ST. LOUIS – The St. Louis Regional Freightway is launching a new task force in collaboration with the region’s five busiest airports, leading employers in the aerospace manufacturing and service sector and other leaders in education and workforce training. The launch is in response to more than $5 billion in planned investments that are creating urgent demand for workers to fill an estimated 1,000 new positions that will be opening up in the region. The new task force called the St. Louis Regional Aerospace and Aviation Task Force will provide a platform to share industry-related information and details about educational and training programs and events that will support and elevate the continued growth of the region’s aerospace manufacturing and aviation industries, with a key focus on expanding the talent pipeline.
Boeing, Missouri’s largest employer, has announced plans to invest $1.8 billion at its facilities by St. Louis Lambert International Airport in St. Louis County, Mo., and is investing an additional $200 million in a new production facility at MidAmerica St. Louis Airport in St. Clair County, Ill., where the MQ-25 unmanned aircraft will be made. Collectively, the investments are expected to create an additional 650 jobs in the region.
The five participating airports include St. Louis Lambert International Airport and Spirit of St. Louis Airport in eastern Missouri, and MidAmerica St. Louis Airport, St. Louis Downtown Airport and St. Louis Regional Airport in southwestern Illinois. Together the airports and their tenants employ a combined 36,500 workers, and the combined economic impact surpasses $10 billion. These numbers are expected to grow as leading companies such as Boeing, Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. and West Star Aviation continue to expand their workforce in the St. Louis region. Leaders from all three aerospace companies are among the industry representatives on the new task force, as are leaders from area high schools and colleges, economic development agencies, workforce development organizations, municipalities and professional organizations.
“The unique collaboration that exists between the airports in the region, the aerospace companies operating here and the many leaders in education and workforce development will be instrumental in building upon the existing workforce to ensure the region has the available talent pool required for continued growth,” said Randell Gelzer, Senior Director of Government Operations for The Boeing Company.
St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL), the largest and busiest airport in the State of Missouri, is planning to invest $2.8 billion in a new single consolidated terminal that will significantly expand its economic impact in the coming years. A recent study by Greater St. Louis, Inc., reveals STL’s economic impact could increase 53% by 2032, to more than $9.2 billion. The same report shows the total economic impact of aerospace manufacturing and aviation reliant businesses associated with STL growing to more than $23 billion, up from $21.4 billion in 2019.
Executive Director Rhonda Hamm-Niebrugge has led St. Louis Lambert International Airport since 2010, and is extremely optimistic about its future and the impact its growth will have on the bi-state St. Louis region.
