A former aide to Missouri Gov. Mike Parson has joined the C-suite of St. Louis election technology company Knowink.
Downtown West-based Knowink, headquartered at 2111 Olive St., has hired Steele Shippy for its newly created role of chief growth officer. Shippy most recently was senior campaign consultant at Davenport, Iowa-based political and corporate consulting firm Victory Enterprises. Prior to that, he held political roles that included serving as communications director for Parson and campaign manager for Parson’s 2020 re-election campaign. He’s also served as deputy chief of staff for Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and chief staff for former Missouri Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz.
“Steele combines excellent communication skills with a deep knowledge of government and public policy,” Knowink founder and CEO Scott Leiendecker said in a statement. “His extensive experience and proven track record are ideal to play a pivotal role helping Knowink continue to be the nation's leading provider of secure and innovative election solutions.”
Launched in 2011 by Leiendecker, a former elections official for the city of St. Louis, Knowink is a provider of election technology used by over 1,500 voting authorities in 37 U.S. states. The company’s flagship product is Poll Pad, which allows election jurisdictions to replace the paper-based voter check-in and verification process with an electronic alternative. In addition to Poll Pad, Knowink has developed technology for monitoring elections, early voting, election reporting, managing election inventory equipment and printing election ballots.
“What’s exciting about Knowink is its consistent track record of innovation and the fact that it is a Missouri-based company, founded and operated by former election officials, that manufactures its best-in-class products all made in America,” Shippy said in a news release.
Shippy's role as chief growth officer comes as Knowink in recent years has charted rapid expansion and was named St. Louis' fastest-growing private company in 2020 after growing revenue from $10.2 million in 2017 to $53.7 million in 2019. The 165-person company declined to share more recent annual revenue figure.
