By Bill Raack, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – A group of 90 business executives, civic and elected officials from the St. Louis area are in Atlanta this (Mon.) morning.
The visit is the ninth that Regional Chamber and Growth Association has coordinated to various cities around North America in recent years. RCGA President Dick Fleming says the trips are a chance to view St. Louis through the lens of another community.
"The underlying purpose is to really look at St. Louis from the perspective of other places that are succeeding in certain areas and having challenges in some similar areas to ours and beyond that it is an extraordinary opportunity to really build a regional community," Fleming said, in an interview.
The RCGA Leadership Trips have taken participants to such cities as Cleveland, Baltimore, Denver, San Diego, Seattle, Toronto, Boston and last year - St. Louis.
Fleming adds Atlanta was selected this year, in part, because of its reputation for minority entrepreneurship: "Looking at their regional economic development efforts they've been remarkably successful both on the international front as well as just recruiting companies, the whole marketing of the region Atlanta has a great tradition in that area."