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Issue: 1124 Date: 3/8/2012
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Meet the new (RCGA) boss: Q&A with Joe Reagan
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| Joe Reagan is the new President and CEO of the St. Louis Regional Chamber & Growth Association, photographed on Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012. Photo by Christian Gooden, cgooden@post-dispatch.com |
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Joe Reagan is a busy man these days.
The new president of the Regional Chamber and Growth Association, effective Wednesday, Reagan has been bouncing all week, from sit-downs with elected officials to soirees with the business community, where one person after another wants to say hi and bend his ear.
He also has got a lot to take in. Reagan said he began his first day on the job with Mass at the Old Cathedral downtown, looking at the paintings of the people who built this city. He ended it at the awards ceremony for Washington University's Olin Cup, which honors companies of the future. And he is getting started on a six-week "listening tour," to get a feel for what people all over this region want to see from RCGA.
There has been no time to decorate his office, which at some point will surely fill up with the photos and ceremonial shovels owned by chamber bosses nationwide, but which for now just has hooks on bare walls. But Reagan did find a few minutes on Thursday to sit down with the Post-Dispatch to talk about the job, the region and what he thinks it might take to grow our economy.
So, what do you think of the place?
There is a great deal of opportunity here. I think what the world needs, St. Louis offers. It's a great inland port. It is a city that offers a very creative atmosphere. The buzz I'd heard about St. Louis was great music, wonderful restaurants, this mosaic of neighborhoods. I'm starting to see those things to be true.
There seems to be a deep hunger here for something better in our economy, and a lot of new ideas being thrown out there. How does the RCGA contribute to that effort?
That's not a question I can answer today. It's a question we're asking. We're talking to people and listening to their ideas. On the question of how to develop an economy, the answer is to build on strengths. There really is no other way.
And there's momentum here. We've got to nurture it and feed it, and I think we can start to gain traction. This recession, as everybody knows, has been deep and painful. It's still a very difficult time. But that'll change, and the question is, will St. Louis be positioned and ready when it does. I believe we will.
One thing you've talked about a lot already is education. What's RCGA's role in developing a more educated workforce?
If you look at economic development today, it's not about location, location, location - though we have that in St. Louis - it's about people, people, people. We're in a knowledge economy. What drives value in the market is about educated people pursuing their dreams. If you look at one factor that will really move the needle for a region, that businesses are most looking for, it is an abundant supply of educated people at all levels of the spectrum. This has to be lifted up as a priority.
In recent years, our spending on business incentives have tilted heavily toward location-based, real estate programs (TIF, historic tax credits). Do we need a different balance?
States always have to look and say "Are we getting results from incentives?" Incentives don't make a bad deal good, so the primary focus has to be about being a great quality place. Then, if you're a great quality place, you have less reliance on business incentives over the long term.
But incentives are a fact of life. I think the policy question to ask is: Is this driving net new growth to the region? Is this creating a bigger economic pie? What are you trying to achieve and do you use the best tools to get there?
Lots of people say exports and manufacturing are essential to grow St. Louis' economy. How does St. Louis become a bigger player in the export world?
I think every individual and every business needs to have their own globalization strategy. We're all living in this global economy now. Are we educating ourselves? Do we understand the dynamics of the world today? It starts with insight and awareness.
And exporting is not just for large businesses. Small and medium size businesses need to think about how to go global as well. There's a lot of know-how (about exporting) in St. Louis. How do we connect the know-how with the small and medium sized businesses?
How much importance should I attach to the fact that you ended your first day at an entrepreneurship event? And is that something the RCGA is going to work more on?
You can attach a lot of importance to it. Time is very precious right now, and that event was a great intersection of innovation and entrepreneurship and education.
There are two ways to manage an economy. One is taking care of business today. The other is creating for tomorrow. St. Louis has a storied business history and some tremendous business success stories that are growing right now. But we have to keep our eye on the future, too. When we talk about economic development, we're talking about growing the economy of the future. Innovation and entrepreneurship are the best way to do that.
There are loads of entities working on economic development around here, and sometimes hard feelings over who does what. How do you ease those feelings and get everyone pulling together?
Certainly there are a number of organizations dedicated to growing the economy, but I don't see much overlap. I think there are opportunities for better coordination, for unifying our voice around what's important. But I also think there's a lot of expertise in different areas that can be brought together to drive the economy.
It's a team sport. No single organization can accomplish this task alone.
(Tim Logan covers economic development for the Post-Dispatch. He blogs on Building Blocks. Follow him on Twitter @tlwriter and the Business section @postdispatchbiz. February 5, 2012)
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