The Humming Trade Between American Towns

Oct 26th 2013 |The Economist

America depends less on international trade than many other countries. Its imports and exports of goods add up to less than 25% of GDP; China’s are nearly 50%, Ireland’s, nearly 90%. It is not that Americans are insular; only that their vibrant domestic market is so big. The Brookings Institution, a think-tank, has assembled data on how America’s metropolitan areas trade (see chart). It finds that America moved $20 trillion in merchandise in 2010, or more than 100% of GDP, if trade between cities is counted. The top 20 metros account for almost a third of the total. St Louis and Detroit are busier traders than the Netherlands, a famously seafaring nation. And America’s metropolitan trade is not just in basic goods such as oil and wheat; nearly 30% of it is in “advanced industry” goods.

“This is a fascinating article and a unique and interesting perspective on the size and breadth of the U.S. economy,” stated Mark Gorski, Regional Leasing Director at Bio Research and Development Growth (BRDG) Park. “The size and diversity of our local and regional economy is far more robust than we think and we need to tell this story both internally and externally as we try to attract new businesses to our region and nurture emerging companies as well.”

With nearly 3 million people and nine Fortune 500 companies calling St. Louis home, the region offers a diverse economy, a talented workforce and top-ranked educational institutions to support the pro-growth business culture. Continuous investments in local startups remain fundamental for a thriving St. Louis entrepreneurial ecosystem.

A little more than a decade ago, St. Louis began positioning itself as the international center for plant and life sciences. Today there are more than 400 plant and life science companies in the St. Louis region, which also boasts having the largest concentration of Ph.D.’s in plant science in the world.

St. Louis has a competitive edge on other cities with the multitude and variety of players that call the robust city home. The presence of large corporations, research institutions and investors have attracted new companies to the thriving region along with world-class talent. Many of these organizations are striving for solutions for global food security and sustainable resources with pivotal research and development efforts.