Editorial by Ron Kitchens
Sept. 9, 2026
Last week, Greater St. Louis, Inc. had the honor of hosting Governor Mike Kehoe, Mayor Cara Spencer, and nearly a hundred additional elected officials and community leaders to celebrate the passage of new, transformative economic development legislation with a ceremonial bill signing.
This isn’t the first time you’ve heard me talk about the impact these bills will have on downtown St. Louis, and it won’t be the last; because, for the first time in our city’s history, they finally give us the tools we need to build a vibrant, prosperous downtown St. Louis that everyone can enjoy.
From allowing us to compete with any city in the country to win new investment, to giving us the ability to transform vacant buildings into places where our people can live and thrive, to creating new jobs and new opportunities for families, this unique set of tools will be invaluable to revitalizing downtown.
This win didn’t happen overnight. It took hundreds if not thousands of phone calls, late-night texts and emails, and hallway conversations to move the needle. I know because our team at Greater St. Louis, Inc. was behind many of them.
But last week, as I looked around the Andrew C. Taylor Center for Civic Collaboration, I wasn’t just struck by the significance of the moment and the culmination of years of hard work coming to a head, I was also moved by the camaraderie in the room.
Despite our different viewpoints, positions, and politics, I saw a group of bipartisan legislators and advocates coming together to celebrate our downtown.
I heard partners making connections and recommitting to a better, bolder future for our city.
And I felt a renewed sense of optimism and urgency to delivering tangible progress for our families.
It’s moments like this that make it impossible to not feel excited about the future of downtown St. Louis.
And they should also serve as the model for how we can continue winning.
As I said to the room last week, in 670 days we have an Olympic opportunity when we host eight Olympic soccer matches during the 2028 LA Games. These matches will follow the U.S. Olympic Marathon Team Trials taking place earlier that year.
With the eyes of the world on our city, it is our benchmark for progress and our time to showcase that downtown St. Louis is a great American city.
At Greater St. Louis, Inc. we are laser-focused on meeting that moment.
Let’s get to work.