A year ago, high-ranking Chinese official Li Zhaoxing came to St. Louis to talk about plans for an air cargo connection between his nation and the Gateway City. Next month, according to St. Louis RCGA President Dick Fleming, another Chinese delegation will be here to continue that conversation. The group will include representatives of the China Investment Promotion Agency, and that’s a new twist to the relationship, Fleming explained:
They will be bringing investors here looking for investments in companies here and in the broader St. Louis marketplace.
The local companies wouldn’t necessarily have to be connected to the air-freight or cargo business, or even to the goal of finding ”back haul” products to ship from the Midwest to China. Fleming even brought up the possibility that Chinese companies might be interested in funding some of St. Louis’ promising life-sciences companies. He added:
This is an example of how this relationship can develop in a variety of ways beyond the aviation deal.
The aviation deal itself, of course, is in the nascent stage. The latest development was the formation of a Midwest China Hub Commission in January.
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Editor’s note: Do you know the origins of the term “Mound City” used at the top of this story? Here’s an entry from the St. Louis Public Library’s Web site.
Before the Arch became the trademark of the ‘Gateway to the West,’ St. Louis answered to the nickname of “Mound City.”
While few these days could explain the origins of that name, there are still better than half-a dozen Mound City commercial listings in the local phone book. Mounds are an important part of St. Louis’s history and image.
The mounds in question were constructed by native Americans about 1000 years ago. People of the Mississippian culture shaped long-lasting earthen structures on both sides of the Mississippi River.
Click on the following link to read the entire article at the > St. Louis Public Library < Web site.
Forbes.com posted a Special Report called “Best Places For Business and Careers” on March 25, 2009.
Here’s what I know: St. Louis has a much lower cost of doing business than Chicago, according to the report, and the lower job growth projected for St. Louis in the same report indicates a wide open opportunity for astute business persons looking to expand into the center of the US. So, I say, “Come on to St. Louis!”
The Inn is beautiful and a great addition to the offerings of lodging in the area immediately around the airport.
