St. Louis Regional Brand, RCGA Economic Development Campaign Receive Four Top National Awards and Rankings

June 27, 2007

For more information, contact
Gary Broome at 314.444.1171 
gbroome@stlrcga.org  

For Immediate Release:

St. Louis Regional Brand, RCGA Economic Development Campaign
Receive Four Top National Awards and Rankings

ST. LOUIS (June 27, 2007) -The St. Louis Regional Chamber & Growth Association (RCGA) has been honored in the past several weeks with three prestigious national awards for the quality and success of its branding and marketing campaign, designed to effectively communicate the unique business and quality-of-life advantages of the St. Louis region. The RCGA was also ranked as one of the Top 10 Economic Development Organizations in North America, in an annual national ranking.

In partnership with Fleishman-Hillard Inc., the RCGA won the Silver Anvil Award from the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) - the public relations industry's most prestigious award - at an annual awards program on June 14 in New York City. The RCGA and Fleishman-Hillard also won the Bronze Anvil Award from PRSA for the campaign's successful media relations activities, and the Silver SABRE Award (Superior Achievement in Branding and Reputation) presented by The Holmes Group, publisher of the PR industry's Holmes Report, for public relations tactics within the campaign.

Last month, Site Selection magazine named the RCGA one of the Top 10 in North America, and the Top 6 Metro Economic Development Organizations, in its annual ranking.

Regional Brand Awards

The Silver Anvil Awards have been awarded annually for 60 years to recognize organizations for their exemplary professional skill, creativity, and resourcefulness in addressing contemporary issues. Recipients' programs must incorporate sound research, planning, execution and evaluation, and meet the highest standards of performance.

"Our congratulations to the St. Louis RCGA for being this year's Silver Anvil Award winner," said PRSA Chair and CEO Rhoda Weiss, APR, Fellow PRSA. "They truly are deserving of this special honor for developing an exemplary strategic public relations program, which is what the Silver Anvils are all about."

The new branding and marketing campaign - " St. Louis: Perfectly Centered, Remarkably Connected" - is in its second year. St. Louis is America's center, geographically, economically and culturally. Connected speaks to the region's ease of living, unity, and strong links - through industries and transportation assets - to the global economy. The brand stands on and communicates four key messages about the region: quality of life; quality of work force; strategic location and diversified economy; and business-friendly environment.

"These awards, which are the most prestigious in the public relations industry, are tremendous accomplishments and acknowledgement of the RCGA/Fleishman-Hillard strategy and our execution," noted Joseph Imbs, Regional Chairman and St. Louis Market President of U.S. Bank, who is Board Chair of the RCGA Economic Development group. "Equally important, the brand and accompanying national media relations and advertising campaigns have helped us to more than double our economic development pipeline. Over the past 16 months, active prospects considering the St. Louis region for their business location or expansion have increased from 40 to 82, with a potential of nearly 15,000 net new jobs and $4.1 billion in new capital investment in the bi-state region."

Top 10 Ranking

"At a time when the St. Louis region builds brand identity and continues a strong economic development momentum, the ranking by Site Selection magazine as having one of the Top 10 Economic Development Organizations in North America, and the Top 6 Major Metro Economic Development Programs, is particularly gratifying," noted RCGA President and Chief Executive Officer Richard C.D. Fleming. Site Selection magazine is the official publication of the Industrial Asset Management Council, the world's leading association of some 36,000 corporate real estate executives and site selection executives. "This network of real estate executives is the heart of our customer base, recommending relocation and expansion locations to thousands of companies," he added.

The Top 6 Metropolitan Areas in this year's ranking, are: the St. Louis RCGA; the Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce; Greater Louisville Inc.; The Indy Partnership; the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce; and World Business Chicago.

Together, over the past 16 months, national media relations and advertising have generated over 178 million positive impressions of the St. Louis region's business environment and quality of life. This includes outstanding national stories prominently featuring St. Louis in USA Today, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Detroit News, Boston Globe, National Public Radio, and others.

The RCGA also has placed national image-building advertising in business media outlets, such as Chief Executive Magazine, Bloomberg Markets, CNN, MSNBC, ESPN radio, NPR, and other news networks via Sirius and XM satellite radio. Local brand ads began appearing this spring on St. Louis area radio and television stations, thanks to the generous commitments to the RCGA's economic development campaign by area television and radio stations.

A completely redesigned RCGA web site (www.gotostlouis.org) that debuted in October 2006 is helping to attract top national site selection consultant interest in the region. Last year, the site experienced a 43% rise in monthly visitors. Total hits per month rose 125% (to 42,140). Downloads of statistical summaries and economic development campaign packets average over 2,500 each month.

The RCGA is the chamber of commerce and economic development organization for the 16-county, bi-state St. Louis region. 

# # # #