In this episode of Better Together TV, we talk with young civic leaders and social entrepreneurs about why they are making St. Louis their home — and what it means to own a start-up business in St. Louis. BTtv host Dave Leipholtz interviews Jeff and Randy Vines, the owners of STL Style House on Cherokee Street. Then, we talk with the team behind GoodMap, a web app that connects local social-service providers to the resources they need. Also on today’s show, field reporter and Better Together research fellow Joe Wilson visits Spanish Lake.

On BTtv, we spend a lot of time discussing St. Louis. This is our home. Our region’s future is our future. But as we study our own options, it’s important to look at regional cooperation elsewhere in the United States. What other places have considered city-county reunification? What did these mergers look like? What impact did they have on the region?

On tonight’s show, we will discuss Louisville and Indianapolis, two American cities with successful merger attempts. We’re joined by St. Louis Regional Chamber President and Better Together Board Member Joe Reagan, who previously served as president and CEO of Greater Louisville, Inc., and as VP at the time of the Louisville city-county merger. Better Together fellow Joe Wilson also joins us to discuss his research about the Indianapolis merger.

On this episode of Better Together TV, we explore the topic of our first community study: Public Finance. There will be numbers . . . a lot of numbers. But what we are most interested in are the stories that those numbers tell. Our guest Jason Growe, an investment professional, helps us understand the basics of public finance, including budgets, municipal debt, credit ratings, and allocation of assets.

Then, Better Together Executive Director Nancy Rice joins us to share what she hopes the public will learn from this first community study. Plus, we introduce a new segment: Fast Facts with Marius Johnson.

The St. Louis region is home to 115 local governments. Why? In this episode, host Dave Leipholtz speaks with University of Missouri-St. Louis professor Dr. Terry Jones, who wrote Fragmented by Design and contends that having so many municipalities is a good thing. We are also joined by former Crestwood mayor and current Webster University professor Dr. Jim Brasfield, who shares his thoughts on what makes a strong municipality and how local governments can get it right. Plus, Better Together research fellow and field reporter Joe Wilson heads to Florissant to learn more about that town’s rich history. Check out his live report from the beautiful Shrine of St. Ferdinand.

Better Together is a grassroots project born in response to growing public interest in addressing the fragmented nature of local government throughout St. Louis City and County, which dates back to 1876, when St. Louis City broke away from St. Louis County.

Join us as we talk with Executive Director Nancy Rice, and hear from a number of interested St. Louisans who attended the Better Together Kick-Off press conference.