Economist Jack Strauss of St. Louis University says he has no quick or easy solutions for creating jobs in the region, but he does have a recommendation: Focus on small and young businesses.

Strauss, director of the university's Simon Center for Regional Forecasting, is organizing a gathering of local economists to tackle the topic "What's Next for Jobs and Our Economy." The Feb. 24 conference will include economic forecasts for the local area as well as Missouri and the nation.

The United States is in a deep jobs hole -- the result of a decade of zero net job creation, Strauss points out. While firms that employ large numbers have been shedding workers, small firms -- particularly, young firms -- have served as the engines for job creation.

"And, unfortunately, St. Louis and Missouri rank poorly in new job creation in terms of small firms,'' Strauss said.

Strauss said that local and state officials can do their part to encourage small businesses -- by improving the regulatory environment, for example. But the federal government is responsible for another crucial aspect: improving the lending environment for smaller community banks, which provide most of the financing for small businesses.

"Big banks can borrow from the Federal Reserve, directly at zero interest. Small banks can't,'' Strauss said.

Strauss said that President Barack Obama is wise to start focusing on small business creation, something that he believes should have been done sooner. While Obama's recently announced plan to funnel $30 billion to community banks to spur lending to small businesses may seem like a lot of money, Strauss points out that the nation's large financial institutions got a $700 billion bailout.

Strauss said there are no silver bullets to economic recovery -- and that it will take at least three years for the job market to recover.

"And that's pretty sad,'' he said. "It's going to take time because a large number of people are unemployed -- but also because of sectoral shifts. In certain sectors -- manufacturing was hard hit -- people are not going to find jobs in that field. There are always sectoral shifts, but this is coupled with the biggest recession since the Depression.''

Strauss said he disagrees with the philosophy of dividing the state into development "clusters" -- such as biotechnology -- and concentrating efforts solely on those clusters.

"If you push biotech, there may not be big firms that come here. If you pick small business creation, that will help a lot of different people in a lot of different areas,'' he said.