Mar

24

Missouri trade mission to China, sans KC

March 24, 2008 |

Governor Blunt is leading a bi-partisan trade mission to China. The guest list includes Senators Bond and McCaskill, former Governor Bob Holden, St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay and several St. Louis business leaders. Conspicuously absent from the list - anyone from Kansas City or elsewhere in Missouri. The Governor’s press release says that the trip is meant “to strengthen the state’s trading partnership with China.”

However, Mayor Slay’s blog reveals that the real reason for the trip is to lobby China to establish an air freight hub in St. Louis.  It’s exactly the kind of air cargo operation that Kansas City officials are pursuing as a compliment to the intermodel rail/truck freight hub being developed at the former Richards-Gebaur airport.


Comments

3 Comments so far

  1. Ryan on March 24, 2008 11:02 am

    It is a pure snub at KC. Maybe even at Claire McCaskill. I still think that Kansas City has a better chance of establishing the air freight hub here because of many things. We have a larger Rail presence than St. Louis; a direct route to Chicago sans St. Louis by rail; possibly a new airport up north with plenty of room for expansion and the ability to be tailored to different needs; and, we have I-35, which is a direct link to all three countries of North America. Richards-Gebaur airport, which has been modified for a rail hub, may still be modified to include air traffic as well. St. Louis is nasty, dirty and full of itself…

  2. JOHN on March 25, 2008 9:47 am

    Ryan…What a parochial thing to say! If I’m not mistaken, energy prices are skyrocketing and St. Louis is much closer to Chicago than K.C. St. Louis also has two airports; Lambert and MidAmerica. Oh and don’t forget the massive trucking hubs for Procter and Gamble, Schneider etc near Collinsville and Edwardsville, Illinois, Railyard depots in St. Louis, Cargo rail in Sauget and the new hub being built in Hazelwood. Also, there’s also a little thing called the Mississippi River. Stop the badmouthing and figure out a way to work with St. Louis instead of against. It will be a win-win situation for the entire Midwest.

  3. John Dales on March 27, 2008 9:20 pm

    Seriously now… St. Louis has 3 million people it it’s metro. A chinatown district and a much larger foreign trade commission than KC. St. Louis is much larger on most transportation hubs and closer to more larger hun cities than KC. St. Louis has a lrage World Trade Center and is still ranked #7 or so in Fortune 500 companies in the USA. They also have way larger corporations that KC. Lambert STL also is American Airlines third largest hub and connections through the airport are easy… not to mention they have two airports in STL now - Lambert International and MidAmerica St. Louis which is getting Ireland nonstop service this summer too. I undertand that Air China may make STL Lambert Int. a passenger hun now too according to a press release I read today.
    STL is NOT dirty and nasty … in fact it is amazing what has happened across state to that city - it is amazingly revitalized and ALIVE, HEALTHY and THRIVING. This is good for KC and all of MO too my friend.

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