Igniting possibilities.
For the Black employment rate in the footprint to match the employment rate in the rest of the region, for example, 7,869 jobs would need to be added for Black residents of the area, according to 2019 Census Data. For per capita income of Black residents in the footprint to match the per capita income of the region, the income for every Black resident would have to be increased by $17,407. That difference in per capita income represents an almost $4.1 billion per year gap in aggregate income. These are very large gaps, but concerted, intentional action by major anchors in the St. Louis region can begin to close them.
Since racial injustice and economic inequity are rooted in both race and place, we need to address both issues simultaneously. It took decades to generate these racial, economic, and spatial inequities, and it will take sustained intentional work to undo them. We can and must build shared economic prosperity and improve the quality of life in the focus footprint in order to build a stronger St. Louis region.
The St. Louis Anchor Action Network is a coalition of institutions and companies adopting organizational best practices and working with community partners to collectively leverage intentional hiring, career development, and spending in the focus footprint to drive equitable wealth building and economic development in the region.
The Network advances the work of members by building a community of practice to accelerate learning and adoption of best practices from each other and national models, lift up and expand anchor institution initiatives in the St. Louis area, support institutional change necessary to strengthen inclusive growth, track data on aggregate institutional impact, engage community stakeholders to co-create and implement initiatives, and scale impactful efforts that increase opportunities for low-income residents and people of color in St. Louis City and County. The Network will grow investment in the footprint through the cumulative impact of participating members and by growing the number of participating institutions and companies.
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