Partnerships and collaborations are part of what makes St. Charles County a unique community with a growing and vibrant economy. This is especially true when it comes to marketing our county to businesses and the skilled workforce around the region, the nation and the world. The County and each of our local cities have a staff member or department focused on economic development. For years, all have been working in close partnership with St. Peters-based
EDC Business & Community Partners, which serves the entire community as a one-stop shop for economic development, entrepreneurship and related efforts.
During the Great Recession in 2008, many economic development organizations began paying more attention to building and strengthening relationships with existing businesses and local entrepreneurs than to potential business investors. As someone who works in sales and marketing, let me tell you it’s easier (while highly effective) to keep and grow the relationship with an existing customer than it is to find and persuade a new one. This approach to keep and grow what we already have is still an important need, but in recent years American and international business investors have started to once again build new offices, new factories and new warehouses, creating new jobs in the process.
New projects have been announced by a variety of businesses, from Amazon to Aldi. Examples of this growth can be seen all over St. Charles County—from the 1.3 million-square-foot Wentzville Logistics Center to the latest expansions at the Streets of St. Charles. These are the kinds of efforts the EDC and local cities and County Government work on together, strengthening our ability to provide a bigger picture with a unified approach.
Along with supporting its incubation facility services, regional marketing, business financing and counseling services, this year the County also is supporting the EDC’s efforts to increase its lead role when it comes to business attraction and recruitment for Greater St. Charles County. We see this as a key public-private partnership in growing high tech, class A office/headquarters and advanced manufacturing businesses in St. Charles County. New business opportunities and job creations are announced on a regular basis. Working together, we are doing all we can to maintain St. Charles County’s position as one of the strongest and fastest growing economies in metro St. Louis.