you, you have to come back for a visit & explore & educate yourself about these things I'm telling you about.
I can understand not being away & totally disconnected for well over a decade, but STL has been receiving accolades from all over for some time now as a entrepreneurial & tech market.
Other US city mayors have come to explore to hopefully replicate something like it in their own cities:
https://cortexstl.com/u-s-conference-of-mayors-brookings-institution-visit-cortex-to-help-cities-model-st-louis-innovation-success/
Here's another article about STL's #1 Start Up scene:
http://www.businessinsider.com/us-cities-with-fastest-growing-startup-scenes-2016-1/#4-raleigh-nc-11028-deal-growth-in-2015-2629-average-growth-since-2012-7