Right now, St. Louis is not on the list.

You know, the list of cities where things happen. Those magnets for smart, creative people, where talent, innovation and capital generate new ideas, new companies, new industries. Places such as Seattle; Raleigh, N.C.; Austin, Texas; and Boston. Places where the new economy is being built.

"We're not really on the radar in terms of hip and happening places," said Jeff Vines, an area entrepreneur.

And, indeed, why would we be?

For decades, our economy was built on solid factory jobs and reliable corporate headquarters. We made things. And we managed them. And it was hard to imagine a more middle-American place.

But we don't make so much anymore, and most of those factories are gone now. The big corporate headquarters have fallen away, too. Being "middle-American" — both socially and geographically — means less in a fast-changing global economy. More important is ideas. And innovation.

And if St. Louis hopes to thrive in this new economy, it needs to do more to nurture those ideas and the innovators who have them. It needs to draw more in, and give more oxygen to the ones already here. And it needs to claim its spot on that list of places where things happen.

 

BEHIND THE SCENES

Under the radar of headlines about auto plant closures and deep cuts at old corporate icons, a new economy is slowly being built in St. Louis.

Industries such as advertising, architecture and medical research remain strong despite the recession. Homegrown companies such as pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts and brokerage firm Edward Jones continue to grow. And small businesses bloom on revived neighborhood strips such as Cherokee Street in south St. Louis and Manchester Road in Maplewood.

Building on that, many say, means drawing more creative entrepreneurs from carefully selected industries. St. Louis needs to find a niche or two, and become known as the place to be — such as Pittsburgh for robotics or Denver for solar power. Succeed, and people will come.

"The key point for cities is to figure out what you're really good at and build on that," said Joe Cortright, an economist who studies talent attraction. "Understand what's distinctive about your local economy."

That is the idea behind the Bio-Research and Development Growth (BRDG) Park at the Danforth Plant Science Center in Creve Coeur. It is an incubator, a way to turn plant science research into marketable ideas and then jobs. It opened last summer and is 70 percent occupied, said executive director Sam Fiorello. About 100 people work there, and two more buildings are planned.

With the Danforth center, Monsanto and Washington University, St. Louis is building a strong name in the plant biotech world. Fiorello said he knew scientists who had moved here from hipper towns such as Berkeley, Calif., and San Diego.

"We're attracting great scientific talent, in spite of our lack of an ocean," he said. "These men and women are smart enough to know it's a place where they can advance their careers and do well."

Sometimes, that lures big companies here, too.

Two years ago, Brown Shoe wanted to consolidate its headquarters. It had three choices: Clayton, its longtime home; Madison, Wis., where it had a big presence; or Dallas, which dangled financial incentives.

Brown chose Clayton, and moved 270 jobs here from Madison. Despite that college town's reputation as a Midwestern mecca for brainy creative types, Brown saw St. Louis as a better place to find the kind of people who drive the fashion industry, said chief talent officer Doug Koch.

"We chose to be here because we knew there was great talent in this region," he said. "We had good people, and we could access more."

 

REPUTATION PROBLEM

But Koch, a New York native who has lived in a half-dozen cities around the country, said St. Louis didn't have as good a reputation as it deserved. Many people outside the region don't realize what is here. And we get passed over.

"We have not been good at blowing our own horn, and blowing it in a way that is effective," he said.

Now Koch is working to change that; he is heading up the effort by the Regional Chamber and Growth Association to tackle talent issues. Item No. 1 on its agenda is figuring out ways to better sell St. Louis.

That is something Jeff and Randy Vines are trying to do, too, though from a decidedly different approach. Nine years ago, the twin brothers launched STL-Style, selling T-shirts that tout their hometown's gritty charms and ironically play on local quirks.

Many of their sales, they say, are to people who have moved away but want to show their St. Louis pride. The Vines brothers have done well enough that they recently opened a storefront on Cherokee Street. They have gotten involved with national groups trying to find solutions to Rust Belt decline.

They see many people like themselves in St. Louis these days, networking and politicking and launching businesses, spinning a do-it-yourself creativity to build the kind of city where they want to live.

Ironically, that sort of creativity is harder to pull off in many of those hot, hip, "creative" hubs, said Randy Vines. They're too established. Or too expensive.

In a sense, he said, St. Louis is "the ultimate creative city."

"Here," Vines said, "You can build it from scratch."

 

LURED BY OPPORTUNITY

And that is appealing, said Courtney Sloger, 29, a Collinsville native who moved back from Seattle two years ago.

She went to college in Iowa and bounced around a few places before heading out west in 2006, drawn by Seattle's culture and music scene. At the time, Sloger said, she didn't even consider St. Louis. She liked Seattle and had a good job there. But after a while, she began to miss her hometown.

"I'd wax poetic about the graffiti and the train tracks and the humidity," Sloger said. Eventually she moved back, without a job.

What she found was a place where someone with good ideas can get taken seriously and, eventually, land a job. Now Sloger works at Metro, running online media efforts for the transit agency. She is active in a range of local groups and sits on a couple of nonprofit boards.

"There's no way I'd have these opportunities in Seattle," Sloger said. "There's too much competition."

But Sloger, Vines and others in the city's growing network of creative young professionals said they felt a bit stuck on the outside looking in.

They meet, talk with and support one another at all sorts of events. But they see too little interaction with a business community long dominated by staid banks and big corporate names. They get too little help from local officials who are too used to their usual way of doing things. Their networks are from-the-ground-up, disconnected from the top.

"I hope the business and political leadership realize what we're doing," Sloger said.

Those at the top say that they do realize, and that they know the importance of these sorts of people to St. Louis' future. And they are trying to keep them here.

Civic advocacy group FOCUS St. Louis, for instance, has a program designed to help all those "Young Friends of..." arms of area nonprofits to collaborate, network and pool resources.

St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay recently launched what he calls his "Vanguard Cabinet," a group of more than 100 young professionals he wants to tap for ideas on bettering city life.

And as the RCGA kicks off its talent programs, it said it realized that the very best ambassadors for St. Louis were the people who had already planted their flags here.

"We've got to make good use of the muscle we have," Koch said.

One thing everyone agrees on: St. Louis has loads of potential.

It has weathered the recession better than many places. Its relatively affordable real estate and accessible business climate make it attractive to creative entrepreneurs. And if St. Louis can draw enough in, it could easily become the sort of place where things are happening, and get on that list of cities where the new economy is being built.

"St. Louis is at a pivotal time," said Jeff Vines. "We have an opportunity. And we have an opportunity to squander that opportunity."