ST. LOUIS, Mo. — The President & CEO of the St. Louis Regional Chamber, Tom Chulick, announced today he will be stepping down from the role at the end of 2020. Chulick has led the Regional Chamber since March 2018, when he was tapped to serve as interim president & CEO after the resignation of Joe Reagan.
“What started out as a temporary position turned into two years – but there was important work to do and honestly, it was a lot of fun. My plan now is to continue working on several business opportunities that I put on hold when I assumed the role at the Regional Chamber,” said Chulick. “But I will also greatly miss our incredibly talented team, our engaged board, and the collaboration among our partners at other business organizations. This has definitely been one of the greatest honors and privileges of my professional and civic life.” Before heading the Regional Chamber, Chulick retired in 2017 as Chairman and CEO of UMB Bank St. Louis and served on the Regional Chamber board and executive committee for ten years.
Since Chulick came on board, the Regional Chamber strategically focused on economic development, pro-business advocacy and business networking, while retaining its longstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion. Under Chulick’s leadership, AllianceSTL was formed to create a best-in-class business recruitment and economic development program for the St. Louis region. AllianceSTL recently celebrated its largest win to date with the announcement of Accenture Federal Services bringing 1,400 technology jobs to St. Louis starting in late 2020. The Chamber’s diverse business programming, including the Diverse Business Accelerator and Diverse Business Fellows program, expanded. Most recently, the Regional Chamber launched a COVID-19 Business Resource Center for businesses to find information and resources on virtual business practices, reopening guidelines, and state and federal financial resources for small, medium and large businesses.
In addition, since 2018 the Regional Chamber has expanded and strengthened its pro-business advocacy program at the local, state and federal levels, including a string of recent successes in the Missouri and Illinois state legislatures. This included helping pass Missouri’s largest workforce bill in 2020, HB 2046. This bill included Fresh Start, which opens more opportunities for Missourians with past criminal convictions and the Expanded Workforce Act, which further develops the apprenticeship pipeline. The Regional Chamber also worked on tort reform and capital infrastructure bills in both Missouri and Illinois and helped pass the country’s most progressive professional licensing reciprocity laws in Missouri to help support military spouses and incoming talent from other regions.
“Tom not only stepped up when we needed him to – he also helped create a culture of collaboration, stability and accountability that the organization and our business community needed,” said Tom Minogue, current board chair of the Regional Chamber and chair of Thompson Coburn. Minogue cited the ongoing collaboration (including combining offices) with AllianceSTL, Arch to Park, and Civic Progress as examples of how business changed under Chulick’s helm.
“We gave him a very difficult assignment, and he righted the ship and set the Regional Chamber on a course for success. We are very grateful to Tom for his commitment and leadership to the organization and our region’s business community,” added Minogue.
Minogue reported that he and incoming board chair Ken Cella of Edward Jones will work with the executive committee of the Regional Chamber board to form a search committee in July to select the Chamber’s next president & CEO.
“Not everyone gets the chance to come out of retirement to work with talented and passionate people on something we all have in common – our love of the St. Louis region,” said Chulick. “We have an incredibly collaborative business community here in St. Louis – more than ever, I feel very optimistic about what we can and will accomplish together.”
