Richard C. D. Fleming

Richard Dreamer and doer, visionary and pragmatist, Dick Fleming learned well from his mentors — such men as Dan Sweat, Atlanta’s business-civic-foundation impresario, and James Rouse, lead shopping center and model town developer-turned-leader for affordable housing for Americans of all classes and races.

For over 25 years, Fleming has been an active civic entrepreneur, engaged in initiatives to revitalize center cities and metropolitan areas from Atlanta to Denver, and now St. Louis as President and Chief Executive Officer of the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association (RCGA).

Fleming in January 2011 announced he would retire from his RCGA position later in the year, planning a move to the philanthropic world, academia or the private sector.

In the private sector, he was a developer with The Rouse Company in Baltimore. In that capacity, he was a planner and developer of the 15,000-acre Columbia New Town in suburban Baltimore and the Faneuil Hall downtown retail project in Boston. Subsequently Fleming worked with Dan Sweat of Central Atlanta Progress to redefine the role of center city organizations in downtown design, planning and management.

In Colorado, Fleming served as founding President of the Downtown Denver Partnership and then as President of the Greater Denver Chamber of Commerce, forging a model economic development alliance of communities from across the metropolitan region. He was instrumental (and is now seen as a pioneer) in the revitalization of downtown Denver, the Colorado Convention Center, the sensitive city-county negotiations leading to agreement on the new Denver International Airport, and the recruitment of major league baseball to Denver.

Under Fleming’s direction, the St. Louis RCGA has been a driving force in the region registering a net gain of over 100,000 net jobs since 1995, in contrast to a prior decade of virtually no net job growth.  Fleming has also led the RCGA to offset the area’s reputation as an Old Economy town by declaring itself America’s BioBelt center, focused on raising venture capital and public funds to create a 21st century biotechnology center focused especially on plant sciences.

Earlier in his career, Fleming served at the national level as a sub-cabinet officer at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in Washington where, as Deputy Assistant Secretary, he oversaw the $3 billion Community Development Block Grant Program and was a principal architect of the $1.2 billion Urban Development Action Grant Program (UDAG). His national leadership continues to this day in active involvement with such organizations as the Urban Land Institute and Partners for Livable Communities.

His national leadership continues through active involvement with such organizations as the Urban Land Institute and as Board Chairman of Partners for Livable Communities, the Alliance for Regional Stewardship, and Climate Prosperity, Inc. (established in 2009 by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund).

Last updated January 31, 2011