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Issue: 1115 Date: 1/5/2012
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Top 10 local business stories from 2011
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Another year is over, and while the economy didn't exactly roar back to life in 2011, a whole lot of business got done. * There were big mergers and old industry stirring anew, celebrations and hopes that faded, a stock market that went all over the place and a job market that didn't go much of anywhere. And business news was on the front burner all year long. * With the recovery uncertain and a big election looming, expect more big news coming in 2012, too. But first, here's a look back at the biggest business stories in St. Louis in 2011.
SLUGGISH RECOVERY ON THE JOBS FRONT
While the broader economy showed signs of recovery, the part of it that matters most to most of us - the job market - remained stuck in low gear. The unemployment rate fell, but much of that was due to people dropping out of the workforce. The St. Louis region added just 5,900 jobs over the last year, growing by just 0.5 percent, and there are still 70,000 fewer jobs here than before the recession.
AUTO INDUSTRY REVIVAL
Two years after being all but left for dead, the region's auto industry showed new signs of life.
General Motors hired 437 people to staff a second shift at its van plant in Wentzville. Then officials announced plans to spend $380 million expanding the facility to make Chevrolet Colorado pickup truck there, adding more than 1,200 jobs to the plant in 2013. Meanwhile, British startup Emerald Automotive unveiled plans for a hybrid delivery van factory in Hazelwood, which could employ nearly 500 people by 2015.
THE BIGGEST AIMS TO GET BIGGER
Pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts announced in July that it planned to buy rival Medco for $29.1 billion. The deal would catapult Express Scripts - already the biggest firm in St. Louis by revenue - into the ranks of the 20 biggest companies in the U.S. and would make it a true heavyweight in the health care industry. The merger faces scrutiny from antitrust regulators, but if they approve, it is expected to close in the first half of 2012.
CHINA HUB FIZZLES
After nearly four years of talks, the inaugural China Air cargo flight from Shanghai landed in September. And then ... nothing.
The region's China Hub project stalled on the runway after $480 million in tax credits died in Jefferson City and the soft global economy dampened air freight. The Chinese still lease space at Lambert, and airport officials say they're still talking with foreign cargo carriers. But another peak air freight season has now passed, with St. Louis still not on the map.
MORE WOMEN TAKE THE REINS
After years with just one woman at the helm of a local public company - Build-A-Bear's Maxine Clark - the ranks of female CEOs swelled. Diane Sullivan took the top job at Brown Shoe, while Virginia McDowell ascended to CEO at Isle of Capri Casinos.
The list will grow in 2012. The Laclede Group tapped Suzanne Sitherwood to be CEO, effective next month. And on June 1, Kathleen Mazzarella will take the helm at Graybar Electric, where she'll be one of fewer than 20 women to run a Fortune 500 company.
CORPORATE GOINGS AND COMINGS
Cheap financing sparked an acquisition wave early this year that claimed four St. Louis-based companies, among them Fortune 500 package-maker Smurfit-Stone. This, of course, prompted a new round of angst about the region's diminished place in corporate America.
But St. Louis wasn't only a loser. Ralcorp Holdings maintained its independence, fending off the hostile advances of ConAgra. Peabody Energy and Arch Coal bought up rivals. And hometown brokerage Stifel Financial launched talks to buy Memphis-based Morgan Keegan.
STOCK MARKET ROLLER COASTER
The last few months on Wall Street have not been for the weak of stomach.
After solid gains in the first half of the year, stock markets plunged in late July, with the S&P 500 losing one-sixth of its value in two weeks as Washington lawmakers dithered over the debt ceiling. Then stocks gyrated wildly through the fall, rising and dropping with every twist in the European debt crisis. Toward the holidays, though, the ride smoothed out, and the S&P ends 2011 basically in the same place it started.
ROBERTS BROTHERS ON THE BRINK?
They may have weathered the worst of the recession, but 2011 brought storms for high-profile businessmen Steven and Michael Roberts.
The brothers' broadcasting firm filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October, and some of their other companies face lawsuits and tax liens. Employees complain their paychecks come late. The brothers scrapped plans for one hotel and converted another to a less-prestigious brand. Meanwhile their biggest project - the $70 million Roberts Tower condos downtown - still sits empty, two years after construction finished.
MORE RIBBONS CUT DOWNTOWN
A few more big downtown buildings finally finished their makeovers, with the Park Pacific and Leather Trades Lofts putting out "For Rent" signs to tenants, an Embassy Suites hotel launching in The Laurel and the Peabody (nee Kiel) Opera House taking a grand opening night bow. Next up: The rest of the Laurel/MX complex is due to open in 2012, as is the $79 million redo of the Central Library. Plans are even afoot for the Chemical Building and the Jefferson Arms.
WHO'S STEERING THE SHIP ANYWAY?
The departure of longtime Regional Chamber and Growth Association boss Dick Fleming sparked a yearlong conversation about how to grow St. Louis' economy, and whom to trust with doing it. St. Louis and St. Louis County talked a lot about working together on economic development but never got beyond talking. And state lawmakers endlessly debated new business incentives but didn't pass any. It all seemed like a lot of talk, with little action. Now in walks Joe Reagan, Louisville's chamber president, to replace Fleming. He starts Feb. 1. |
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