St. Louis Economic Development Partnership

Rodney Crim, CEO and President

Adopted Fy23 Budget

$4,486,000

Department Mission

Full Time Equivalents

St. Louis Economic Development Partnership (SLEDP) is the regional economic development organization which attracts, retains, and facilitates growth of businesses in St. Louis County and City. The Partnership works with economic development partners to help companies of all sizes thrive in the St. Louis region. The Partnership serves as a convener and partner on strategic regional economic development initiatives.

Budget Overview

The 2023 adopted budget for the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership is $4,486,000. This budget includes $146,000 in funding for a 4% merit raise program for SLEDP employees. SLEDP continues to effectively manage the organization’s costs while also continuing to deliver services that increase business investment and jobs, assist small businesses, and increase innovation. Additionally, the Partnership works collaboratively with partners within the region to attract resources and provide comprehensive economic development opportunities within St. Louis County.

In 2022, the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership facilitated and partnered with other organizations to address illegal dumping in Kinloch and Wellston. Addressing these issues and participating in planning efforts is helping prepare these cities as well as others for economic development opportunities. SLEDP has assisted projects in St. Louis County areas to create economic development opportunities, including Jamestown Mall and environmental remediation projects.

The St. Louis Economic Development Partnership has been active in 2022 in partnering with other organizations to develop comprehensive proposals to go after federal grant opportunities that will benefit St. Louis County and the St. Louis region. This has resulted in more small business lending capacity, improvements to our owned and managed business incubators in four geographic areas and the 39 North AgTech Innovation District of St. Louis County. The Partnership is addressing infrastructure improvements to generate safe streets and economic development opportunities. SLEDP participated on the core team that established an agreement with Lufthansa to provide direct nonstop service to Europe. The inaugural flight on June 1, 2022, ended a 20‐year history of no direct flights from St. Louis to Europe by a mainline carrier. The economic benefits of these direct flights to Europe include retaining our existing companies and attracting new companies, employees, visitors, and investments that are estimated to generate $50‐$100 million to the regional economy.

From local communities to the international markets, The St. Louis Economic Development Partnership is stimulating economic development.

Core Business Functions

St. Louis Economic Development Partnership is responsible for the management of:

→ Attracting, retaining, and growing businesses and jobs and increasing capital investment

→ Advancing community investment, the St. Louis Promise Zone, and redevelopment of strategic real estate assets

→ Supporting startups and the entrepreneurial communities and facilitating access to resources

→ Accelerating growth of the region’s foreign‐born populations through the Mosaic Project

→ Increasing foreign trade and investment

→ Facilitating major economic development projects

Program Descriptions

Business Development & Business Lending

The Business Development (BD) division works effectively with economic development partners including St. Louis Development Corporation (SLDC), Greater St. Louis Inc., Missouri Partnership, and Missouri Department of Economic Development (MODED) to attract, retain, and grow businesses in St. Louis County and St. Louis City. In the first eight months of FY22, the BD division has announced projects that total $151.6 million in investment, bringing 604 new jobs to St. Louis and retaining 370 jobs. A few significant projects include:

 Alcatraz Trucking: 25 new jobs / 14 existing jobs retained / $4.7 million investment /company expanded its current headquarters by building a new HQ office building and service center site, / located in Green Park

 Business Retention project: 100 new jobs/ 750 existing jobs/ $40 M investment/ located in Creve Coeur

 Pfizer: 70 new jobs / Approximately 750 colleagues and contractors retained / $42.9 million investment / 37,000 sq feet new expansion for an approximate 12% increase in size of the current Research and Development Facility in Chesterfield, MO

 New Market Tax Credits: Heartland Regional Investment Fund received an allocation in 2021 of $50M / 4 current projects / leveraged investment $60M / 410 new jobs

The Business Lending division offers Small Business Administration (SBA) 504 loans, various commercial revolving loan funds, and industrial revenue bonds. These funds can be used for various items including working capital, equipment, and inventory in addition to purchasing real estate and equipment for both existing and new businesses.

The amount funded in St. Louis County and City to date for fiscal year 2022 was $4,204,000 in SBA loans, $3,143,700 in Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) loans, and $12,221,000 in Industrial Development Authority (IDA) bonds, totaling $19,568,700 across all programs through 24 total loans, a strong increase of loans when compared to prior years. A few highlighted loans include:

 Integrity Web Consulting, Inc. – Integrity Web Consulting is a web design firm that works with clients all around the world ranging from large firms to start‐ups. Integrity utilized an SBA 504 loan to purchase the top two floors of the historic Tivoli Theatre in the Delmar Loop, which supported the creation of an additional 10 jobs at the firm.

 Flex Training & Conditioning – Flex Training & Conditioning is a fitness, wellness, and training company that has been expanding from training at other’s gyms to needing their own location to manage an expanding client base. The business utilized a U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) loan in order to purchase equipment and utilize working capital to expand to their first physical location in Earth City, MO.

 Steve Schmitt Kia – Having purchased the Kia dealership located in Florissant in February 2019, the Steve Schmitt family of car dealerships, which has been operating in Illinois since 1969, expanded to their first location in Missouri. Utilizing an SBA 504 loan, they purchased the property they were leasing, which improved their cash flow, which resulted in an expansion of car service operations and creation 14 new jobs.

Community Investment and Real Estate

The Community Investment and Real Estate (CI&RE) division manages the federally designated Promise Zone for St. Louis County and City. Promise Zone staff work alongside regional leaders to improve economic activity, health and wellness, educational outcomes, workforce readiness, and sustainable communities in economically distressed areas of North County and North City.

The team coordinates tools and resources for business and community development in North County and the Promise Zone including site selection, brownfield site assessment grants and the brownfield revolving loan fund, Promise Zone AmeriCorps Vista Program, community engagement, government relations, and workforce development.

A few significant highlights include:

 West Florissant Great Streets – worked with County Transportation on $18.2 million RAISE Grant to fund a significant portion of the West Florissant Great Streets (WFGS) project.

 Brownfield Program ‐ The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded LCRA $1.9 million to continue the cleanup of contaminated brownfield sites. The LCRA’s Brownfield Revolving Loan Fund Program has committed more than $1 million to brownfield cleanup projects, leveraging more than $24 million in investment. Projects include Heege Neighborhood Retail Center, Lemay riverfront, and former River Roads Mall in Jennings. Two sites currently undergoing cleanup efforts are 9844 and 9846 West Florissant Avenue in Dellwood, these will become the Urban League Plaza, a new 13,500 square foot multi‐use facility. This commercial center will serve as an incubator for new businesses, a home for established and committed partners, and a community service center for area families.

 Build Healthy Partners Network Grant ‐ Worked with Spanish Lake CDC to secure a $40,000 national planning and technical assistance grant focused on launching the STL County Northeast Corridor Investment Initiative (NECII). The NECII is a new community‐based initiative coordinating the development efforts of Spanish Lake, Glasgow Village, and Castle Point.

 Castle Point Cleanup ‐ Partnered with the Urban League, Regional Business Council, elected officials, St. Louis County Problem Property Unit, and other community partners to clean up and build up Castle Point. Over 100 volunteers cleaned and cleared 30 vacant lots in the neighborhood. The group worked to cut down overgrown greenery, remove debris, collect trash, and move eight cubic yards of mulch to the garden at the Community Empowerment Center.

The Real Estate Division helps manage four incubators, manages the MET Center workforce facility, as well as provides support staff to the LCRA and St. Louis County Port Authority.

Some division highlights include:

 Received a grant through Missouri Department of Conservation for illegally dumped tires clean‐up in the City of Kinloch.

 Received a CDBG grant for removal of uninhabitable residential housing in Lulu Heights in Wellston.

 Ongoing maintenance of LCRA properties.

 Working with the City of Wellston to establish a Mow to Own Program within the context of a land use plan.

 R&R project – Redevelopment of 10148 West Florissant Avenue ‐ Old Springwood Plaza Missouri Development Finance Board – LCRA applicant.

 Completion of Olive and Lindbergh interchange – Partnering with City of Creve Coeur and Missouri Department of Transportation.

 Partnering with Great Rivers Greenway on Greenways in the City of Wellston and City of Creve Coeur as part of the 39N District.

Defense/Advanced Manufacturing Initiatives

The St. Louis Economic Development Partnership coordinates and facilitates the Regional Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (RAMP) group. Initiated as a grant‐funded project of the Office of Economic Adjustment (OEA) of the U.S. Department of Defense, the RAMP group convenes a broad spectrum of regional leaders to focus attention on creating a regional ecosystem for advanced manufacturing. The Partnership, in collaboration with Greater St. Louis Inc., Boeing and other key stakeholders is in the process of establishing the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Center (AMICSTL) to create a more diversified and resilient advanced manufacturing sector to ensure long‐term regional economic vitality while also leveraging existing robust regional aerospace and automotive manufacturing sectors and expertise. AMICSTL will ensure a more resilient regional defense sector supply chain. In August 2022, The Boeing Company made a $5 million grant to support the AMICSTL, and in September 2022, the Partnership, in conjunction with Greater St. Louis, Inc. won a national competition (Economic Development Administration’s Build Back Better Regional Challenge). Out of 529 original applicants, St. Louis was one of 21 regions to receive funding. Various organizations within the region were awarded grants totaling $25 million that will be used to assist regional AMIC projects. Over the next four years AMIC will connect to our established sectors including aerospace, automotive, bioscience, AgTech and other emerging sectors.

Major Projects & 39 North (39N)

The Major Projects/39 North division was established to manage the 39 North Master Plan, which was funded by a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce. The plan created a vision for an innovation district in St. Louis County that is uniquely positioned to advance the region’s global leadership in plant and life sciences. The district is geared toward lifestyle preferences often sought by highly skilled employees, including mixed retail, residential, and office space connected by walking and biking trails and green space.

The 600‐acre innovation district is anchored by the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, BRDG Park, the Helix Incubator, Bayer Crop Science, and the Yield Lab. The 39 North Master Plan has five transformative goals: strengthen corridors and establish new traffic patterns; connect assets and opportunity sites; establish a cohesive development framework; create a mixed‐use center of activity; and communicate the district.

To date, $10.4 million of a mix of federal, state, and local transportation dollars have been secured to plan and build the priority infrastructure projects, and for marketing efforts to communicate about the district.

The Olive/Lindbergh interchange expected completion date is July 2022. SLEDP is partnering with the City of Creve Coeur, Green River Greenways, the Danforth Plant Science Center, and other partners on the Old Olive Great Streets Project and the 39N Greenway.

St. Louis Mosaic Project

The St. Louis Mosaic Project is a regional initiative that aims to be a cultural mosaic to help immigrants integrate into the region. Mosaic’s mission is to amplify the many ways that St. Louis is welcoming to foreign‐born individuals who re‐locate here for employment, educational, or other opportunities. Mosaic’s current goals are to continue to transform St. Louis into the fastest‐growing major U.S. metro area for immigration by 2025 and add 25,000 foreign‐born people to the region by the year 2025 against the base in 2016. With lowered immigration and refugee opportunities in the prior federal administration coupled with travel restrictions due to COVID‐19, the past year saw few arrivals. The new federal administration took office in January 2021 and immigration policies have been slow to open and remove backlogs. We anticipate at least 1,000 arrivals in 2022 through Afghan refugees as well as an additional 1,000 international students for a total of 2,000.

The Mosaic Project’s programs include: 910 Mosaic Ambassadors; 108 Mosaic Ambassador schools; 49 Mosaic Ambassador companies; Professional Connector, which to‐date has assisted close to 360 work‐authorized, foreign‐born individuals in St. Louis find employment or make a career change; Global Talent Hiring to assist career advisors at 17 area universities in preparing international students with interview and career skills; International Spouse Meet‐Up Group, which connects more than 675+ international spouses as well as the International Mentoring Program which connects 195 local women with 195 international women, mostly from the region's largest companies and universities; entrepreneur support assisting 100+ immigrant entrepreneurs to‐date, connecting to the region’s ecosystem of financial and business support; assists in getting business grants and economic assistance to immigrant and ethnic businesses through the various ethnic chambers; helping Afghan and Ukrainian newcomers with job networking plus connections to resources and working with St. Louis County and a group of immigrant leaders for language access for COVID‐19 vaccinations, transit access information, safe family living, and other key information.

World Trade Center St. Louis (WTC)

For more than 25 years, as the international division of the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, World Trade Center St. Louis (WTC) has supported growth for the region’s businesses as well as ensuring St. Louis companies are represented in an increasingly global marketplace. From customized market research to trade training, hosting inbound and outbound delegations, and managing St. Louis’ Foreign Trade Zone, Mosaic Project, Sister Cities organizations, and EB‐5 Regional Center, WTC brings together a strong system of business and government agencies to support trade and investment and enhance St. Louis’ global connectivity.

WTC trade and investment goals include increasing the number of exporting companies by 10% by 2025 and adding 5,000 regional jobs tied to foreign investment by 2025. WTC leads ecosystem support between local companies and partners to facilitate export growth while also expanding the St. Louis region’s economic base by attracting and retaining global investment.

St. Louis connects to the world with new non‐stop flights to Frankfurt, Germany. Regional collaboration, led by SLEDP, Greater St. Louis Inc., St. Louis Lambert International Airport and World Trade Center St. Louis reached an agreement with Lufthansa. WTC organized a trade mission of 32 local civic, economic development and business leaders to Germany on the inaugural Lufthansa June 1, 2022 flight.

Additional accomplishments include hosting 17 trade and foreign investment seminars with more than 650 attendees. WTCSTL and partners facilitated 65 business retention and expansion meetings with a strong focus on developing access to new international markets and supporting foreign‐owned companies with local operations.

Strategic Initiatives

The Strategic Initiatives division worked with our regional partners to create and manage a five‐year St. Louis County‐City Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS). The division will begin updating the previous CEDS in the near future. The division also helps identify and facilitate grant opportunities and led the efforts to reaccredit the Partnership with the Accredited Economic Development Organization (AEDO), an international accreditation certification of the International Economic Development Council. This division also led the effort to update the Partnership’s five‐year strategic plan for the organization, resulting in a new focus on increasing services to small businesses and planning‐related support to municipalities and unincorporated St. Louis County.

Strategic Priorities And Performance Metrics

 Grow/retain jobs and increase capital investment (O ‐ Family‐Sustaining Jobs)

 Support startups and the entrepreneurial community (O ‐ Family‐Sustaining Jobs)

 Advance community investment and redevelopment of strategic real estate assets (O ‐ Family‐Sustaining Jobs)

 Accelerate growth of the region’s foreign‐born populations (O ‐ Family‐Sustaining Jobs)

 Increase foreign trade and investment (O ‐ Family‐Sustaining Jobs)