Regional President Speech

WELCOMING PRESENTATION Monroe Kimbrel E M L A P R O G R A M March 22, 1976 9:30 a.m. FOURTH FLOOR CONFERENCE R O O M Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. For myself and for my associates, I am pleased to welcome you this morning - to welcome you to the United States, to the city of Atlanta, and specifically to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. You are visiting us at a season when nature puts on a magnificent show in our city. If you take the opportunity to visit parts of the city where the dogwood and azaleas and other flowers are beginning to bloom, I know you will understand the justifiable pride that Atlantans take in their gardens and their city. Atlanta is an historical city, being the site of a major battle in our Civil War. Charred and crippled by that battle, Atlanta began to rebuild, and the building "fever” infected succeeding generations. As you will see, it is a "new" city. New housing, new office build­ ings, new parks, and new hotels of such spectacular design they have become tourist attractions. The skyline of Atlanta, which seems to be constantly changing, is a graphic indication of the revitalization of the city. I think you will find Atlantans friendly and hospitable. They are accustomed to having visitors in their midst since Atlanta is a regional management and distribution center and ranks third in the nation in convention attendance. Many of the people you will see on Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis -2- the streets do not live here at all. Like you, they are visitors here on business, on vacation, or attending conventions. In 1914, when the Federal Reserve System was established, agriculture was the primary economic force in the southeastern United States, and it still plays an important although lesser part. In 1976, however, economic life of the Southeast is vastly diversified. In Atlanta alone there are plants for assembling automobiles and military cargo planes. As a transportation hub, Atlanta is considered one of the most accessible cities in the United States, which naturally makes it a distribution center. The airport you passed through this weekend is the second busiest in the nation. Indeed, at certain hours it is the busiest airport in the nation. As students of banking, you will immediately be aware that all of this business activity means financial activity. Atlanta is_ an important financial center, and that of course is the principal reason that we are experiencing the pleasure of having you visit us. Atlanta is evolving into an international city with growing financial economic and cultural interests abroad. The Omni Hotel where you are staying is a unit of a megastructure that was built with the international concept as a part of its appeal. Next to the hotel is rising a World Congress Center for international conferences and exhibits. Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis -3- The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta is staying abreast of this growing international interest. We have established a Caribbean Unit in our Research Department that is specializing in economic report ing on countries in the Caribbean Basin. You will be given more details about this venture later in the week. I know you have been in class for several weeks. The two weeks that you will spend in Atlanta should be beneficial to you and should support or reinforce the concepts you have studied about central banking. In your leisure time, look around and enjoy what Atlanta has to offer. Please let us know if we can help you in any way during your stay with us. We are delighted to have you here. We hope your visit will be both pleasant and satisfying. Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Monroe Kimbrel (1976, March 21). Regional President Speech. Speeches, Federal Reserve. https://whenthefedspeaks.com/doc/regional_speeche_19760322_monroe_kimbrel

@misc{wtfs_regional_speeche_19760322_monroe_kimbrel,
  author = {Monroe Kimbrel},
  title = {Regional President Speech},
  year = {1976},
  month = {Mar},
  howpublished = {Speeches, Federal Reserve},
  url = {https://whenthefedspeaks.com/doc/regional_speeche_19760322_monroe_kimbrel},
  note = {Retrieved via When the Fed Speaks corpus}
}