Building a Future Where Everyone, Everywhere in St. Louis Can Thrive
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The St. Louis Anchor Action Network drives sustained investment in St. Louis people and places, guided by a shared commitment to advance racial equity, remove barriers to economic opportunity and create a more inclusive regional community.
The Network is a coalition of local anchor institutions – large companies and organizations that serve as pillars of our regional economy – working to leverage our economic and organizational resources to collectively advance:
Intentional Hiring and Career Development
Intentional Purchasing
Community Investment
Together, we are striving to increase employment, income, and wealth within majority Black and Brown communities facing high poverty rates in St. Louis City and County. Neighborhoods in the footprint have amazing assets, passionate residents and businesses that power our economy. Thousands of our Network members’ employees call these communities home.
As a first step, we are focused on 22 zip codes in St. Louis city and county that have been impacted by more than a century of systemic racial and spatial inequities. We are committed to driving equitable investment and economic development to achieve positive collective impact.
Hiring and Career Development
Network members are expanding outreach and recruitment with residents in the footprint, establishing workforce partnerships in core categories of job needs, building career ladders around entry- and mid-level positions to foster continued wage gains, and tackling institutional improvements that increase access and on-ramps to employment and retention.
Purchasing
To leverage intentional purchasing across the Network, institutions and companies are building connections between footprint businesses and procurement leaders, forming business development partnerships focused on consistent areas of spending, and improving institutional practices that increase access to business opportunities.
Community Engagement
Through relationship-building and deep community engagement, people who live and work in the footprint are partners in the development and implementation of wealth building strategies. The Network engages community partners on hiring and purchasing working groups and will engage the community in reviewing trends in employment and spending data and wealth-building strategies.