Fiorello and Clarke Join St. Louis Fed's Agribusiness Industry Council

ST. LOUIS — Sam Fiorello, chief operating officer and senior vice president for administration and finance at the Donald Danforth Plant Sciences Center, and John Lawrence "Larry" Clarke, executive vice president of Bunge North America, have joined the Agribusiness Industry Council of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

The St. Louis Fed created four District Industry Councils in 2006. Each council represents a specific industry within the Federal Reserve's Eighth District and is designed to build a consistent and dependable line of communication regarding economic conditions within those industry sectors throughout the District. The members complement the data and information developed through the Federal Reserve's Beige Book and meetings of the Reserve Bank's boards of directors.

Meeting twice a year, each council is based in one of four of the Reserve Bank's offices: Little Rock (agribusiness), St. Louis (real estate), Louisville (health care) and Memphis (transportation).

With branches in Little Rock, Louisville and Memphis, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis serves the Eighth Federal Reserve District, which includes all of Arkansas, eastern Missouri, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, western Kentucky, western Tennessee and northern Mississippi. The St. Louis Fed is one of 12 regional Reserve banks that, along with the Board of Governors in Washington, D.C., comprise the Federal Reserve System. As the nation's central bank, the Federal Reserve System formulates U.S. monetary policy, regulates state-chartered member banks and bank holding companies, and provides payment services to financial institutions and the U.S. government.

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