This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Jan. 20, 2011 - Dick Fleming has worked in economic development for 30 years, 17 of them as head of the Regional Chamber and Growth Association, and as he begins his transition out of that job, he has this advice for St. Louis:
Appreciate what you have.
Fleming, who announced Thursday he would leave his post by the end of the year, recalled that when the RCGA conducted brand research in 2005, which led to the slogan "Perfectly Centered, Remarkably Connected," it conducted interviews with the people responsible for deciding where investments are made and where jobs are located.
"What came out of that," he said in an interview, "was that the things we have that position us best are big-league amenities -- arts, culture, education, sports -- on a much more accessible scale.
"We have the same things as Atlanta, for example, but the scale of the quality of life here and the ability to attract and retain a quality workforce because of that is a very distinctive competitive edge. Atlanta, in the eyes of many Atlantans, has become too Los Angelecized, with two-hour commutes and so forth. I think we hold our own in the things that count, in quality of life and in business.
"I have lived in some wonderful places, like Denver and Atlanta, and growing up in Baltimore. I find St. Louis more like Baltimore. Whether it's our cultural assets or our business base, we don't always appreciate what we have."
What the St. Louis area has that isn't always an asset, Fleming said, is its fractionalized governmental structure, which often makes it hard to work together as a region as other areas do.
Asked what advice he would give his successor, he said:
"Continue the ethic of this organization and work in every way you can to bring the region together. That's a complex challenge for any region, but when you are as geographically diverse as we are, with 16 counties, urban and rural, in two states, the role the RCGA can play in the community is a very unique and special one."
Has that diversity hurt the kinds of efforts to attract jobs that the RCGA has emphasized?
"There are probably times that it has," Fleming said, "but the positive thing is that when we act together, we get it done, whether it's recruiting a football team to a new sports stadium or supporting arts and cultural organizations or the thing that I'm most proud of that the RCGA has been able to do during my tenure, organizing ourselves for economic development and marketing ourselves as a region.
"It's not perfect, but it works well."
Bob Reynolds, the outgoing RCGA board chairman and chairman, president and CEO of Graybar, said that the growth of the organization under Fleming's leadership has been one of his biggest accomplishments.
When he came in 1994, the association had an annual budget of $3 million and no cash reserves, compared with its $10 million budget today, along with ample reserves. The staff has become more professional and experienced, he said, leading to a more coordinated, more comprehensive effort to market the St. Louis area to the nation and the world.
One result of that push, Fleming said, was the decision by MasterCard not only to keep jobs here instead of moving to Dallas but to establish its worldwide headquarters in the region.
"Dick Fleming has been indispensable to the St. Louis region for the better part of two decades," Reynolds said, "and without question is one of the top chamber and economic development executives in the country. But after countless civic contributions, Dick wants a new challenge in his career. He has our full support."
Tom Voss, president and CEO of Ameren Corp., who is succeeding Reynolds as chair of the RCGA, added:
"Dick has reinvigorated the RCGA and helped reinvigorate the whole region. The RCGA has and continues to play a key role in the effort to establish the region as a cargo hub and commercial center for China.
"We have major regional initiatives under way in improving our talent base and growing our key industry clusters, including the BioBelt strategy to make St. Louis a center for the plant and life sciences. Thanks in part to Dick's leadership, our region is emerging from the recession with ambitious plans and tremendous momentum."
Fleming said he looks forward to establishing the China Hub and attracting next year's Democratic National Convention as part of the legacy he leaves behind.
What's next? At what Fleming says his wife calls a young 65, he says it's time to do something different, though he's not exactly sure what that is going to be.
"There is a time that it makes sense to make a change, for the region and correspondingly for me," he said. "This is the right time. This is a 24-hour, seven-day job, and after 17 years of that, it's time to take a pause and reflect. I clearly intend to do another chapter in my career, and I want to be able to pursue that in a way that I'm leaving the RCGA as strong as I can.
"I'm going to reflect on a whole set of options. I chair three national organizations, which have opened my eyes to different things. I've done economic development for 30 years in three different cities. I want to do something different."