Thanksgiving in St. Louis, Winterfest returns Downtown, loving local this holiday season, and more.
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HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
This Thanksgiving and throughout the year, we’re thankful for you, our investors and supporters, who work tirelessly to drive our metro forward and advance inclusive economic growth for all. We wish you a Happy Thanksgiving and a joyful holiday weekend.
Our partners at HEC TV have crafted a special episode of Spotlight, showcasing “a very St. Louis Thanksgiving.” Watch to see how St. Louis has changed Thanksgiving, football, and our community for the better. (Photo credit: Holidays in St. Louis)
Organized by Gateway Arch Park Foundation, a GSL Investor Council member, Winterfest opened this past weekend with a 5K race and a Festival of Lights. Last year, the annual event, which will run through New Year’s Eve, brought 40,000 people Downtown for igloos, ice skating, warm winter snacks, and holiday lights. Not only does Winterfest activate Downtown St. Louis, this year, it will showcase small businesses, like food trucks and local vendors.
From Downtown’s Thanks-for-Giving Parade sponsored by Ameren Corporation — an executive-level member of the GSL Chair’s Council — to turkey trots and wobbles throughout the region, this weekend in the St. Louis metro offers plenty of STLMade opportunities for families to spend quality time together. Explore St. Louis Magazine’s list of special Thanksgiving events and try something new this weekend. (Photo credit: Holidays in St. Louis)
LOVE LOCAL CAMPAIGN RALLIES SUPPORT FOR LOCAL BUSINESSES
According to the STL 2030 Jobs Plan, small business owners are the backbone of our community and economy, representing the vast majority of firms in the metro and employing almost half of the area workforce. In advance of the upcoming holiday season, Greater St. Louis, Inc. — through its STLMade initiative — has kicked off its 2023 Love Local campaign to promote shopping at local small businesses throughout the St. Louis metro.
“The goal of Love Local is to rally the support and dollars of everyone in our community behind our small businesses and showcase the role we all play in growing St. Louis,” said GSL CEO Jason Hall. “We want to make sure people across the 15-county bi-state St. Louis metro know that when we spend here, it stays here.”
VERIZON PREPARES SMALL BUSINESSES TO BE DIGITAL READY
Verizon, a GSL Investor Council member, is offering small businesses the chance to grow with a $10,000 grant from the company’s Small Business Digital Ready program. The program offers coaching and mentoring, peer networking, and more, all with minimal qualifications.
SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAM GIVES ENTREPRENEURS A BOOST
The Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program offers business owners the opportunity to gain access to tools and knowledge to grow their businesses. Through classes delivered online and in-person, the program helps entrepreneurs across the country — and now in Missouri — by offering a free practical training program.
MAKING PROGRESS: WEBINAR SERIES UNPACKS THE STL 2030 PROGRESS TRACKING TOOL
At the inaugural Inclusive Economic Growth Summit in September, GSL rolled out STL 2030 Progress, a website designed to track progress toward the goals laid out in the STL 2030 Jobs Plan. In a series of upcoming webinars, we’ll be exploring the suite of data-driven tools found on the STL 2030 Progress website and how you can contribute to and use these tools to better the St. Louis Metro.
HOFFMAN BROTHERS INVESTS $6M IN MARYLAND HEIGHTS EXPANSION
STLMade HVAC provider Hoffman Brothers is expanding to Maryland Heights with a newly built, $6 million, 20,000-square-foot facility that will allow the company to add an additional 300 new jobs. Founded in St. Louis, the company has grown rapidly in recent years, even expanding to Nashville in 2020.
TechSTL is bringing 300 artificial intelligence executives to St. Louis this winter for the tech council’s inaugural ScalePoint Executive Leadership Series at Washington University in St. Louis, an executive-level member of the GSL Chair’s Council. The three-part executive leadership series will explore the enterprise integration of AI.
