Abundant Resources and Advantages
Located in the center of America, the St. Louis region is well suited to accommodate all aspects of a company’s logistics and talent supply chain. In doing so, it profitably supports various operations, ranging from the front office, to the research and development center, to the manufacturing plant, to the warehouse/distribution facility. The St. Louis region is highly accessible to all world markets from a single location. Via its major interstates, six Class I rail lines, and varied transportation modes and service providers, the region offers easy access to all domestic and international destinations, including points of export for ocean container shipping, inland shipping ports offering container-on-barge services, and several major airports. The St. Louis region is the largest freight hub among comparatively sized Midwestern cities, totaling more than 386 million tons of inbound and outbound freight.
Within the United States, the St. Louis region has become the:
- Most efficient inland port system (USACE)
- One of the highest volume inland water ports
- One of the highest volume rail hubs
- Third highest volume multimodal hub
These logistics capabilities position the St. Louis region as one of the most robust and accessible ports in the Midwest, making it a great location for companies doing business internationally. With significant changes in global freight flows due to an expanded Panama Canal, the growth of e-commerce, and an expected 45 percent increase in freight volume by 2045 (U.S. DOT 2015), the St. Louis region has emerged as a global logistics hub at the heart of the nation’s freight network. The effective utilization of its position in the international freight network and its domestic shipping advantages, along with its deep workforce offering skills from the shop floor to the C-Suite, will continue to make the St. Louis region a great place for industrial site selection.
“Why the St. Louis region for site selection? And what makes us different from our sister cities? The answer is the St. Louis bi-state region can support one system or the entire supply chain from a company’s headquarters, research and development, warehousing and manufacturing to suppliers and logistics. We have the infrastructure, both vertical and horizontal, and the talent. Our workforce has a can-do attitude with a heritage of making things, enabling companies like World Wide Technology, Bunge, General Motors, Progressive Recovery and many others to compete in the global market, elevating our ranking as a global logistics hub. Our supply chain ecosystem is unique and adaptable, and we have the local workforce that supports each system within it.”