California has its ‘Silicon Valley” and St. Louis is developing its “Silicon Prairie,” according to Mayor Tishaura Jones.
Jones, and Congresswoman Cori Bush joined U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce Alejandra Y. Castillo and a host of elected officials and economic development partners to celebrate the region winning a $25 million federal Build Back Better Regional Challenge grant.
The grant will fund the first phase of the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Center [AMICSTL] in North St. Louis, adjacent to Ranken Technical College.
Castillo was part of a bus tour that made stops at the under-construction Next NGA West campus and the site next to Ranken Technical College where AMICSTL will be built.
Those locations will join BioSTL at Cortex Innovation Community to form geographic points of a “Tech Triangle,” or as Jones has tagged it, “The Silicon Prairie.”
The Greater St. Louis, Inc. proposal was one of 21 selected to receive a grant, less than 4% of the original applicant pool of 529. In addition to the $25 million federal grant, $16.3 million in local matching funds will go toward the effort, bringing the total investment in the metro area to $41.3 million.
“This will resonate across generations; past, present and future,” said Jones.
“We are investing in neighborhoods long left behind. As we build, [the city initiative] Project Connect will make sure those who stayed dedicated to their neighborhoods will not be pushed out.”
Project Connect will assist with neighborhood revitalization, transportation, and other re-development efforts and the City’s investments to support NGA and AMICSTL in six St. Louis neighborhoods; St. Louis Place, Old North St. Louis, Jeff Vander Lou, Carr Square, Columbus Square, and Hyde Park.
“From day one, AMICSTL was always going to be in North city,” said Rodney Crim, St. Louis Development Corp., executive director.
The development stages of AMICSTL were well underway before the Grant Challenge was announced by the Biden Administration.
“We wanted to have a plan ready when the opportunity came. Once we learned of the grant challenge, we came together and decided ‘let’s go for this.’ Each quarter we asked ourselves, ‘How do we make it more attractive and inclusive?”
Castillo said there was not just a mandate for any proposal for the grant. Applicants had to prove different partners were working together.
“There was one requirement, [proving] strength of coalition. All partners had to be at the table, figuring it out,” she said during a roundtable discussion at Greater St. Louis Inc., following the bus tour.
“It was essential to work together for the common goal.”
Castillo added “This is where it starts.”
“The real work is implementation. This is just an investment. It can’t be a one-off thing if you really want to build neighborhoods,” she said.
Castillo has visited several other cities that landed grants, and said, “Equity was at the core of all applications.”
“One thought that has been at the top of [applicants’] minds have been the words ‘we’ve been forgotten.’”
Congresswoman Cori Bush said it was “a special day,” because the grant “will stimulate the local economy and make economic development inclusive.”
“This will deliver lifesaving change for our community. This is exactly the type of collaboration that will do the most for the city of St. Louis.”
Collaboration was key to winning the grant, according to Jason Hall, Greater St. Louis Inc., CEO.
“It continues our positive momentum and demonstrates the power of what happens when we speak with one voice and work together as one metro,” he said.
Hall’s organization filed the formal applicant on behalf of the St. Louis metro. It was coordinated and spearheaded with the public-sector St. Louis Economic Development Partnership.
Hall said it was important to show Castillo “the impact of the federal government’s investment and to highlight our efforts to work as one metro to make St. Louis a national center for advanced manufacturing.”
St. Louis Build Back Better partners include Ranken Technical College, Rung for Women, Southwestern Illinois College, St. Louis Community College, BioSTL, Harris-Stowe State University, WEPOWER, Small Business Empowerment Center, Boeing, St. Louis Community College, and the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients Innovation Center at Cortex.
Also backing the effort are Cortex, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, East Central College, Economic Development Council of St. Charles County, Entrepreneur Startup Business Development Corporation [Arch Grants], Gateway Global American Youth and Business Alliance, Jefferson College, Lewis and Clark Community College, Missouri AFL-CIO, St. Louis County, Saint Louis Public Schools, St. Charles Community College, St. Clair County, Illinois, St. Louis Building and Construction Trades Council, St. Louis Development Corporation, St. Louis Makes, and Technology Entrepreneur Center, Inc.
