World Trade Center St. Louis 2019 Highlights

World Trade Center St. Louis (WTC) has stayed true to their mission by helping businesses trade internationally while also educating those interested in it. Trade development meetings, ag tech delegations, and Growing Global 2019 are all examples of their steadfast passion promoting international trade.

Engage In Trade Development Meetings

WTC hosts a monthly speaker series exclusive to members covering an array of trade topics. In order to successfully trade internationally, industry experts share best practices when it comes to trading with foreign countries.

“Trade development is an integral part of our core work at the WTC – to facilitate international business growth and enhance global competitiveness throughout the St. Louis region, Missouri and Southwest Illinois,” said Stella Sheehan, Deputy Director of World Trade Center St. Louis. “When we sit down with a company, we embark on a journey of discovery and possibilities together. There may be regulatory hurdles to overcome (via research), an education need (via programming) or in-market referrals (via networking).”

Agtech Delegations

The World Trade Center St. Louis and 39 North are planning a delegation visit on February 4^th, 2020 from Agri-Tech East, a UK ag tech membership organization with links to Cambridge University. The purpose of their visit will be to tour St. Louis’ ag tech capabilities. The delegation will be funded by the British government.

Because St. Louis, dubbed the Ag Coast of America, is located in the heart of US agricultural production, The Missouri Agri-Tech Connect Program has been created through the Missouri Partnership and Agri-Tech East. The program will provide a gateway for UK businesses to the St. Louis agri-food ecosystem.

“St. Louis’ agriculture technology leadership position and the 39 North innovation district were highlighted in the recent Brookings Institution Case Study documenting St. Louis’ cluster development,” said Tim Nowak, Executive Director of WTC. “Working together, the World Trade Center and 39 North are sharing this story globally through outbound missions such as the one we led to the United Kingdom and Netherlands in February and locally by hosting numerous inbound ag focused delegations.”

Growing Global 2019

The 2019 Growing Global “US-China: The Next 40 years” luncheon posed challenging questions to the attendees about what the future holds between the two nations’ commercial engagements. The event hosted 600 guests with business, civic and elected official backgrounds who received first-hand perspectives from the Growing Global panelists: Consul General Zhao Jian, the 11^th Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in Chicago, Jacob Parker, Senior Vice President at the US-China Business Council (who served as moderator), and Dave Rank, Senior Advisor at The Cohen Group.

CEO and President of the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, Rodney Crim, took part in welcoming attendees.

“The St. Louis Economic Development Partnership is proud to be the economic development team working to attract, retain and facilitate business growth in St. Louis City and County,” Crim said. “All of this is truly collective work – within the Partnership divisions and with many of the organizations here today.”

Immediately following Growing Global, Nowak, Sheehan, and a local delegation including St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson conducted a trade mission to China. The group visited St. Louis’ sister-city of Nanjing, China in celebration of the 40^th anniversary of being sister-cities with the region. Leaders from the Washington University School of Medicine joined the group in the Chinese city of Suzhou to commemorate a recent partnership with Huici Health Management Co.