry. He said that mergers have had a great effect on the area. What 10 years ago was 15 or 16 financial services companies is now only three large ones, due to mergers and acquisitions over the years.
Simon spoke on information technology and the life sciences. Simon said that St. Louis has been designated the “Bio-Belt” and that he believes the pursuit of biotechnology will be crucial to the business future of St. Louis.
Conway was the last to give opening comments, and she made general comments about seeking careers out of college.
“Think outside the box,” said Conway. “Don’t worry about fancy titles. Think about where a company can take you.” She compared choosing a career or company to choosing a college, saying that a company should be a place where you can see yourself and where you are comfortable.
The panel discussed the evolution of the business environment, the need for flexibility in the workplace and retention in the St. Louis job market before opening to questions.
One member of the audience raised the issue of the “exodus” to the county, asking what can be done to bring people back to the City.
“It is an absolute challenge,” Carson said. Saitz added there are already a large number of organizations in St. Louis that are working to improve the city’s vitality, and that though there are no “grand slams” to solve the problem, progress is being made in small steps.
Another question from the audience was about the effect of recent buyouts of St. Louis companies, such as TWA and Ralston-Purina, and the loss of those corporate headquarters in the city.
“In a perfect world, we would have them all back,” said Simon. But he also added that St. Louis is not unlike many major cities in the U.S. in that it is losing corporate headquarters. He said that St. Louis has kept many corporate headquarters and that there has been a incredible development in privately-held companies that have headquarters here. Welch added that St. Louis’ ranking for the number of company headquarters was much higher than its ranking for population, concluding that the number of corporate headquarters in St. Louis is much beyond what would be expected.
The final question from the floor was an inquiry about why one would leave the City of St. Louis. The question was asked of the students in the audience so that the business leaders on the panel could get feedback on the issues that had been discussed throughout the evening. Students gave a wide spectrum of responses, ranging from complaints that St. Louis lacked basics like a grocery store in the downtown area, to complaints that it was too conservative and lacked the glamour of a metropolitan area.
