The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has ranked the city of St. Louis as the second most favorable city for starting a business in the United States, coming in after first-ranked Dallas and before third-ranked Raleigh. The study ranked cities according to their regulatory environments.
That is in direct contrast to other economic indicators. For example, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis reported job growth in the St. Louis region from 2010 to 2013 was a measly 1.8 percent, the lowest of 11 Midwest cities. And Rick Bagy, president of the First National Bank of St. Louis, told the Business Journal recently that his customers say starting a business here is difficult because so many municipalities have so many different rules, regulations and paperwork. That’s in reference to the St. Louis region as a whole, not the just the city of St. Louis.