Regional business leaders say inclusion is key to long-term economic growth

Business leaders across St. Louis are charting a course for regional economic growth that seeks to respond to historic inequality by prioritizing inclusion and collaboration.

The strategy focuses on unifying the region’s 14 counties and independent city, as well as the many minority communities that call the St. Louis region home.

“Creating opportunity for all is a winning strategy for St. Louis,” said Greater St. Louis Inc. CEO Jason Hall, at a regional economic outlook breakfast Thursday. The room was packed with around 600 attendees representing local chambers of commerce, businesses and other regional institutions.

Hall said the region isn’t in a position where individual growth will cut it, something reflected in the STL 2030 Jobs Plan his organization released more than two years ago.

“You cannot move forward if everybody else does not have the opportunity to move forward,” he said. “That was a major philosophical shift to address racial and spatial inequities that have held this region back for far too long.”

It’s a sentiment that Joan Daleo, Ole Tyme Produce president and CEO, also shared with those in attendance.

“If your region as a whole isn’t growing, you're in combat warfare every day,” she said. “You’re stealing business from other people; they’re trying to steal from you. But when the whole region grows together, you can have inclusive growth.”