St. Louis Region Wins 2008 All-America City Award

Nomination for 'Oscar' of Community Recognition Highlights Innovation,
Collaboration and Progress in Central City Revitalization, Parks & Trails, and
the Arts

TAMPA, Fla., June 6 /PRNewswire/ -- The St. Louis region, represented by a
diverse contingent of 20 citizens and leaders, won the 2008 All-America City
Award tonight, presented by the National Civic League in Tampa. St. Louis was
the only "region" to make the finalist group from among the nominees, and is
only metro region in the nation to be designated an All-America City.
Now in its 59th year, the award is considered the 'Oscar' of community
recognition for civic progress and improvement. It is the oldest and most
prestigious civic recognition in the nation. This is the first time since 1956
that St. Louis has been recognized as an All American City.
The region will celebrate the All-America City award at Saturday's grand
opening of the McKinley Bridge Bikeway and Trestle at Branch Street from
11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The bikeway is the latest addition to The River Ring -- a
unique, 600-mile web of 45 biking trails and greenways that will encircle and
connect the St. Louis region. The River Ring played a key role in the region's
winning nomination for the All-America City Award.
St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay noted, "It has been more than 50 years since
St. Louis won this outstanding award. This is a strong acknowledgement by an
objective source of the improvement in the quality of life in both the City of
St. Louis and the entire region."
"This is a great, great moment for the St. Louis region," said Dick
Fleming, president and chief executive officer of St. Louis Regional Chamber
and Growth Association (RCGA), which led the rigorous effort. "Being
recognized as a region that is building a stronger community by tackling
challenges through collaboration, inclusiveness, and innovation underscores
the theme of our region's branding effort, 'St. Louis: Perfectly Centered.
Remarkably Connected.'"
Over 100 communities submitted applications this year for the All-America
City award presented by the Denver-based National Civic League. St. Louis was
one of 16 communities named as finalists in March. Each finalist community
sent a delegation to Tampa this week to perform a community presentation in a
three-day award competition before a jury of national business, government,
philanthropic, and nonprofit leaders.
The St. Louis region's nomination and presentation focused on the
challenges of revitalizing the region's central city, the need for connecting
the region through trails and parks that was holding the region back from
competing with other metro areas in environmentally-friendly mobility, and the
need to empower youth to succeed in the arts. Three successful programs were
highlighted in the finalist presentation:
-- Project 1: Downtown Now! is a public/private partnership formed in
1997 to develop a seven-year plan for revitalizing downtown St. Louis.
It was developed and implemented by a diverse region-wide coalition of
government officials, private citizens, entrepreneurs, business
leaders, investors, and community groups. Over $4.25 billion has been
invested downtown in the past seven years, with another $1 billion
currently underway. This level of investment in historic restoration
and adaptive reuse has led to Missouri becoming the number one state
in the use of federal tax credits.

-- Project 2: The River Ring, created by The Great Rivers Greenway
District, is a unique, 600-mile web of 45 biking trails and greenways
that encircles and connects the St. Louis region. Both the Great
Rivers Greenway District and the Metro-East Park and Recreation
District were established in November 2000 by the successful passage of
the Clean Water Safe Parks and Community Trails Initiative (Proposition
C) in St. Louis City, St. Louis, and St. Charles counties in Missouri,
and Madison and St. Clair counties in Illinois. Together, the districts
make up the nation's first bi-state, multi-county park district to
develop an interconnected trail system.

-- Project 3: The Boomerang Press, a division of the community-based arts
collaborative St. Louis Art Works, was launched after winning the 2007
Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation Competition at Washington
University in St. Louis' Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurial
Studies. Boomerang Press provides meaningful employment and job
training, enabling students aged 14-19 to produce commissioned art with
real-world clients in paid positions under instructor guidance.

Slay and Fleming were accompanied in the award competition by several
community and civic leaders, as well as students/apprentices from the St.
Louis ArtWorks. The entire winning contingent consisted of:
-- Francis Slay, Mayor of St. Louis
-- Dick Fleming, President and CEO of the St. Louis Regional Chamber &
Growth Association
-- Linda Leonard - Vice President, St. Louis RCGA
-- Tom Reeves - former Executive Director, Downtown NOW! and now president
of Pulaski Bank
-- Jim Cloar - President, Downtown St. Louis Partnership
-- David Fisher - Executive Director, Great Rivers Greenway District
-- Anne Klein - Chairman, Great Rivers Greenway District and Director of
Policy Development, St. Charles County, Mo.
-- Nancy Krelle - Cyclist
-- Mike Buehlhorn - Executive Director, Metro East Park and Recreation
District
-- Ronda Sauget - President, Validus Business Strategies in Sauget,
Illinois
-- Michele Fontaine - St. Louis ArtWorks
-- Priscilla Block - Executive Director, St. Louis ArtWorks
-- Susan Glassman - President, St. Louis ArtWorks and Senior Vice
President, Urban Strategies
-- Lakeisha Joyce - Apprentice/Artist, Boomerang Press
-- Kimmika Warren - Apprentice/Artist, Boomerang Press
-- Justin Wilson - Apprentice/Artist, Boomerang Press
-- Cedric Curry - Apprentice/Artist, Boomerang Press
-- Tony Mueller - STL TV
-- Martin Busler - STL TV
-- Anne Cloar - Community Volunteer, St. Louis

About The National Civic League
Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, the National Civic League strengthens
democracy by increasing the capacity of our nation's people to fully
participate in and build healthy and prosperous communities across America.
We are the nation's best at the science of local government, the art of public
engagement, and the celebration of the progress that can be achieved when
people work together. Founded in 1894 by Theodore Roosevelt, Louis Brandeis,
and Marshall Fields and other government reformers, NCL is a nonprofit,
nonpartisan organization that accomplishes its mission through training,
technical assistance, publishing, facilitating community-wide strategic
planning and awards programs. Its board chairs have included the late John
Gardner, Henry Cisneros, and Bill Bradley.
It publishes research on government structures and reform and community
building innovation (The National Civic Review, The Civic Index, and The 8th
Edition of the Model City Charter). In addition to the All-America City
Awards, NCL conducts the MetLife Foundation Ambassadors in Education Awards to
be announced in April. http://www.ncl.org
About the St. Louis Regional Chamber & Growth Association (RCGA)
The St. Louis RCGA is the chamber of commerce and economic development
organization for the 16-county, bi-state region. With nearly 4,000 member
companies, it is the largest chamber of commerce in the state. The mission of
the RCGA is to unite the region's business community, and to engage dynamic
business and civic leadership to develop and sustain a world-class economy and
community.
SOURCE St. Louis Regional Chamber & Growth Association (RCGA)

Gary Broome of St. Louis Regional Chamber & Growth Association (RCGA),
+1-314-444-1171, gbroome@stlrcga.org