GSL Works To Grow Local Business Districts Across The Bi-State St. Louis Region, 39 North Brings St. Louis AgTech Sector Together, And More
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15 COUNTIES, ONE METRO: GSL WORKS TO GROW LOCAL BUSINESS DISTRICTS ACROSS THE BI-STATE ST. LOUIS REGION
This week, Greater St. Louis, Inc. wrapped up its yearlong, 15-county tour of the St. Louis metro, with trips to Jersey and Calhoun Counties in Illinois on Monday, and St. Louis County in Missouri on Tuesday — part of its initiative to strengthen the region’s local business districts and corridors of commerce.
“The STL 2030 Jobs Plan calls for the development of this initiative to strengthen and grow local centers of business across the metro,” said Jason Hall, CEO of Greater St. Louis, Inc. “Revitalizing and supporting these key business districts while maintaining the distinct character that makes them so special will help stabilize local communities, revive small businesses, and create new jobs.”
Meeting with business owners and leaders provided the opportunity to better connect with all 15 counties in the St. Louis metro and strengthen ongoing regional relationships, key to advancing inclusive economic growth and implementing the STL 2030 Jobs Plan. The connections made throughout the year will move the metro forward for years to come.
An interview with Emily Lohse-Busch, newly named Executive Director of 39 North AgTech Innovation District, explores the importance of her organization to St. Louis’ agtech and bioscience landscape. The innovation district, she says, serves to bring together the established sector in a meaningful and intentional way, and develop resources for up-and-coming startups to help them stand out and stay in St. Louis. GSL is one of the anchor institutions that established the innovation district.
PEPTYDE BIO EXIT MARKS FIRST FOR DANFORTH TECH CO.
The recent exit of STLMade agtech startup Peptyde Bio marks the first for Danforth Technology Co., a subsidiary of GSL Investor Council Member Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, founded to support Danforth Center scientists. Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Invaio Science acquired the startup, it announced late last week.
$616M INVESTMENT POSITIONS WASHU AS A LEADER IN NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH
With the aim of constructing one of the world’s leading neuroscience research hubs, Washington University in St. Louis, an executive-level member of the GSL Chair’s Council, recently invested $616 million to construct the 609,000-square-foot, 11-story Neuroscience Research Building, adjacent to both its medical school and the Cortex Innovation District, a member of the GSL Investor Council.
“This is an enormous investment, even by Washington University’s standards,” said Andrew M. Bursky, Chair of the university’s Board of Trustees. “But we believe there is no field in medical science with greater opportunity than brain science and no place in the world with greater capability or vision to pursue these opportunities than Washington University. Yes, this is a venture of immense proportions, and yes, it carries risk. But it is a risk we eagerly embrace.”
“It's all passion, strategy, and action.” – Lakesha Mathis, Greater St. Louis, Inc. Vice President, Strategy, on being named a 2023 Delux Power Awardee.
A $278-million project makes an 8-mile stretch of I-270 in North St. Louis County safer and more efficient. Missouri Governor Mike Parson joined other community and elected officials this week at a ribbon cutting to celebrate the completed project, which enhances the St. Louis metro’s infrastructure, an ongoing policy priority for Greater St. Louis, Inc.
Performance Food Group, Inc. — a Fortune 100 company and one of North America’s largest food distributors — is investing nearly $120 million and adding nearly 100 new jobs in the St. Louis metro. The new facility expands PFG’s presence in St. Louis and allows the company to grow its operations locally as well as across the Midwest.
As part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration’s Build Back Better Regional Challenge Grant, GSL, and the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership are seeking assistance to advance community-driven development in North St. Louis City within the communities and neighborhoods in which the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Center St. Louis and MLK Innovation Center will be located.
ST. LOUIS ORGANIZATIONS COMMITTED TO FILLING THE TECH TALENT PIPELINE
St. Louis will need tens of thousands of tech workers in the coming years, but St. Louis groups have a strategy to fill the pipeline. Organizations like Cortex — a GSL Investor Council Member — and TechSTL are working together to fund training and education, connect organizations and resources, remove barriers, and connect employers with motivated talent.
Filling tech jobs is a “challenging, long-game initiative that we’re going to have to tackle,” said Emily Hemingway, Executive Director of TechSTL. “When it comes to growing the economy here in St. Louis, it’s one of the most important pieces.”
In Pagedale, a $12 million investment from Beyond Housing and its partners will bring 36 new single-family homes to life. Attractive housing will “increase property value, which will increase the tax base, which will give more resources for critical and needed services for people living in the city of Pagedale,” said Chris Krehmeyer, President and CEO of Beyond Housing, a GSL Member Investor.
The name “Busch” will adorn the top of the St. Louis Cardinals' Downtown stadium through 2030, announced Anheuser-Busch — an executive-level member of the GSL Chair’s Council. “Anheuser-Busch and the Cardinals [a GSL Chair’s Council Member] are part of the fabric of St. Louis, and this continued investment in our shared hometown is an exciting next chapter in our decades long story,” said Matt Davis, A-B Vice President of Partnerships.
