After suspending operations, Venture Cafe plans to hire local staff to restart its weekly events

The return of Venture Cafe St. Louis’ popular programming appears to be inching closer.

The startup events and networking organization is currently hiring for a local staff it says will be a catalyst for once again staging its well-known weekly gatherings, which have been paused in recent months amid a leadership change at Venture Cafe St. Louis.

In September, the Venture Cafe Global Institute (VCGI), based in the Boston area, assumed operational oversight of Venture Cafe St. Louis’ weekly Thursday Gathering from the nonprofit board of Venture Cafe St. Louis. That shift has resulted in what VGCI has said is a “temporary suspension” of the weekly events.

A staple of the local startup ecosystem, Venture Cafe St. Louis provides programming and networking for entrepreneurs. That includes its weekly Thursday Gathering, which was held in the Cortex district prior to the arrival of Covid-19 and shifted online during the pandemic.

Venture Cafe St. Louis is currently hiring for three local roles: director, program experience coordinator and events experience coordinator. Job descriptions for each position say the employees' roles will be focused on staging Venture Cafe St. Louis’ Thursday Gathering. A spokeswoman said Venture Cafe St. Louis plans to have its local staff hired by the end of the year, with plans to relaunch its in-person programming soon after it onboards its new employees.

Venture Cafe St. Louis previously was led by executive director Tyler Mathews, who resigned his position in September. Mathews has since joined Pappos Management USA as its executive vice president. Pappos operates PaPPo's Pizzeria & Pub, which has several locations in Missouri and Illinois.

The new staff for Venture Cafe St. Louis will mark the latest change at the organization, which had to navigate the impact of the pandemic on its operations. In March 2020, Venture Cafe made a call for donations, saying cancellations of events would create significant revenue loss and put it at risk of shuttering. A week later, it said a private donor and a pair of local firms stepped forward to provide financial assistance. Meanwhile, Venture Café moved to a digital format to continue operating its weekly gatherings. In July, it hosted an in-person event as part of its newly launched “Founder Tour” series. However, a second installment of the series scheduled for Aug. 26 was cancelled a few days beforehand.

Venture Cafe St. Louis reported total revenue of $860,944 and total expenses of $1.2 million for the year ended Dec. 31, 2019, according to its most recent IRS filing. That compares with total revenue of $2 million and total expenses of $848,712 for 2018.

Venture Cafe began as an idea within the Cambridge Innovation Center in Massachusetts and now is its own enterprise, according to VCGI's website. VCGI is part of the Venture Cafe network and focuses on launching and supporting local Venture Cafe organizations across the globe.