St. Louis Continues to Build Capacity to Help Geospatial Companies Meet Their Mission

St. Louis is Building for the Future of Geospatial Through:

• An expanding list of workforce & talent development organizations
• Connections to mission-critical innovation & growth opportunities
• Collaboration to advance geospatial science, innovation, and cross-sector solutions
• The GeoFutures Strategic Roadmap, which serves as a plan for sustained growth of the geospatial sector
• A community-led development plan in the neighborhoods NGA-St. Louis is building its new campus

ORLANDO, Fla. - After playing host to GEOINT Symposium for the second time in under two years in May 2023, the geospatial team from St. Louis will travel to Orlando, Florida, for GEOINT Symposium 2024 where they will show global geospatial leaders how St. Louis continues to build capacity to help geospatial companies meet their mission.

"Location matters when it comes to connecting with geospatial talent, innovation, and opportunities, and we have brought everything together in St. Louis to help geospatial companies big and small meet their mission," said Maggie Kost, Chief Business Attraction Officer for Greater St. Louis, Inc., which leads the GeoFutures Initiative. "We look forward to welcoming everyone back to GEOINT Symposium 2025 in St. Louis in May of next year to show them firsthand why St. Louis is the nation's center for geospatial excellence."

ST. LOUIS AT GEOINT SYMPOSIUM 2024

GEOINT attendees can visit the St. Louis team at the STLMadebooth (booth #531) inside the Gaylord Palms Conference Center in Orlando, Florida, where they can speak with subject matter experts on workforce development, business attraction, startup support, and the Taylor Geospatial Institute about the continued growth of St. Louis' geospatial sector and the opportunities available there.

St. Louis will also be heavily represented on stage at GEOINT Symposium, with several STLMade presenters and panelists featured, including:

GEOINT Symposium Main Stage (times listed are Eastern)

• Tara Mott, Esri Account Manager, USGIF St. Louis Area Working Group -- Sunday, May 5 at 9:00 a.m.
• Zekita Armstrong-Asuquo, Chair and CEO at Gateway Global -- Sunday, May 5 at 1:00 p.m.
• Robert Cardillo, Former NGA Director, Chairman of the Taylor Geospatial Engine -- Monday, May 6 at 9:00 a.m.
• VADM Robert Sharp, USN (Ret.), Former NGA Director and Research Fellow at UMSL Geospatial Collaborative -- Tuesday, May 7 at 9:00 a.m.
• Nadine Alameh, Executive Director at the Taylor Geospatial Institute -- Wednesday, May 8 at 9:45 a.m.

GEOINT Symposium Hub Stage Presenters from St. Louis

• Robert Cardillo, Former NGA Director, Chairman of the Taylor Geospatial Engine - Vista Hub, Tuesday, May 7 at 11:30 a.m. & Wednesday, May 8 at 1:00 p.m.
• Nathanael Bassett, Ph.D., Tearline Director at Technology Entrepreneur Center / T-REX -- Innovation Hub, Monday, May 6 at 1:35
• Jessie Bleile, UMSL Visiting Professor from National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency -- Innovation Hub, Tuesday, May 7 at 2:55 p.m.
• Brian Loggins, President at Reinventing Geospatial, Inc. -- Vista Hub, Tuesday, May 7 at 3:00 p.m.

BUILDING ADDITIONAL CAPACITY FOR GEOSPATIAL GROWTH

While at GEOINT Symposium 2024 in Orlando, the St. Louis geospatial ecosystem will showcase the capacities it is building to drive its ongoing growth and to help geospatial companies continue theirs.

Construction of the $1.75 billion state-of-the-art NGA-St. Louis headquarters just north of Downtown St. Louis is expected to wrap up in late 2025. The new facility will include unclassified space so NGA employees can collaborate with private sector businesses and academic institutions on solutions for the future.

Additionally, the St. Louis geospatial ecosystem has been hard at work, building capacity to help geospatial companies by:

• Building a talent pipeline to help them meet their mission today and tomorrow. Talent and workforce development organizations include Gateway Global, St. Louis Community College, Maryville University, University of Missouri-St. Louis Geospatial Collaborative, Lindenwood University, Rung for Women, Claim Academy, Launchcode, and the Global Center for Cybersecurity.
• Connecting them with mission-critical innovation and growth opportunities. Opportunities with federal partners include NGA-St. Louis, USTRANSCOM, Scott AFB, Air Mobility Command, Army Corps of Engineers. St. Louis is also home to innovation districts, including Downtown North Insight District (with 75,000 SF of multi-tenant SCIF space), Cortex Innovation District, 39 North AgTech Innovation District, and Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Center-St. Louis.
• Collaborating to advance geospatial science, innovation, and solutions. Research institutions in St. Louis include the Taylor Geospatial Institute, Saint Louis University, Washington University in St. Louis, Harris-Stowe State University, UMSL, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, and the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center. Startup support organizations include the National Security Innovation Network, Cultivation Capital, Arch Grants, Capital Innovators, T-REX, the Missouri Technology Corporation, NGA's Moonshot Labs, Venture-Ready Missouri, and TechSTL. Business and civic partners include Greater St. Louis, Inc. and its GeoFutures Initiative, St. Louis Development Corporation, and the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership.
• Coming together as one community to advance the GEOINT mission. TheSt. Louis geospatial community has come together behind a unified plan for growth: the GeoFutures Strategic Roadmap. Furthermore, the business and civic communities work together to strengthen cross-sector collaboration, resulting in geospatial alignments with national security, transportation and logistics, digital/precision agriculture, and health care delivery and research.
• Developing opportunities for growth. The City of St. Louis, with the support of the GeoFutures Initiative and the larger geospatial community, has established Project Connect: a community-led plan for redevelopment in the neighborhoods where NGA-St. Louis is under construction. Project Connect offers commercial development opportunities near NGA and Downtown St. Louis and new amenities under development to serve the area, including the Brickline Greenway and the Metrolink Green Line.
• Growing St. Louis into a world-class city and geospatial destination. St. Louis is a vibrant, affordable, and livable city with world-class food, music, arts, and entertainment; great parks and recreation, bike, pedestrian, and outdoor activities; professional sports teams like the Cardinals (MLB), Blues (NHL), CITY SC (MLS), and Battlehawks (UFL); and enjoys among the lowest cost of living among top U.S. metro areas.

"At the end of the day, we want to make sure that everyone at GEOINT Symposium knows that St. Louis is a thriving geospatial community where business, government, academia, and the community are all working together to make our city the global center for geospatial technology," added Kost. "And that St. Louis is truly a place where anyone can start up, stand out, and stay."

For more information about GeoFutures, visit our: Website | Twitter | Linkedin

Media Contact: Tony Wyche | 314-398-9991 | [email protected]