BRE Committee Wins East-West Gateway OLGA Award

STL Partnership, BRE partners take home collaboration award

On Nov. 15, the East-West Gateway (EWG) Council of Governments gave St. Louis Economic Development Partnership (STL Partnership) and its partners that form the Business Retention and Expansion (BRE) Committee a day to remember at its annual Outstanding Local Government Achievement (OLGA) awards. During the ceremony, the BRE Committee, which consists of STL Partnership, World Trade Center St. Louis, St. Louis Mosaic Project, St. Louis Development Corporation, Greater St. Louis, Inc., the Missouri Department of Economic Development, Spire, Ameren, St. Louis County Workforce and St. Louis Agency on Training and Employment (SLATE), received the Exemplary Collaboration, Partnership or Regional Initiative award. This award honors cooperative efforts or joint ventures among local government jurisdictions, nonprofit organizations, and/or the private sector that result in high impact, positive change.

The BRE Committee links St. Louis companies with government and economic development officials to ensure business owners, leaders and entrepreneurs know who to contact regarding opportunities or challenges. Since May 2020, the BRE Committee has met with 183 companies and assisted 147 firms. The Committee has had a standing meeting every Friday afternoon during that time to discuss ongoing BRE issues in the community.

The International Economic Development Council, the world’s largest organization for economic developers, also awarded STL Partnership and its partners the Silver Award for Business Retention and Expansion Excellence in 2023.

On an annual basis, the EWG OLGA awards honor the extraordinary work of individuals, municipal and county governments/departments, special purpose districts and public educational institutions in the city of St. Louis and Franklin, Jefferson, St. Charles and St. Louis counties in Missouri and Madison, Monroe and St. Clair counties in Illinois.