STLCC Opens $52M Advanced Manufacturing Center | 2025 STL TechWeek Expected to Draw 10,000 | More Metro News
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"Commitment to Collaboration and Community": STLCC Opens $52M Advanced Manufacturing Center
A new, 96,000-square-foot facility on the campus of St. Louis Community College–Florissant Valley is the latest project to help ramp up the advanced manufacturing workforce in the St. Louis metro. STLCC, a GSL Investor Council member, welcomed Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe and other state and local leaders for a ribbon cutting this week, unveiling the three-story facility — the second of six new buildings the college will open this year as part of its STLCC Transformed initiative. (Read why GSL supported Prop R, the ballot initiative that funded this investment in workforce training.)
STLCC’s Advanced Manufacturing Center will combine short-term career training, degree, and certificate programs in STEM and advanced manufacturing. And it will house STLCC’s pre-employment training program with Boeing, which prepares candidates for work as aircraft assembly mechanics, even more critical considering last week’s news that Boeing won a $20 billion U.S. Air Force contract to build the F-47, the sixth-generation fighter jet.
The Bottom Line: The STL 2030 Jobs Plan tells us that advanced manufacturing is a critical growth sector for the St. Louis metro. The more we build up our advanced manufacturing ecosystem, the more appealing our metro will be for companies looking to locate their manufacturing facilities here.
Said Governor Kehoe: “When you’re talking to a manufacturer or any kind of business that wants to expand or move here, their first question is, ‘What’s the workforce like? What are you doing to partner with your educational institutions?'”
One week. 30 free events. 10,000 people. STL Tech week was founded three years ago to showcase and support the tech and talent found in St. Louis. This year, its AI summit was so popular, organizers shifted venues to America’s Center in Downtown St. Louis, a larger space necessary to accommodate interested audiences.
The weeklong event series offers attendees 10 unique tracks, from geospatial to AI to digital transformation, all focused on preparing the region’s innovators and workers for the future. The event “grew up” this year, said TechSTL Executive Director Emily Hemingway, and is garnering more attention and participation from outside the region.
The Bottom Line: “Staging a dynamic series of events focused on networking and education in technology not only empowers local entrepreneurs, it also stirs economic activity and positions our region as a forward-thinking hub where ideas, people, and possibilities converge,” said Brad Dean, President and CEO of Explore St. Louis.
New Plant Serves as Testing Ground for Battery Facility
ICL Group’s $30 million plant in south St. Louis is nearly production ready. The facility will reshore the manufacturing of chemicals necessary for producing electric cars and mobile phone batteries and serve as a pilot plant for the global company’s planned $500 million battery facility in north St. Louis. The growth of ICL, a GSL Chair's Council member, helps strengthen our domestic supply chain and supports the region’s advanced manufacturing sector.
Five years after its expansion bid, St. Louis CITY SC has changed not only the layout of Downtown St. Louis, but the trajectory of the city as well. CEO Carolyn Kindle operates the MLS team with the St. Louis community in mind, always collaborating, partnering, and expanding for continuous improvement.
STLMade Startup Makes Places like Busch Stadium More Accessible
We Hear You, an STLMade startup that develops products and services that expand physical accessibility, is growing. The innovative company is partnering not only with the St. Louis Cardinals, but Wyndham Hotels and Resorts and United Access. "These are some of the rollouts that are happening because of the work that we've done in St Louis," said CEO Pierre Paul.
Warm spring air beckons workers past Kiener Plaza in Downtown St. Louis, where trees are already in full bloom. Across Broadway, Gateway Arch Park Foundation readies the Old Courthouse for its Grand Reopening on Saturday, May 3.
Race car driver and Kirkwood native Spike Kohlbecker’s career is picking up speed as he cruises into his third season with Toyota Gazoo Racing North America.
