Region reaps many benefits
By Alvin A. Reid Of the St. Louis American
The next stop for the National Urban League’s annual conference is Orlando, Fla.
The land of DisneyWorld is one of America’s leading convention sites, but NUL President Marc Morial says it will have a high standard to match following last week’s conference in St. Louis.
“St. Louis has been great to all of us,” he said.
“This was our opportunity to visit one of America’s jewels.”
Morial said the national convention is “coveted” by major cities, including Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia and Washington.
“All the traditional destination communities want the conference,” he said. “We are proud to be here (in St. Louis).”
He was not alone. More than 10,000 guests visited St. Louis last week, leaving behind a substantial influx of cash Downtown and throughout the regional economy.
Early Saturday afternoon, Jim Buford, president of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis was walking with his wife, Susan Buford, on the lengthy red carpet that greeted thousands of people over four days. They had just come from the bustling exhibition hall and career fair, where the buzz continued as the conference entered its final hours.
“Everything has been great,” said Buford.
“There is so much to do, the trouble is doing it all.”
With four Democratic candidates for president speaking on Friday and the introduction of the organization’s landmark “Opportunity Compact” taking place during the conference, St. Louis was a fixture on the major news networks.
St. Louis was a center of political and business discussion during the entire week.
Mayor Francis G. Slay called the conference “great for St. Louis and the region.”
County Executive Charlie Dooley, who welcomed the crowd before the Democratic candidates’ forum, said the conference is a chance for St. Louis and St. Louis County “to really shine.”
Buford and Enterprise Chairman Andy Taylor were instrumental in bringing the national conference to St. Louis.
In 2003, the NUL Board of Trustees held its annual meeting in St. Louis. It was then that Buford and Taylor cornered Morial and told him flat-out that they wanted the national conference here.
The first challenge was raising $350,000 to host the conference.
As Morial said, “Sponsors stepped up early and significantly.”
“I was told that if we were to have any concerns, finances would be the least of them,” Morial said.
In fact, sponsors and the St. Louis corporate community came up with $1.1 million, nearly three times what was needed to be a host.
“A conference like this is also not successful without a whole lot of people power,” Morial said.
That people power included hundreds of diverse volunteers who directed convention-goers at America’s Center.
Buford, who has served as local Urban League president for 23 years, was on the search committee that selected Morial as national president following Hugh B. Price’s retirement.
“It was one of our best decisions. He has brought us together as a movement,” Buford said of Morial.
“We are solvent, sound and well-respected.”
And headed to Orlando for the 98th annual conference.
