FERGUSON, Mo. — Businesses and political leaders have plans to convince Emerson Electric to stay in St. Louis after the industrial giant announced it plans to sell its headquarters in Ferguson.
Nearly 1300 employees could be impacted by the $14 billion deal to sell the property to the Climate Technologies joint venture.
Emerson's location at 8000 W Florissant Ave has manufactured automation products and provided engineering services since 1890.
Red's The One and Only BBQ on Florissant Road heated up their grills for the lunchtime crowd.
A lot of Redmond Harris's customers pop in from the plant which is not too far down the road.
He has done business in the area for 25 years and was disappointed to hear he could lose that familiar customer base.
"They've been here," he said. "So yeah we're going to definitely miss them. I mean that's a significant job loss in this area, especially Ferguson. We need all we can get here."
Greater St. Louis Inc has emphasized the benefit of the company staying in the St. Louis region.
In response to the announcement made by Emerson to sell a majority stake in its Climate Technologies businesses, Greater St. Louis, Inc. CEO Jason Hall issued the following statement:
“Emerson President and CEO Lal Karsanbhai and I spoke first thing this morning and discussed the company’s latest transaction and the company’s ongoing transformation. Lal and his team have been actively engaged in the work of Greater St. Louis, Inc. as a founding member and I appreciate his partnership.
“I shared with him our belief that the St. Louis metro continues to the best location for Emerson’s future and that Greater St. Louis, Inc. would immediately begin working with partners to make that case as the company goes through its process. St. Louis has tremendous post-pandemic momentum. But we compete in a global market for talent and investment. All of us in St. Louis must work together with urgency to capitalize proactively on our strengths and roll up our sleeves to address our challenges. Our future depends upon it.”
Emerson's partner, The Gateway Region YMCA, also chimed in:
"Emerson is one of St. Louis’ leading corporate citizens and a tremendous partner to the Gateway Region YMCA, providing significant support to our programs and services aimed at strengthening community. We place great value in our partnership and certainly hope to continue our longstanding relationship for many years to come."
5 On your Side stopped by the Ferguson City Hall where the city manager told our reporter the city was working on a strategic plan to address the future following the move and that it would be discussed when the council convenes on Thursday.
"We've been blessed to continue to grow after the bad publicity and all so. There's a lot of new openings far as small businesses coming to this area. Even some of the bigger ones,” Harris added.
Harris was optimistic about what could be a replacement in the space.
"Another big company maybe or even. I mean that's a pretty big area over there. Even splitting up into multiple companies. I hate to see them go but I think we'll be alright,” the restaurant owner said.
Emerson has plans to continue operating from certain buildings of the campus until they can land in a new location.