The launch of a new organization focused on boosting the region’s technology industry will establish St. Louis’ first “tech council.”
The new entity, TechSTL, is designed to provide the 16-county bistate metropolitan area with a forum to facilitate advancement of St. Louis' technology sector through efforts focused on business attraction and development, data collection, and public and government relations. Created through a federal grant, TechSTL will operate with a membership-based structure and says its ultimate goal is to position St. Louis as the “most diverse high-tech innovation hub in the country.”
The establishment of TechSTL stems from a $474,020 grant awarded in 2021 by the U.S. Economic Development Administration to St. Louis Development Corp. for the launch of the new organization. In addition to SLDC, other local key organizations involved in TechSTL’s launch include the Innovation, Technology & Entrepreneur Network (ITEN), Lindenwood University, Greater St. Louis Inc. and T-REX.
TechSTL is led by Executive Director Emily Breedlove, who said the newly formed organization is designed to promote St. Louis' advantages in the technology sector while also bringing together a wide range of stakeholders to seek out regional growth.
“That’s our biggest goal out of all of this: playing to our strengths and really elevating the assets and opportunity that are here in St. Louis and using this as the mechanism to open up new opportunities around upward mobility and advancing our emerging technology clusters,” said Breedlove.
TechSTL describes itself as “tech council,” mirroring similar organizations that operate under the same title in other cities, including those nearby like Kansas City, Chicago and Nashville. Given that nearly all companies and organizations today operate with technology components, Breedlove said tech councils have the ability to create “connective tissue” across a region.
“The tech councils end up being a mechanism that can solve these really big complex issues, because it’s one of the few organizations that has such dynamic representation across the community and that is able to get this 30,000-foot view about how we drive innovation by connecting dots that may not have any other chance to get connected," she said. “It ends up being this really unique model not only for tackling complex issues, but it also helps the city to be more nimble.”
The leadership of TechSTL says the organization serves a much-anticipated role in the city’s technology and entrepreneurship fields.
“As the region's technology ecosystem has matured we have needed an organization to help identify and fill the gaps in the areas of capital, talent attraction and retention, data collection, and public relations. I am confident that the next decade will highlight continued success as well as a more inclusive environment for both entrepreneurs and talent,” said Brian Matthews, board president of TechSTL and co-founder and managing partner of St. Louis-based venture capital firm Cultivation Capital.
In addition to Matthews, TechSTL board members include Mary Louise Helbig, former executive director of ITEN; Tony Bryan, executive director of workforce nonprofit CyberUp; Lance Knuckles, deputy executive director of strategic growth & development at SLDC; Christopher Kontes, co-founder and chief operating officer of software startup Balto; and Stacy Gee Hollins, dean of the Anheuser-Busch School of Business at Harris-Stowe State University. In addition to its board, TechSTL has created a steering committee that includes more than 150 regional participants to help shape its strategic vision.
TechSTL will launch its membership-based tech council format in April. It plans to operate with a four-tier structure that includes its board of directors; an advisory council; four subcommittee focused on education, workforce, innovation and growth; as well as two subcommittees.
While TechSTL has a membership model, Breedlove said it also will have a limited number of positions available for select community stakeholders. It will award those spots based on equitable and diverse representation, she said.
TechSTL has been created through St. Louis Development Corp., but plans to become its own self-sustaining organization. Breedlove said it is working to become a 501(c)(6) organization, a nonprofit status used by chambers of commerce and trade associations.
TechSTL on Thursday is hosting a launch party at downtown entrepreneurship center T-REX. Organizers said the event is sold out, with more than 250 attendees expected. Additionally, the new organization has created a new monthly program called Emerge, which aims to spotlight different local technology fields.
