This Week in the Region: 314 Day Grows Through Community Support, Industry Innovation Spotlight on Technology, and more
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We Are STLMade: 314 Day Grows Through Community Support
314 Day just keeps growing. Every March, the St. Louis region’s unofficial holiday brings the metro together under an umbrella of shared pride and celebration. STLMade, an initiative of Greater St. Louis, Inc., worked again with the 314 Day Foundation to organize this year’s festivities.
The numbers are in. This year, we saw 129 earned media placements, 833,000 social media engagements — a more than 50% increase from last year — and social media impressions in the millions.
Thanks to the leadership of so many of you, our partners and investors, we’re all contributing to boosting our region’s civic pride. Here are some highlights:
Schnucks distributed 39,000 314 Day stickers at 78 locations across the metro;
Purina partnered with BarK to host their second annual 314 Day happy hour celebration;
St. Louis County Library locations hosted scavenger hunts, crafts, and other activities; and
Great Rivers Greenway offered self-guided walks, runs, and rides.
The University of Missouri-St. Louis, a GSL Chair’s Council member, contributes more than $522.5 million in economic impact to the St. Louis metro, a new report shows. That number increases by $14 billion when accounting for the impact of UMSL alumni in the region, and another $14 billion for the impact of alumni throughout the state. Said Chancellor Kristin Sobolik, “This report demonstrates how far beyond the classroom the university’s impact can be felt as it spurs economic activity and job creation.”
Under CEO Ron Kruszewski, Stifel — a GSL Executive-Level investor — has increased net revenue from $110 million to $4.9 billion, and he points to that consistent growth when looking toward the future. Stifel is one of a group of large financial institutions headquartered in St. Louis, contributing to the region’s financial talent pool, as well as the success of the fintech industry, a next-generation sector the STL 2030 Jobs Plan says can play a big role in shaping the regional economy.
A critical focus of Greater St. Louis, Inc. this year will be the improvement of St. Louis’ economic climate, including support for key industry clusters. This week, we highlight tech news that is advancing, innovating, and moving the region forward.
AI Powers New Agtech Company STLMade entrepreneur Matt Crisp is leading the launch of another new agtech firm here in St. Louis. Quercus Biosolutions, which has already secured pre-seed funding, will use generative artificial intelligence to help protect crops. It increases the innovation found in the region’s powerful agtech ecosystem. (St. Louis INNO)
C2N Gets Influx of Funding from Samsung One of the biggest names in technology has invested $10 million in St. Louis biotech firm C2N, a developer of diagnostics for Alzheimer’s and other forms of neurodegeneration. Recent local legislation supporting Washington University’s $95 million redevelopment of the former Goodwill Building in the Cortex Innovation District will help C2N not only stay in St. Louis where it was founded, but expand, adding 170 jobs. (St. Louis INNO)
WWT Expands with $1.3B Acquisition World Wide Technology has finalized a $1.3 billion acquisition of Softchoice Corp., a Canadian provider of software and cloud-based IT services. The move expands company’s investment in AI, bringing together “two high-performing organizations focused on delivering groundbreaking solutions that help accelerate AI adoption and the digital transformation journeys of organizations across the globe," according to WWT Co-Founder and CEO Jim Kavanaugh. (St. Louis INNO)
New Development at Major South City Intersection
A $26.3 million development project will construct three new buildings, rehabilitate six more, and add 52 affordable housing units at South Grand and Gravois in the Gravois Park and Dutchtown neighborhoods of south St. Louis. The project’s leaders, Lutheran Development Group and Rise Community Development, hope it will spur additional development at the “crossroads of south city.”
Established nonprofit organizations have joined forces to build a new coalition committed to providing free and low-cost home repairs throughout the St. Louis region. The Home Repair Network helps maintain older homes, keep residents in those homes, and prevent blight and vacancy. Members like the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis and the City of St. Louis’ Community Development Agency recognized that through collaboration, they could make a bigger impact.
The Wedge Powered by SIUE, an innovation center in downtown Alton, Illinois, that will serve as a social impact hub, research lab, think tank, and work space, has named a CEO: Retired Air Force Colonel J. Scot Heathman calls the Wedge “a transformative opportunity to connect talent, ideas, and resources across the bi-state region.”
Through her work with the Down Syndrome Association of Greater St. Louis, Erin Suelmann is helping to make the St. Louis region a better place for people with Down syndrome.
