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ST. LOUIS (KMOV) -- St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay said he considered a Thursday afternoon meeting with InBev CEO Carlos Brito “productive,” and said it’s important for the city to reach out to Brito – a no-perks kind of guy who doesn’t have a company car or a personal assistant and shares a desk with another InBev employee.

Slay and Brito met at Anheuser-Busch headquarters in south St. Louis.  The Mayor said he told Brito that “the more (Brito) know(s) about St. Louis, the better (he’ll) like it.”

Slay described the interaction as a “meet and greet” and said the two didn’t discuss specifics about Brito’s intentions for A-B, a company known for giving millions to charities and sponsoring everything from the Saint Louis Zoo’s Zoo Friends Association to the annual summer event, Live on the Levee.

Slay said Brito indicated he wanted to be engaged philanthropically and civically with St. Louis.

“His approach was very warm and genuine appearing, so he was very impressive. He was a guy (who was) easy to talk with,” Slay said.

A financial analyst said job cuts and the idea of foreign ownership got the lion's share of coverage when the InBev story first broke, but what was lost in all of the coverage was that the deal could be good for St. Louis in the long run.

Slay said Brito realizes the importance of Anheuser-Busch to St. Louis, but also of St. Louis to the brewery.

It’s important for A-B products to be associated with a city in the heartland of America since foreign ownership didn’t go over very well with many people, and marketing is one thing Brito understands very well.