The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis was established in 1914, after the creation of the Federal Reserve System in 1913. The Eighth Federal Reserve District is headquartered in St. Louis and has branches in Little Rock, Ark., Louisville, Ky., and Memphis, Tenn. The District includes all of Arkansas and portions of six other states: Missouri, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois. The St. Louis Bank serves most of eastern Missouri and southern Illinois. As one of the 12 regional Reserve banks in the Fed System, the St. Louis Fed is central to America's economy. All of the Reserve banks share some degree of similar duties. But because the banks are independent of one another, each has some specialized assignments and tasks that distinguish it.
Founded in 1978, Hibdon Hardwood, Inc. is a U.S. importer of exotic wood, burl, and veneer logs predominately from Guatemala and Mexico. Hibdon Hardwood specializes in making parts for musical instruments, specifically acoustic guitars, with a client base that includes Gibson Guitar, Taylor Guitars, Martin Guitar Co. and Collings Guitars as well as a variety of other smaller instrument makers world wide. With access to the premium materials, the company concentrates on the woods for the backs, sides, necks, and fret boards used to build top of the line guitars as well as dulcimers, mandolins, ukuleles, and other stringed instruments. Headquartered in a facility located in Saint Louis MO, Hibdon Hardwood, Inc. features a horizontal band sawmill, a horizontal band resaw, planer, straight-line rip saw, wide belt sander and other related machinery. This warehouse also includes two low temperature dry kilns with a total capacity of 15,000 board feet and a 2,200 square foot retail space which is open from 7 A.M. to 4 P.M. Monday through Friday.