A coalition of St. Louis economic development and agriculture organizations have teamed up to create a new nonprofit entity to lead the 39 North innovation district in St. Louis County, hiring the former leader of startup funder Arch Grants to oversee its operations.
The Creve Coeur agriculture-focused innovation district will be managed by the newly formed 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, 39 North Agriculture Innovation District. Emily Lohse-Busch, formerly Arch Grants’ executive director from 2017 to 2022, will be the nonprofit’s executive director.
39 North is a 600-acre innovation district that includes the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, BRDG Park, Helix Center Biotech Incubator and Bayer Crop Science. It launched publicly in December 2016 after the U.S. Department of Commerce in 2015 provided the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership a $500,000 grant to create a master plan for the innovation hub.
Officials said the creation of a stand-alone entity to manage 39 North will help the innovation district pursue growth and develop a higher profile, offering the ability to bolster functions around programming, community building and real estate. To date, operations of 39 North have largely been staffed by employees of the Partnership and Danforth Center, and have included collaboration with the city of Creve Coeur on infrastructure projects.
“While we as a group of collaborators have done a great job getting those things started and creating good momentum, we’ve come to a point where 39 North needs to be a formal entity with its own leadership and staff and its own board, its own budget and its own mission,” said Stephanie Regagnon, the Danforth Center’s executive director of innovation partnerships.
Rodney Crim, CEO and president of the Partnership, said the creation of the new nonprofit is a logical next step that will help to build off the initial efforts to form the innovation hub.
“It’s a great example for the region of people working together, organizations working together to grow something organically and now put some form around it with a 501(c)(3) and dedicated staff,” he said.
Seven local “anchor” organizations have come together to create the new nonprofit that will manage 39 North. They include the Partnership, economic development group Greater St. Louis Inc., city of Creve Coeur, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, agriculture technology firm CoverCress Inc., food technology company Benson Hill (NYSE: BHIL) and Bayer Crop Science. Each organization is providing financial commitments to 39 North, though amounts were not disclosed. Mike DeCamp, CEO of CoverCress, will be the nonprofit’s board chair.
The creation of the nonprofit entity stems from a task force created in 2022 that focused on 39 North’s governance structure and growth strategy. Officials said the task force determined a critical component to an innovation district’s impact is having anchor institutions that support its mission. Lohse-Busch said she began as a consultant to that process before being asked to lead the newly formed entity.
“As people started to talk about their ambitions for it, I started to dream with them. I started to really see that path forward and then when they came back and said, ‘Would consider being our first executive director,' I couldn’t imagine walking away,” she said. “I enthusiastically said yes.”
Lohse-Busch said key to her role as executive director, which she begins in May, will be establishing and overseeing a strategic vision for 39 North. Other initial priorities will include getting to know the companies within the district and engaging with potential partners, she said. She will begin as the sole employee of 39 North Agriculture Innovation District.
While the entity Lohse-Busch will lead is newly formed, she said it is “starting with this unbelievable head start,” referencing previous efforts to establish 39 North as well as the assets within the district. Officials said they believe 39 North’s existing facilities, workforce and companies position it as a global leader for agriculture innovation.
DeCamp said CoverCress, as well as other companies like Benson Hill, are proof of the district’s impact. He said CoverCress, founded by former Monsanto employees, got its start in 39 North’s footprint thanks to available laboratory facilities and affordable office space. CoverCress in August 2022 had a majority stake acquired by Bayer AG.
“All the resources we’ve had available at CoverCress that have helped us be successful, they wouldn’t exist without this concept of 39 North,” DeCamp said. “What excites me about where we are is taking it to the next step.”
