The budget will be $4 million a year, and corporate donors have made a three-year commitment.

St. Louis business leaders began studying economic development last summer. “Leadership in the private sector realized that, with economic growth in St. Louis being what it is, we can’t keep doing things the same way,” said Tom Minogue, chairman of the Regional Chamber and of law firm Thompson Coburn.

Between 2015 and 2017, according to the U.S. Commerce Department, metro St. Louis’ inflation-adjusted economic output grew just 0.5 percent a year, compared with 2.3 percent for the nation as a whole.

Suzanne Sitherwood, CEO of gas utility Spire, will chair the alliance board. Accelerating the growth rate, she acknowledged, will benefit her business and most others in the region.

“States and regional organizations that are really successful around economic development have a laser focus and know how to be their region’s front door to the world,” Sitherwood said. “Those regions grow in an exponential way.”