The St. Louis Fed in Your Community

St. Louis Fed employees take great pride in serving "Main Street" audiences and representing their views nationally within the Federal Reserve System. Learn about the ways we connect with the public.

Reaching Out and Convening

Staying in touch with the Eighth District is a priority in each of the District’s four offices. Engagement and collaboration help us better understand the economic conditions throughout the District’s diverse communities. These shared insights often lead to better decisions and solutions that help the economy as a whole perform better.

Community Development

Promoting community and economic development and fair and equal access to credit is the mission of the St. Louis Fed’s Community Development department.

• Identify challenges confronting low- and moderate-income (LMI) communities
• Conduct analyses, develop resources and share ideas to strengthen LMI communities and increase the efficacy of practitioners and policymakers, and
• Foster collaboration among key players from financial institutions, nonprofits and government agencies, as well as public officials, researchers and practitioners to stimulate ideas and share insights that catalyze action to meet the challenges of LMI communities.

The Institute for Economic Equity

The Institute for Economic Equity promotes a more equitable economy for households and communities in the Eighth Federal Reserve District and beyond. It works to support an economy that works for all, regardless of race or ethnicity, gender or where they live. Launched in 2021, the Institute builds on the research and activities conducted by its predecessor, the Center for Household Financial Stability, which underscored how structural and historical factors—including racism and discrimination—contribute to economic inequities.

Community Development Advisory Council

This council is composed of executives from organizations throughout the District who are experts in community and economic development. It was created to keep the St. Louis Fed’s president and Community Development staff informed about relevant issues and to suggest ways the Bank might support local development efforts.

Bridges

Bridges is a quarterly review of regional community and economic development issues, projects and regulatory changes for practitioners from community-based organizations, as well as for Community Reinvestment Act officers, academics and government officials.

Community Development Outlook Survey

This survey monitors the economic factors affecting low- and moderate-income people and communities in the Eighth District. Data received is useful for strategic planning, community and economic development, and public policy dialogue.

Speakers Bureau

St. Louis Fed officials and economists frequently speak to business and civic groups around the Eighth District about the purposes and functions of the Federal Reserve, as well as banking issues and regional and national economic conditions.

Industry Councils

These councils are designed to build a consistent and dependable two-way line of communication about economic conditions between the St. Louis Fed and industry representatives throughout the Eighth District. The councils are made up of leaders representing key District industry sectors: agribusiness, health care, real estate and transportation.

Community Depository Institutions Advisory Council

This council is composed of 12 executives from smaller financial institutions across the Eighth District. Council members meet twice a year to advise St. Louis Fed President Jim Bullard on the credit, banking and economic conditions facing their institutions and communities.

Financial Institution Touch Program

Branch executives and other St. Louis Fed officials reach out to financial executives and community bankers regularly in the region to discuss issues that bankers in the District believe are relevant to the industry and regional economy. In turn, Bank officials share information about Fed resources and discuss issues that bankers have. These meetings help inform St. Louis Fed President Jim Bullard’s analysis and discussion on monetary policy.

Dialogue with the Fed

These events help clarify the often-confusing economic information contained in news and data reports. At these public forums, St. Louis Fed experts explain and take questions about current topics related to the economy.

Empowering Through Education

Knowledge about economics, money, banking and personal finance fosters a stronger economy. The St. Louis Fed’s Economic Education staff seeks to make a difference by reaching out to K-16 educators and their students with a variety of economic and financial education resources and programs, including videos, podcasts, online courses, lesson plans, interactive whiteboard applications, conferences and websites. Many materials are also available in Spanish.

• Econ Lowdown, the St. Louis Fed’s FREE source for award-winning, pre-K to college economic and personal finance education resources.
• Kiddynomics: An Economics Curriculum for Young Learners uses children’s books, songs and school readiness activities to introduce basic concepts such as saving and spending.

Producing Timely Information About the Economy

Tap into the continual flow of valuable information:

• On The Economy Blog — Relevant commentary, analysis, research and data from St. Louis Fed economists and experts.
• Open Vault Blog — Everyday economic concepts explained, plus a look at the people and programs that make the St. Louis Fed central to America’s economy.
• FOMC Speak —  A repository of speeches, testimony, interviews and commentary by Federal Open Market Committee participants.
• Federal Banking Regulations — This site tracks proposed rules from start to finish, as well as significant guidance, issued by 11 federal agencies that write regulations affecting banks and consumers.
• FedCommunities.org — A gateway to community development resources from all 12 Federal Reserve banks and the Board of Governors.

Providing Thought Leadership Through Scholarly Economic Research

For decades, the St. Louis Fed has maintained a reputation in the Federal Reserve System for challenging the status quo, enhancing the rigor of the monetary policy debate, and pushing the frontier of research in academic and policy circles. The Bank also remains a global leader in providing economic analysis and data to the public. 

• FRED^® — Hundreds of thousands of data series are available at this internationally recognized resource for economic data from regional, national and international sources.
• Review — A journal of scholarly articles on national and international economic developments.
• ALFRED® (Archival Federal Reserve Economic Data) — This contains vintage economic data from specific dates in history.
• FRASER® (Federal Reserve Archival System for Economic Research) — A library of historical U.S. economic and banking publications.
• IDEAS — A database of over 2 million items of research that can be browsed, searched and downloaded.

Demystifying the Economy

In 2014, the St. Louis Fed opened the doors of its historic building to welcome the public to its Economy Museum. The award-winning museum immerses visitors in an interactive, educational experience designed to explain the economy through more than 100 displays, games, sculptures and videos.

Normal Hours: Weekdays, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Admission: Free

Fostering Financial Stability

Banking Supervision

To promote a safe, efficient and competitive banking system, the St. Louis Fed’s Banking Supervision division monitors the financial condition and reviews the regulatory compliance of state member banks, as well as bank and savings and loan holding companies, in the Eighth District.

• Safety and soundness examiners conduct commercial bank examinations and bank and savings and loan holding company inspections to evaluate the soundness of an institution’s assets and the effectiveness of its internal operations, policies and management. Examiners analyze key financial factors (such as capital, earnings and liquidity), assess the institution’s sensitivity to certain risks and check for compliance with banking laws and regulations.
• Consumer affairs examiners conduct examinations of state member banks to evaluate compliance with various consumer protection laws and regulations. These examiners separately review how well a bank meets the credit needs of its entire community in support of the Community Reinvestment Act.
• The Credit Office, also known as the discount window, lends money to depository institutions to relieve liquidity strains in a depository institution and in the banking system as a whole. All loans must be fully secured by acceptable collateral. The discount window also helps to ensure the basic stability of the payment system more generally by supplying liquidity during times of systemic stress.

Payment Services

The St. Louis Fed supports financial operations in the Eighth District through currency and coin operations and Treasury services.

• The St. Louis Fed’s Cash operations, performed primarily in St. Louis and Memphis, meet banks’ demands for coin and currency, test the notes for authenticity to ensure they’re not counterfeit and then evaluate their fitness for circulation.
• As fiscal agent to the U.S. Treasury, Federal Reserve banks help support the federal government’s financial systems, ensuring the flow of government funds is efficient, dependable and secure. The St. Louis Fed provides cash management, accounting, collateral, federal agent outreach, and improper payment prevention services to the U.S. Treasury. The St. Louis Fed also performs an important leadership function, coordinating all Treasury support activities throughout the Federal Reserve System.