By Kevin Lavery, KWMU
San Diego, CA. – On Tuesday, the second day of their trip to San Diego, the 100-member delegation of the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association (RCGA) spent some time comparing San Diego's transportation infrastructure with that of St. Louis.
San Diego regional planners are following a 20-year plan that ultimately will create 60 additional miles of highway and 65 miles of light rail. San Diego funds this effort through a half cent sales tax.
The RCGA's Scott Schnucks says such a tax would benefit St. Louis, but only after addressing some key questions. "We might be jeopardizing the existing funds coming to our region if we put into place our own tax," Schnucks says. "So we would need the assurance that the state wasn't going to cut back our existing funding.
St. Louis planners say Missouri needs a unified capital budget to clearly outline infrastructure spending.
The leaders also discussed biotechnology. As the region looks to position itself as a world leader in biotechnology, the group got a close look at the competition.
Industry officials admit the region is playing catch-up to San Diego's growing biotech economy. In the early 1990s San Diego began steadily raising venture capital to foster biotech startups.
David Broughton, with the NIDUS Center in St. Louis, says while St. Louis is still growing its sense of entreprenurialism, the building blocks are in place.
"They started 20 years ago out of necessity; we started this because that's where we think that's where we're going to have to be in the future," he said. "Hopefully we can shortcut that 20 years into something less than that."
Broughton says there's about $300 million in venture capital investment in St. Louis, with more in the works. KWMU's Kevin Lavery is with the group and reporting from San Diego.