Matt Marcinkowski
Valerie Patton’s been thinking a lot lately about the boomerangers. She’s one herself. Born and raised in North St. Louis, she moved to Washington, D.C., and Dallas before she (boomerang-like) returned home. Now, in her new role focusing on talent attraction and diversity for Greater St. Louis, Inc., she’s asking herself: How does the region create enticing opportunities for both those disillusioned with the daily grind of New York City and Silicon Valley and people from smaller communities in the 250-mile radius of St. Louis who might be looking to try life in a larger city? Last year, five of the region’s biggest civic groups—the St. Louis Regional Chamber, AllianceSTL, Civic Progress, Downtown STL, and Arch to Park—announced that they’re combining forces to drive economic growth under the moniker Greater St. Louis, Inc. It felt like a step in the right direction for a city that’s long been fragmented and suffered economically because of those divides. However, the tasks of attracting globally competitive companies, enlarging the workforce, and revitalizing the urban core of a city that was dubbed one of the nation’s fastest-shrinking last year seem, well, daunting. One bright spot is Greater St. Louis, Inc.’s commitment to diversity and inclusion in that growth agenda.
On how talent attraction and inclusion go hand in hand: The [city] has been in population decline for 70 years now, which means you don’t have that inclusive environment. You don’t have people coming in, and you need them to bring different experiences, ideas, and opinions. St. Louis, unfortunately, is a city with a lot of fragmentation and segregation. We become comfortable with certain voices, so those voices always get asked to the table. We need young voices, along with Black and Brown voices. One of the biggest diversity [issues] we have is next-gen. We don’t have you all at the table, and what has happened? We have much of the same being done.
On the challenge of persuading people to move to St. Louis: We need to tell our story: St. Louis is cool and hip. We’ve got some cool and hip neighborhoods. If you live here, you know about them. I don’t know that you know about them if you don’t live here. I think it’s expanding our brand message outside of St. Louis that will help attract people.
On how that brand, STLMade, will continue to expand: One of the things I know about having young people around me is, you all live on your phones. Not a bad thing—it’s just what you do. So social media, definitely: It’s all Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok. Facebook is my generation’s thing.
On St. Louis’ greatest assets: St. Louis is a big city. When we talk about Broadway shows—we might not get them first run, but we’ll get them. All the major artists are going to come here to perform. We have a lot of free stuff. Last time I was in San Diego, I went to the zoo and paid $70 to get in and then asked myself why. Now, let me play devil’s advocate: People say, “You have crime.” So does every other major city. So as we begin, we’re going to have to have people at the table who normally wouldn’t be there to get solutions that really work.
