Boeing Acquisition Saves 550 Advanced Manufacturing Jobs, Delegation Heads to Geospatial Industry’s Largest Gathering And More
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Boeing Acquisition Saves 550 Advanced Manufacturing Jobs
This week, Boeing — an executive-level member of the GSL Chair’s Council — announced that it closed a deal with GKN Aerospace St. Louis and its parent company, Melrose Industries. The acquisition will support Boeing’s F/A-18 and F-15 programs, with Boeing hiring almost the entire GKN St. Louis workforce of nearly 550 people.
“This is a great win for Boeing as well as GKN St. Louis and their 550 employees,” said Greater St. Louis, Inc. CEO Jason Hall. “It is also a great win for the St. Louis metro and our advanced manufacturing sector. This announcement continues our economic momentum as we look forward to Boeing’s $1.8 billion expansion at the airport.”
MTC’s Innovation, Development, and Entrepreneurial Advancement Fund has marked a milestone, officially funding $50 million in equity-based investments in nearly 160 Missouri-based technology startups. Over the past few years, Greater St. Louis, Inc. has helped secure millions of dollars in state funding for MTC to boost innovation and entrepreneurial growth in the metro, a major policy priority.
Coming Together: 39 North Advances Agtech Innovation
This week, 39 North Agtech Innovation District announced its new, permanent headquarters, a 10,000-square-foot “Collaboration Hub” in the Edge@BRDG building on the campus of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, a GSL Investor Council member. Launched in 2015, the 600-acre innovation district was established as a nonprofit just over one year ago with the support of seven different organizations, including GSL, and is expanding its staff with grant funding from MTC.
St. Louis Delegation Heads to Geospatial Industry’s Largest Gathering to Showcase Opportunities for Growth
Leaders from St. Louis’ geospatial ecosystem head to GEOINT Symposium in Orlando, Florida, next week to showcase to the global geospatial community the opportunities that exist for growth in St. Louis. GSL’s GeoFutures Initiative is leading the delegation under the STLMade banner, and St. Louis will be heavily represented on the event’s main stage, with several STLMade presenters and panelists featured. GEOINT Symposium, the largest annual gathering of geospatial industry leaders, returns to the America’s Center in Downtown St. Louis in May 2025.
Today, St. Louis leaders — including Greater St. Louis, Inc. Chief Downtown Officer Kurt Weigle — kicked off a trade delegation to Canada on a new nonstop international flight to Montreal from St. Louis Lambert International Airport, a GSL Chair’s Council member. Hosted by World Trade Center St. Louis, the delegation will meet with Canadian leaders, attend cultural events, and build relationships to bring more business to the St. Louis metro.
UMB Financial Corp., a GSL Chair’s Council member, will acquire Heartland Financial USA Inc. in an acquisition that will increase the company’s total assets by more than 40% — its largest acquisition ever. The move will rank UMB, St. Louis’ largest commercial lender, in the top 5% of publicly traded banks in the U.S.
Centene Donates $25M Ferguson Center to Urban League
Centene Corporation, an executive-level member of the GSL Chair’s Council, is donating its $25 million Ferguson claims center to the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis in a move that will “empower, uplift and show people that Ferguson is moving forward.” The Urban League, a GSL Investor Council member, will be able to relocate and expand some of its initiatives, eventually creating up to 100 jobs, thanks to the largest-ever donation to the organization.
Small Group, Big Impact: Immigrants Boost St. Louis’ Economy
While immigrants living in St. Louis make up only 4.8% of the total population, they’re making an important financial impact, earning $5.9 billion in total income and paying $1.6 billion in taxes.
“Even though our immigrant population is relatively small — compared to Chicago, Miami or New York — the region is still benefiting from the economic power of this group,” said Ness Sandoval, professor of demography and sociology at Saint Louis University, a GSL Chair’s Council member. “Imagine what that economic power would be like if the immigrant population was three times as large.”
The Brickline Greenway continues to move closer to completion, as Great Rivers Greenway this week celebrated the beginning of the Brickline’s next segment from Compton Avenue to CITYPARK. “It will bring investments, it will bring new homes, it will help with stabilizing some of the older homes,” said Audrey Ellermann, president of Covenant Blu Grand Center Neighborhood Association.
Urban League Farm to Produce Fresh Food, Future Farmers
The Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, a GSL Investor Council member, this week unveiled the George Washington Carver Urban Farming Project, a 10,250-square-foot greenhouse and hydroponic farm at its headquarters. Intended to combat food insecurity and increase nutritional knowledge, the effort is the first of its kind at any Urban League throughout the country.
Major Efforts Underway to Revitalize Metro East’s Town of Venice
In the small Metro East town of Venice, projects are underway to jumpstart significant revitalization and add essential services and businesses to the community there, including a pre-K-8 school building, a grocery store, and a healthcare facility. The efforts will benefit not just Venice, but other small towns just minutes across the Mississippi River from St. Louis.
Gateway Studios Hopes to Reestablish the Music Industry in St. Louis
The music industry’s future can be found in Chesterfield. Gateway Studios is currently under construction, but when it opens, it will be one of the largest studio rehearsal spaces in the country. In an interview with HEC, CEO and St. Louis native Trey Kerr takes us on a tour of the place where he hopes “innovation and ideas come together to make rock and roll history.”
Meet Helen Chopra, chef, owner, and resident “maaji,” or mother, a self-taught cook and entrepreneur who has gradually expanded her business — Maaji’s Street Kitchen — to nourish the community.
