From The St. Louis Business Journal. Friday, August 29, 2008
$60 million in data centers coming online at Emerson by Greg Edwards
Emerson will spend more than $60 million to build a state-of-the-art data center in St. Louis and a backup center in Iowa, the first phase of a plan to consolidate its 100 computer centers around the world into four.
The goal is to increase efficiency, improve productivity and strengthen network security.
“The key component is a power supply that cannot be interrupted — no spikes or outages,” Steve Hassell, Emerson’s chief information officer, said in an interview Aug. 27 with the Business Journal.
The primary center in St. Louis will be 35,000 square feet of new construction at Emerson’s headquarters in Ferguson and is expected to be competed in July 2009. The backup center in Marshalltown, Iowa, will be about the same size but involves refurbishing and expanding an existing Emerson building. It is expected to be completed by March 2009. Construction is under way at both sites.
“You try to make them as close to mirrors as possible,” Hassell said. “If you have a disaster, you want to be able to shift to the backup center without a large disruption.”
Fox Architects is the lead designer of the project. Musick Construction Co. is the general contractor, and Guarantee Electric Co. is the electrical contractor. Henges Interiors, Hammert’s Iron Works, Vee Jay Cement Contracting and Roy Gittemeir Contractors are also working on the St. Louis center.
While the St. Louis center will run the production servers that support Emerson’s daily operations, the Iowa center will be used for development and testing, unless it is needed to back up St. Louis.
“In the event of a disaster, all of those Marshalltown servers would stop development and testing, and we would use them to run the business,” Hassell said.
The other two data centers planned as part of the project will be in Singapore and somewhere in Western Europe and will come online over the next five years, Hassell said. Their cost has not been determined, but presumably they will be smaller and located in leased facilities.
Since Emerson’s primary business is to manufacture and market electrical, electromechanical and electronic products and systems, the new centers will be filled with its own machinery.
“It’s going to be a showcase for our products,” Hassell said. “We will incorporate Emerson’s full suite of products and solutions,” including energy-saving features such as solar panels that will provide power.
“Data centers are one of the largest energy consumers,” he said. “For example, the electricity used at the 35,000-square-foot center in St. Louis will be the equivalent of all of the other 1 million square feet of office space we have here.”
But because of design efficiencies, the St. Louis center will use 17.5 percent less electricity than a traditional data center, he said. That's about $100,000 in annual savings.
Emerson, with $22 billion in annual revenue, has 140,000 employees worldwide, including 43,000 in the U.S. and Canada and 2,400 in St. Louis. It has 265 manufacturing facilities.
“Emerson’s new data center not only enhances its global business operations, but it also contributes to the economic growth we’re experiencing in St. Louis,” said St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley.
Hassell noted that St. Louis is becoming a bit of a hub for large-company data centers. MasterCard, Scottrade and Monsanto also built data centers here in the past two years. “St. Louis has the infrastructure in telecommunications and affordable energy.”
From The South County Journal. Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Affton food plant expansion a delicious prospect
Willy Wonka doesn’t live there anymore, but delicious things still continue to come from his former factory in Affton.
Kerry Inc., a global producer of food flavorings based in Ireland, is expanding its manufacturing plant in the 8000-8100 blocks of New Hampshire Avenue. The site is the former home of Nestle USA, which produced Willy Wonka, Sweet Tarts and other candies.
Nestle closed the plant in 2003 which resulted in more than 300 employees losing their jobs.
Kerry manufactures flavoring components for such companies as Dreyer’s Ice Cream, Kelloggs and Nestle.
Kerry purchased the site and originally proposed a $10 million investment, which would mean about 40 new jobs.
In 2007, the St. Louis County Council approved issuing $18 million in industrial development revenue bonds to help the Irish company purchase the former Willy Wonka building. The deal included a 50 percent abatement on real estate and personal property for 10 years. The company also gets a sales tax exemption on building materials for the project.
The company is now carrying out equipment retro-fitting operations in the existing building and also constructing a 55,000 square-foot refrigerated storage and dry storage facility, Tim Martin, human resources lead at Kerry, said.
Passers-by along Heege Road and New Hampshire Avenue are seeing a combination of work to install the footings for the new building and sewer and stormwater work required by the Metropolitan Sewer District, Martin said.
Martin said the facility will see $55 million in facility upgrades and new equipment purchases, which will also bring the creation of just over 200 new warehousing and food manufacturing jobs.
St. Louis County Economic Council President and Chief Executive Officer Denny Coleman, said “it’s been a great project for the Affton community from the very beginning.”
“And it just continues to get better,” Coleman said. “We’ve gone from an initial plan to invest $10 million in the site to now nearly $55 million, and from 40 jobs to 200 jobs. Kerry feels very good about this site and the location and their ability to grow here, and that’s great for the whole county in addition to the Affton community.”
The Economic Council estimates Kerry’s expansion and investment, along with the additional new jobs, will generate a total economic impact of $230 million to the St. Louis County area.
According to the incentive plan from the county, revenues from the bond sales help finance the costs of purchasing, constructing and equipping the plant. The bonds would be payable solely from payments, revenues and receipts from the leasing the facility from St. Louis County to Kerry, Coleman said.
Under the Chapter 100 regulations, the county owns the facility in name only and Kerry leases it from them; the bonds sold and the interest on them are not a debt of the county or the state, and neither will be financially liable for them, Coleman said.
“They have complete control and complete responsibility,” Coleman said. “There is no fiscal responsibility on the part of the county. It’s de facto controlled by the company, but the way the Chapter 100 incentives are provided is by county ownership.”
Kerry makes payments in lieu of taxes (PILOTS) equal to 50 percent of the property assessed value for 10 years. The Affton School District and the Affton Fire Protection District will continue to receive tax revenues during the 10 year period, Coleman said.
“That’s the beauty of the 50 percent,” Coleman said. “Obviously the company is getting 50 percent benefit, but so are the local taxing jurisdictions. So, when you turn a facility like this from a vacant facility into a very productive facility everybody benefits. That’s a nice increase over what just a vacant building would bring.”
From The St. Louis Business Journal. Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Saint Louis Business Development Fund names O’Donnell CIO
The Saint Louis Business Development Fund said Wednesday it named James O’Donnell III chief investment officer.
He succeeds Tom Houghton, who served as CIO for three years.
O’Donnell, who will part-time, is now responsible for evaluating the management and operations of applicant companies.
He served as chairman and chief executive of Capital for Business for 20 years before taking his current position as senior partner of O’Donnell Capital Co., a private equity and advisory firm he founded in 2007.
The Saint Louis Business Development Fund, which is managed by the St. Louis County Economic Council, invests in growing companies.
From The St. Louis Business Journal. Monday, August 25, 2008
Fiorello tapped to lead biopark at Danforth Plant Science Center
The Bio-Research & Development Growth Park at the Danforth Plant Science Center said Monday it appointed Sam Fiorello as its first president.
Fiorello will continue to serve as chief operating officer and senior vice president for administration and finance at the center.
The new biopark campus will provide scientific and business resources to plant and life sciences companies and is located across the street from Monsanto’s headquarters. It is scheduled to open the first of three buildings in April 2009 with a new 118,000-square-foot multi-tenant, wet laboratory and office facility.
Fiorello joined the center nine years ago after serving as chief of staff for Monsanto’s president.
Prior to that, he was a senior trade and investment policy analyst with Walker/Free Associates in Washington, DC.
Developed by Wexford Science + Technology, the park is focused on nurturing the commercial success of new companies in the plant and life sciences industries.
The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center is a non-profit research institute with a mission to improve the human condition through plant science.
Wexford Science + Technology is a Maryland-based, privately held real estate developer and investment company.
From The St. Louis Business Journal. Monday, August 25, 2008
Clayco, McEagle create Berkeley football field
Berkeley youth will have a new football field at Independence Park this fall thanks to a public-private partnership between Berkeley Mayor Kyra Watson and a joint venture of Clayco and McEagle Properties.
Watson, Berkeley-North (St. Louis) County Athletic Association President Alesia Harris and association Vice President and Coach Calvin Wilburn, asked Clayco, McEagle and Paric Corp. to convert a patch of grass at the city-owned park into a youth football field.
The four companies worked with Ameren UE to provide electrical service to the scoreboard, donated two sets of bleachers, NFL demountable goal posts and padding, field markers and maintenance equipment. Aalco Wrecking Co. donated the scoreboard. The companies donated the time and equipment at no cost to the city or association.
The association this year is fielding six age-specific football teams, each with 18 to 22 players and about 40 cheerleaders.
McEagle is a real estate development, property management and brokerage firm.
Clayco is a privately owned real estate, architecture and engineering, design/build and construction firms with 2007 revenue of $871 million.
Paric, one of the largest privately held companies in the St. Louis area, is a general contractor, construction manager and design-build firm with 2007 revenue of $250 million.
From The St. Louis Business Journal. Monday, August 18, 2008
Danforth Center plans 10th anniversary event
The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center will commemorate its 10th anniversary with a public event celebrating science in St. Louis and the center's international culture.
The event is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 28, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the center. There is no admission charge for the event.
"In celebrating our 10th birthday, we are reaffirming our commitment to our mission -- to improve the human condition through plant science -- and to our region," said Roger Beachy, president of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, in a statement. "We are delighted to open our facility to members of our community and celebrate our region as a world center for plant science."
The event will feature a ribbon cutting for the center's second greenhouse facility, a $5.25 million project that more than doubles the center's greenhouse capacity. Other activities will include a "duck derby" in the center's Kemper Reflecting Pool; science presentations and hands-on experiments; tours of the center's laboratories an greenhouses; a performance by a Saint Louis Symphony ensemble; and international dance and music groups.
The Monsanto Mobile Technology Unit, an 18-wheel mobile theater and lab, will be publicly open for the first time in St. Louis.
Among the organization's partnering with the Danforth Center on the event are the St. Louis Science Center , Missouri Botanical Garden , Mad Science and St. Louis County Library .
The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center is a not-for-profit research institute.
From The St. Louis Business Journal. Friday, August 15, 2008
Kerry Group investment: $55 million, 220 jobs By Christopher Tritto
When Irish food ingredient maker Kerry Group PLC bought a former Nestle candy plant in Affton in October 2006, company executives and St. Louis County officials touted the firm's plan to invest $10 million in the facility and create 40 new jobs.
Today the plan has grown fivefold. With $55 million in facility upgrades and new equipment purchases under way and a projected 220 jobs to be created, the Kerry deal has far exceeded original expectations.
To support the effort, the Missouri Development Finance Board, chaired by Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, approved a final resolution at its June 18 meeting that authorized $1,036,000 in Missouri BUILD tax credits to finance a portion of the costs of the Kerry project.
"This is a great home run," said Steve Anderson, vice president of business development for the St. Louis County Economic Council, which worked closely with state officials to bring Kerry here. "Any time you can attract manufacturing to St. Louis it is a major success."
It often takes several years to find a new user for a defunct manufacturing plant, get it up and running, and restore lost jobs, Anderson said. In this case, the Nestle plant had been closed only about six months before Kerry bought the property and put it back in use.
"When they first came in, it was really quite a godsend to be honest," Anderson said. "Local taxing jurisdictions will get more than $2 million with roughly $1 million of that going to Affton public schools. And Kerry has a very strong reputation working with communities, getting engaged and staying in place."
Kerry, headquartered in Tralee, Ireland, was formed in 1972 and has grown into a leading global manufacturer of food ingredients and flavors. The company supplies more than 10,000 products to customers in more than 140 countries and reported worldwide sales of about $7 billion in 2007.
It originally bought the 70,000-square-foot plant at 8021 New Hampshire Ave., near Tower Tee Golf Center in Affton, to bake and supply ingredients to cereal companies.
But by early 2007, Kerry broadened its plans for St. Louis when it decided to consolidate the operations of three of its sweet ingredients facilities located outside Missouri. It chose Affton as the home for the centralized operations. Its local projections grew to about $19 million in construction and development spending, and the number of jobs to be created nearly quadrupled to 150. This summer Kerry adjusted its investment upwards again to the current figures.
The Affton expansion is the latest investment Kerry has made in Missouri. In April 2006, Kerry bought St. Louis-based Custom Industries, a specialty food ingredient maker, from Royal Cosun of the Netherlands for an undisclosed amount. The purchase included production facilities in Ste. Genevieve, Mo., and Toronto, Ontario.
Neither Kerry's Affton Plant Manager Sebastian Fuentes nor Frank Hayes, the company's director of corporate affairs, responded to Business Journal requests for comment.
But Anderson said several selling points attracted Kerry to the Affton site. First, the Missouri BUILD tax credits provided incentive for Kerry's first $19 million in investment by lowering the company's real and personal property taxes by about 50 percent. Second, St. Louis' central Midwest location and proximity to some of Kerry's vendors made the site attractive. Finally, the facility was an existing food operations plant that needed only to be retrofitted rather than built from scratch. It would cost an estimated $120 million to construct the shell of this type of plant from the ground up, Anderson said, and with necessary equipment and improvements that price tag would likely rise to several hundred million dollars.
Jerry Fritz, president of dry-blended food mix and seasonings maker Precision Foods Inc. of Creve Coeur, buys some ingredients from Kerry and said that although Kerry has acquired many American companies over the past couple of decades, it rarely tends to consolidate operations as it decided to do in St. Louis.
"They are a huge company and a force to be reckoned with from a supplier standpoint," Fritz said. "The fact they are expanding whatever they have in Affton is a good sign they are investing and growing."
From the Council Of Developement Finance Agencies. Monday, August 11, 2008
CDFA Spotlight: The Diversity of Revolving Loan Funds - Four Successful Programs
Revolving loans funds (RLFs) are a gap financing measure primarily used for development and expansion of small businesses. A RLF is a self-replenishing pool of money, utilizing interest and principal payments on old loans to issue new ones. Because RLFs can take a variety of forms and pursue different goals, they represent an underused development finance tool. When properly established and administered, RLFs can be used to leverage significant private sector investment and be self-sustaining.
This article examines four programs that serve as excellent models of the role a RLF can play in economic development as part of a larger development finance toolkit. They also represent four different approaches, ranging from a regional fund to a county- and city-wide program down to a fund targeting a specific neighborhood in an urban setting.
For each program, a brief background history will be given followed by more specific analysis of components and features of the program, including goals, capitalization, loan standards/characteristics and measurements of success. While the four programs will have characteristics in common, there are also significant differences. RLFs can be tailored to fit the specific needs of the organization running it and the economic needs of the community it serves.
Introduction to RLFs
A RLF provides access to capital that can be used in combination with traditional lending sources for companies and projects that aren't able to obtain capital from conventional sources. Often the RLF fills a gap between the amount a borrower can obtain in the private market and the amount needed to start, sustain or expand a business.
Some RLF programs offer low-interest or below market rate loans. However, below market rates are not necessary for the establishment of a RLF. The RLF is providing access to the additional capital a business can't secure in the private sector regardless of whether they are market rates or below market rates. In either case, RLFs lower the overall risk for private lending institutions and allows expansions and projects to proceed that would not have been possible without covering the financing gap.
Below are some features to consider when establishing or analyzing a RLF program:
St. Louis County Economic Council, St. Louis Business Development Fund History and Background
The St. Louis Business Development Fund is a public-private partnership and a for-profit corporation. The SLBDF was founded in 1994 with funding from 11 banks. The initial capitalization was $25,000 from each of those banks for a total of $275,000. Today, 24 banks are shareholders in the SLBDF along with three economic development agencies. The three agencies involved are the St. Louis Development Corporation (SLDC), St. Louis County Economic Council and the Economic Development Center of St. Charles County. A board of directors manages the fund, and the SLDC administers the program.
Any company from the region (both Missouri and Illinois) may apply for a loan. Loans are available for two targets areas:
Growing companies in need of growth capital but are at their lending limits with their bank(s).
Leveraged buyout
Program Characteristics
Profitability is a major component of the SLBDF and prefers to refer to their loans as investments to reflect this concept. The profitability emphasis has two results: it encourages additional private sector partners to join as shareholders and increases the sustainability of the fund for years to come.
Features of SLBDF loans include:
Loans range from $50,000 to $500,000.
Term length of five years.
Interest rate is prime plus three percent
Success Fee of 5% to 15% accrued for any year the investment is outstanding.
No prepayment penalty.
Measures of Success:
$11 million in loans granted since 1994.
66 companies have used the SLBDF program
Current portfolio consists of 28 companies with an outstanding balance of $4.7 million.
Fund profitability and sustainability: the fund has seen revenue, net income and assets increase over time.
The SLBDF has grown significantly since its inception 14 years ago. The SLBDF continues to add investors that work in collaboration with the three largest economic development organizations of the region. As the longest established of the four funds examined, it is also important to note that the fund has continued to evolve as the size and scope of the fund has evolved. Marketing plans for the fund have been developed as well as a new due diligence. The fund has also developed line of credit relationships with the owner banks (aggregate lines of credit total $6.85 million).
Summary
Revolving loan funds provide critical financing when credit access is limited, supporting the development and expansion of local businesses and other special initiatives. While a revolving loan fund cannot finance projects on its own, it is an integral part of the small business loan package. Borrowers benefit from flexible and favorable terms, and financial institutions enjoy lower overall risk. The results include new jobs, new businesses and a healthier local economy.
These four programs have succeeded in establishing viable and sustainable RLFs. Each is unique in its setup and administration, but they all excel in promoting new local projects, creating and retaining jobs and leveraging significant private sector investment in the community.
From The St. Louis Business Journal. Friday, August 8, 2008
Danforth Center wins $2.4 million in tax credits for park By Lisa R. Brown
The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center will receive $2.4 million additional tax credits from the state of Missouri to fund its new Bio-Research and Development Growth (BRDG) Park.
Construction is under way on a $36.1 million, 110,000-square-foot wet laboratory and office building on 9 acres at 1005 North Warson Road adjacent to the Danforth Center in St. Louis County.
The $2.4 million in tax credits were awarded to the St. Louis County Port Authority, which will sublease space in the park to emerging life science companies and organizations. In January, the Danforth Center was awarded $1 million in state tax credits to fund site improvements for the project through the Missouri Development Finance Board.
Project developer Wexford Science + Technology and Monsanto are contributing a combined $4.8 million for the project.
The NIDUS Center for Scientific Enterprise, an incubator for start-up companies, will lease 15,000 square feet in the building when it is completed next year. "We aspire to keep companies that come from incubators to grow here," said Sam Fiorello, chief operating officer of the Danforth Center. "We also hope to entice life science companies to come here." The Danforth Center estimated the first BRDG building will generate 350 full-time jobs.
From the St. Louis Business Journal. Friday, August 1, 2008
NorthPark Partners plan green spec office building The $20 million facility would include a raised floor for more efficient heating and cooling By Angela Mueller
NorthPark Partners LLC is preparing to launch construction on a product not yet seen in the local market -- a LEED-certified speculative office building.
The $20 million, three-story, 150,000-square-foot HPOD (High Performance Office Development) building includes such sustainable design features as a focus on local building materials, high-grade insulation, energy-efficient wiring and cabling, and a lot of exterior glass to allow in natural light. An additional innovative feature is a raised floor design, allowing for a more efficient HVAC system.
"The raised floor system is a big money saver in a lot of regards, but the biggest savings comes from the cost to run the heating and cooling system," said Larry Chapman, director of development for NorthPark Partners and a principal with Clayco Inc. NorthPark is being developed through a collaboration between O'Fallon, Mo.-based McEagle Properties and
St. Louis-based Clayco.
The HVAC will be under the floor as opposed to coming from above. This configuration increases efficiency in cooling, for example, because the air conditioning is originating from the occupied portion of the office -- from the ground up.
"If it's 90 degrees at the ceiling, you're not going to know it anyway because you're not working up there," said Chad Richardson, director of sales and marketing for NorthPark Partners.
In addition, in a typical office building, air is cooled to 55 degrees before being pushed out of ceiling vents to maintain a temperature of 70 degrees at ground level. With the cooling system coming from below, air must be cooled only to 65 degrees to maintain a 70 degree office temp.
Having wiring systems below the floor also allows for greater flexibility in arranging work spaces, since wiring doesn't have to be run through walls and can be tapped at any area. According to Chapman, this translates into a savings for the tenant of about $600 per work station.
"You're not running wiring through walls and through each cubicle to get to the furniture. It's already there in the floor," he said. "And if you want to move something around, you lift up the floor panel, unplug it, move it to the new position and plug it in. You don't have to call in an electrician and a bunch of extra people.
" Installing a raised floor system adds about $5 per square foot to the building's construction costs, Chapman said. In 2002, Clayco used a raised floor platform for Citigroup 's 515,000-square-foot facility in O'Fallon, Mo. Clayco has completed multiple raised-floor projects for clients nationwide.
"St. Louis is just getting ready to embrace this with the lean toward green systems locally," Chapman said.
Site work is under way for the HPOD facility. NorthPark is working on financing with three potential lenders, and is waiting for a break in the wet weather before launching construction.
"We're just trying to get a window where we can get in and build it," Chapman said. "It's been very, very frustrating for us."
NorthPark's developers plan to apply for certification for the new building through the U.S. Green Building Council 's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) program.
The new HPOD will not be the only LEED-certified building at NorthPark, a 550-acre mixed-use development located just east of Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. Both Express Scripts ' 320,000-square-foot headquarters and Vatterott College 's 90,000-square-foot headquarters and St. Louis campus have earned LEED certification. In addition, a second $30 million Express Scripts building that is currently under construction also will be seeking LEED certification upon completion, which is slated for December.
Corporate Express ' 30,000-square-foot space in the 121,000-square-foot NorthPark Express Center I also is LEED certified. Chapman said NorthPark is negotiating with a tenant to take the remaining space in that building and will then launch construction of a second light industrial building. He said the company also is working with two other possible tenants on two new design-build buildings in NorthPark.
10 Best Towns for Families: 2008 By Michael J. Weiss
Webster Groves, Missouri. When Richard and Cathryn Gowan bought their 1889 Victorian 10 years ago, they knew there'd be leaks, squeaks, and lots of fixer-upper projects.
"I consider that a good thing compared with tearing down something grand and beautiful," says Richard, 39, a financial investment officer. "And a new place wouldn't have the character our house has."
History infuses this tranquil St. Louis suburb's century-old homes and landmark buildings as well as its 60-foot oaks planted 200 years ago. School classes are small so kids get plenty of one-on-one attention. And the pleasures are simple.
Richard recently built a tree house for sons George, 9, and Eaton, 7, and daughter Edrie, 4. "We have so many trees in our yard we can barely see the neighbors," says Cathryn, 38, a digital imaging specialist. "But we know they're looking out for us -- and our kids."
Going for the Green: To encourage recycling, the town uses a "single stream" curbside program so there's no need to separate glass, plastics, and paper.
From the St. Louis Business Journal. Friday, July 25, 2008
St. Louis region ranks 23rd nationally for exports By Kelsey Volkmann
Friday, July 25, 2008. The St. Louis region ranks 23rd among cities nationwide for its export sales in the first half of last year, according to data released July 14 by the U.S. Commerce Department.
The region had an export value of $4.9 billion for the first half of 2007, according to statistics examining 369 metropolitan areas. St. Louis exported $9.6 billion worth of merchandise in 2006, and $7.2 billion in 2005.
David Bohigian, assistant secretary of the U.S. Commerce Department and a St. Louis native, announced the results at a news conference at the World Trade Center St. Louis in Clayton.
The most common products St. Louis businesses export are categorized as chemicals, transportation equipment, crops production, machinery and food. St. Louis exports most of its products to Canada, South Korea, Mexico, China, Belgium and Japan.
Through the first half of 2007, 77 metropolitan areas nationwide, including St. Louis, recorded U.S. product sales of $1 billion or more to global markets.
"This new data show the benefits of dynamic and open trade with global partners to regional economies, and our more current national export data indicates that exports continue to support American jobs and stimulate our economy," U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said.
Centene Plaza developers will submit final plans By Margaret Gillerman
CLAYTON - Developers of the proposed $190 million Centene Plaza are formally submitting their financial and development plans to the city this week in hopes of breaking ground in early November.
On Monday, Robert Wislow, chairman and CEO of U.S. Equities of Chicago, presented conceptual plans for the Centene headquarters expansion and office and retail development to the city Plan Commission/Architectural Review Board.
Tonight, the developers hope the Board of Aldermen will approve a redevelopment agreement that would clear the way for partial tax abatements and other financial arrangements.
On Wednesday, the developers - U.S. Equities, Clayco and Centene Corp. - will formally submit their plan to the city to be reviewed in time for an August meeting, where the developers hope to secure approval.
Plan Commission Chair Harold Sanger said after Wislow's presentation that he liked "just about everything" he saw.
Some details have yet to be worked out, he said, including the covering and design for the parking garage. But overall, Sanger and other members, and members of the audience praised the development.
In past years, the project had caused public controversy, and the Missouri Supreme Court disapproved of the use of blight and forced eminent domain to obtain property for the project. This time, the developers are acquiring the properties through the private market.
Last year, Centene moved the project to downtown St. Louis at the planned Ballpark Village. The company moved back to Clayton this year after those negotiations fell through.
Wislow outlined the now familiar plan for two glass office towers designed by Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum Inc., with retail, a parking garage and courtyards in an area bounded by Forsyth Boulevard, Hanley Road and Carondelet Avenue in the central business district.
Under the latest version, which calls for two phases, Wislow said, "The first tower (21 stories) would be built immediately along with the parking garage." This first phase also would include shops and restaurants at street level along Forsyth. The garage by Forum Studios would be five or six stories above ground plus two more levels when the second phase is built.
"Then, when Centene is ready to expand, and that depends on their growth and the economy, the second tower (10 stories) would be built," Wislow said.
Asked about the private financing, Wislow said, "We don't think that we will have a problem with a project as well pre-leased and well-located as this."
The agreement that aldermen will consider and possibly approve tonight calls for:
50 percent tax abatement for real and personal property taxes up to $22 million over 20 years.
Sales tax exemption on construction materials.
Sales tax exemption on personal property.
In addition, Centene has received $8 million from the state and will receive roadwork contributions from St. Louis County.
Experts weigh in on state of St. Louis auto industry
St. Louis (KMOV) -- News 4 asked local experts to weigh in on the changes in the auto industry around the St. Louis area.
Labor market analyst Russell Signorino said right now the industry is going downward. The domino effect has already begun since cutbacks were announced at area manufacturing plants.
Lear Corp. will lay off 250 employees when it closes its seat-manufacturing plant in Bridgeton in a few weeks.
Findlay Industries, which supplies parts to auto plants, will shut down in September cutting 68 jobs.
Those jobs are what experts talk about when they speak of the job multiplier.
But Signorino said company's change is not all doom and gloom. Companies take an "adapt or perish" attitude, changing their product line.
"Several of them are national and even international companies, so that's a good thing for us," said St. Louis County Economic Council President Denny Coleman.
And while there may be a downturn in one industry, there is growth in others.
"The automotive cuts in the '80's were extremely severe, as were the defense cuts in the 90's.
We lost close to 60,000 defense jobs," said Coleman. "We are much more diversified than we've ever been."
Coleman said areas that continue to see a lot of economic activity include pharmaceuticals, healthcare, plant and life sciences, and financial services.
The St. Louis County Economic Council is still surveying companies that supply the auto industry to better gauge the impact, according to Coleman.
Scottrade seeks tax abatement for $82 million expansion By Jerri Stroud
Scottrade Inc., the discount brokerage based in St. Louis County, plans to ask the County Council Tuesday for a $10.7 million tax abatement on a new $82 million office building and garage.
Scottrade plans to add 200,000 square feet of office space and a parking garage to its headquarters near Interstate 270 and Manchester Road.
The broker started talking to county planning officials about the expansion about 10 months ago. However, it has not decided when it will start construction, said Kelly Doria, a spokeswoman.
Scottrade expects to add about 600 jobs to its headquarters over the next few years, according to the St. Louis County Economic Council. The brokerage already employs more than 800 at its headquarters, a data center and several branches here.
Rodger Riney, president and chief executive of Scottrade, said the new building will support the broker's expanding number of branches and the growth of its online business.
"This growth will bring more opportunities for our associates as well as opportunities for hundreds of others in the region to join the Scottrade team," Riney said in a statement.
According to the County Economic Council, Scottrade pays $660,000 a year in property taxes. With the 50 percent tax abatement on the new buildings, it would pay $10.7 million in new taxes over 10 years for a total of $17.2 million. After the abatement period, the taxes are estimated at $2.8 million a year.
St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley will ask for the abatement at Tuesday's council meeting. It could be approved as early as Aug. 7.
"We congratulate Scottrade on (its) continued growth in spite of a sluggish economy," Dooley said in a statement. "We are pleased that (it has) chosen to expand (its) headquarters here in St. Louis County, and we welcome and support (its) growth plans."
From the Webster-Kirkwood Times. Friday, July 18, 2008
Waging Peace By Don Corrigan
Polls from countries around the world show that America has lost ground in popularity and esteem. A Des Peres woman - with a particular interest in France - hopes to turn that situation around.
Jane Robert is putting her energy into Waging Peace, an organization focused on increasing international understanding both at home and abroad. She is in a unique position to do this through her presidency of the active Saint Louis-Lyon Sister Cities program with France and also her six-year presidency of Federation of Alliances Française USA.
"Our standing in Europe suffered with the Iraq war, when we were eating 'Freedom Fries' and dumping French wines down the drain because of foreign policy disagreements," said Robert. "I think most of the French just shrugged their shoulders. I think the Americans actually drank the wine and then poured out water.
"The point is, we have to stop being so insular and realize how much we've been enriched by the art, food, music and culture of other countries," insisted Robert. "That is what has given us strength. Building a wall around our country is akin to inbreeding. It will make us brittle, stale and hurt us economically."
In greater St. Louis, Waging Peace partners with the World Trade Center-St. Louis with funding from Sigma-Aldrich, Commerce Bank, the Deaconess Foundation and the French company, bioMerieux. It also has the blessing and some funding from the U.S. State Department.
According to Robert, a major focus of Waging Peace is to examine better ways to integrate minorities in inner city neighborhoods. In St. Louis, this may involve peoples from Asia and the Balkans. For France, it may involve concern for citizens of African and Arab descent.
"Waging Peace has four cities in the U.S. involved and we are about 18 months into the project," said Robert. "We share a lot of ideas. One of the things we've learned from our sister city, Lyon, is how important it is for immigrant populations to express their art and culture. If they can paint their living areas with art and murals, they are much more likely to take ownership and to take care of where they are living."
When it comes to French-American relations, Robert said Waging Peace is all about ending stereotypes and malicious innuendos.
"We have got to get our peoples to stop saying, 'Oh, all American are this way.' Or, 'Oh, all of those French people think this way,'" said Robert. "We have to appreciate that there is a great deal of diversity of thinking within our respective countries."
Citizen Exchanges
One of the casualties of the past decade of international turmoil has been a decline of student exchanges between the U.S. and other countries. Robert is committed to turning that situation around, particularly with France as an avowed Francophile.
"I know parents in America have been afraid sometimes to send their children overseas for an international experience, but this is shortsighted and a disservice to our young," said Robert. "I know TV images of burning cars and riots in Paris a year or so ago frightened people, but this was confined to small areas.
"I have been going to Paris several times every year for 40 years and I've always felt safe," insisted Robert. "I was there in the May 1968 riots as a college student and there was no problem being safe if you just stayed out of the area of the protests. The news media exaggerate a lot of it."
Not content to simply promote student exchanges, Robert now is putting energy into an exchange program with a special emphasis on those aged 50 to 70. The program involves "citizen stays" with families in the ancient city of Lyon.
Robert said staying with a French family is a far better way to learn about the food, shopping and culture of France than paying to be in an expensive Paris hotel. With gas at $10 a gallon in France, and with Euros costing more in dollars every day, Robert said home stays are the practical way for most Americans to have a French experience.
According to Robert and members of the local Alliances Française, spirited conversation is the favorite sport in the homes of the French. They will tell you frankly what they think of the current U.S. president, and they want to know who you think will become president in 2009. Such encounters are unlikely to happen on a tour bus through France.
Legion Of Honor
Des Peres' Robert is not just your average U.S. Francophile. She now holds a rank established by Napoleon Bonaparte going back to 1693 during the reign of Louis XIV. In December 2007, she received knighthood in the Legion of Honor, the highest honor bestowed by France.
"I am a 1965 graduate of Kirkwood High School and Mary Margaret Denigan was my teacher who got me so interested in French," recalled Robert. "I then went to Webster College and had some wonderful teachers in the French language - to think it would all continue to the Legion of Honor!
"I was from a large family and travel to France was unlikely, but my professors at Webster encouraged me to try for a travel abroad scholarship. Part of the application process was attending a formal tea at a woman's house in St. Louis to talk about French culture," explained Robert. "I was scared to death."
Despite her fright, Robert won the scholarship and the rest is history - specifically French history. Robert said early in life she fell in love with all the clichés of French life you can think of - outdoor cafés, the charm of Paris, ancient castles, sprawling art museums, music, wine and fine food.
She has won numerous awards, including the Order of Palms, a high French civil honor. Roberts, who graduated from Webster College in 1969, was commencement speaker for the College of Arts & Sciences this spring at Webster University.
"Everyone should study a language and French is a good choice because it is the first or second language in 49 countries around the world," said Roberts. "I told the Webster students that you should choose a language to study that you love and you feel in your soul. Choose from what you are feeling."
Local business honored by Hispanic Chamber; The Gonzalez Cos. honored as company of the year By Dominic Immer
The Gonzalez Cos., accepted the Hispanic Company of the Year Award for 2008 at the 26th anniversary and awards dinner for the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, held on June 13 at the Sheraton Westport Chalet Hotel.
The award is given every year to a Hispanic-owned company that demonstrates success and involvement in the community.
The Gonzalez Cos., is an engineering and construction management firm, serving the private sector, municipalities and federal government.The company earned the award because of its rapid growth and its involvement with the chamber, said Al Gonzalez, the chamber's president.
"The company started with one person," said Anthony Gonzalez-Angel, senior managing partner of the Gonzalez Cos. "Now we have 30."
Gonzalez-Angel founded the company in 1999 after years of experience in construction management, including work with the St. Louis Development Corporation. Gonzalez-Angel has no relation to Al Gonzalez.
Gonzalez-Angel, 43, has been interested in building and designing since he was a child. He created architectural designs and made small mechanical machines.
After he earned his bachelor's degree in architecture, Gonzalez-Angel worked on projects for other companies, but wanted to start his own business.
"You're ingrained with it," Gonzalez-Angel said. "It's part of the American dream."
He established the business himself working out of a home office doing consulting and administration of construction projects.
In 2003 the Gonzalez Cos., moved from home to their first office at 3830 Washington Blvd. Gonzalez-Angel and his staff then took on a challenging project at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., in an effort to make their name recognizable and to continue their growth.
The waste water treatment tank at the military base was malfunctioning, but still operable. The base possessed only one treatment tank and could not have it out of service for long. The Gonzalez Cos., prepared for the job for six months before completing the project in five days.
With this project business prospered for Gonzalez-Angel's company.
The business now occupies four offices across the Midwest and serves nine states. The company has worked for large clients, including Ameren and Heartland Bank.
Besides the rapid growth in the company it was also recognized for its contributions and participation in the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
Gonzalez-Angel and his business maintain a presence with the chamber, attending most of the events, such as forums and fundraiser's.
They are involved in an internship program called the Hispanic Educational and Scholarship Fund in which the chamber presents the company with Hispanic internship candidates.
The annual awards dinner is the main fundraiser for the chamber every year. This year's event was the most successful in its history.
Gonzalez-Angel showed his commitment to helping the chamber with a donation of $3,000 at the record fundraiser.
"He matched mine, so that's not bad," Gonzalez said.
From the Illinois Business Journal. Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Lambert, developers, Missouri officials make big push for air cargo industry By Alan J. Ortbals
With empty gates, underused runways, a thousand acres of industrial park land and some of the biggest names in commercial real estate, Lambert-St. Louis International Airport is poised to make a run at the international air cargo business.
In April, Missouri leaders returned from a trip to China with a Memorandum of Understanding to mutually analyze the feasibility of using Lambert as a hub for air cargo to and from China.
"Lambert does have extra capacity," said Tim Nowak, executive director of the World Trade Center Saint Louis. "And when you throw in the fact of the central location of St. Louis and the excellent access to all modes of transportation, we have a real viable option for the Chinese or others to look at it as a central commercial hub."
Times have changed. In 2000, Lambert officials announced that they would not take any additional air cargo - and that they would send cargo companies interested in expanding their St. Louis facilities or starting new operations in St. Louis over to MidAmerica St. Louis Airport in Mascoutah, Ill. At that time, Lambert was a major hub for American Airlines and had limited runway options. That year, Lambert had 481,000 airplane operations (take-offs and landings of all types of aircraft), according to Lambert spokesman Jeff Lea. This was also prior to construction of the new runway, W1W, and Lambert was landlocked, surrounded by all types
of development.
The pronouncement that cargo companies should look east to MidAmerica, however, was pretty harshly received by the cargo industry, according to news stories at the time. In fact, Glenn Streibig, a retired air division manager for UPS, was quoted in a St. Louis Post-Dispatch story in September 2000: "I think we all kind of laughed at it at the time when they were building this huge facility over there, which would have been great for us if it had been located someplace else," Streibig said. "[Among] the people that I knew doing cargo business at Lambert, I didn't know anyone who wanted to be over there."
Since then, however, W1W has been built, large residential areas have been cleared and American Airlines has dropped St. Louis as a hub, drastically reducing the number of flights Lambert hosts. According to Lea, Lambert had just 240,000 airplane operations in 2007, less than 50 percent of the 2000 level, and has 33 empty gates. Today those in and around Lambert are aggressively working to develop the air cargo business.
Some of the biggest names in industrial real estate in the country are working on - or already offering - space for lease near Lambert.
Duke Realty Corp. has a new 528,000 square-foot building called the Lindbergh Distribution Center that's currently available for occupancy. It's located at the intersection of N. Lindbergh Blvd. and McDonnell Blvd. in the Airport Enhanced Enterprise Zone and boasts tax abatement and other state incentives. Duke is a publicly traded company that is one of the largest commercial real estate companies in the United States, with 142 million square feet of office and industrial properties in 24 cities.
Last month, Panattoni Development Co. announced its purchase of the Ford Motor Co.'s former St. Louis Assembly Plant on N. Lindbergh. Panattoni plans to demolish the existing structure and add new buildings totaling approximately 2.6 million square feet of warehouse, distribution and light industrial space on the 155-acre site. Panattoni is a commercial real estate company that develops, leases, owns and manages industrial, office and retail projects in more than 150 cities throughout the United States, Canada and Europe.
Further south on N. Lindbergh, McEagle Properties is developing the 150-acre Hazelwood Logistics Center. One 400,000-square-foot building is near completion; the park will eventually house up to two million square feet of space. McEagle is a St. Louis- based commercial real estate company that is also currently working on projects in Kansas City and Dallas. McEagle is also part of Trade Zone Partners LLC which has held the lease on the 50,000-square-foot warehouse building at MidAmerica St. Louis Airport for the past two years.
And on the other side of Lambert, at the intersection of I-70 and I-170, McEagle and Clayco Realty Group are co-developing a 550-acre business park called North Park. Clayco Realty Group is the real estate development arm of Clayco Inc., one of the largest construction firms in the St. Louis area. Ultimately, North Park will house up to 5.5 million square feet of office, manufacturing and distribution facilities.
Nowak said there were two reasons to focus on China. One, a path of communication had already been opened with Chinese officials. Paul McKee Jr., president and chief executive officer of McEagle Properties, had opened that door through a local attorney, Steve Stone, and his cousin, an expert in Chinese trade.
Two, said Nowak, the Chinese economy is booming - and Missouri's exports to China have been booming as well.
"We've seen a massive increase in Missouri goods going to China because of a number of things," he said. "China's middle class is growing; it has growing infrastructure needs; and, a lot of it is a result of its growth in the world market, in manufacturing and other areas. It's a real market for Missouri goods. In fact, China is Missouri's fourth-largest trading partner and the fastest growing market for Missouri goods," Nowak added.
The feasibility studies that both China and Missouri will be conducting, he said, will focus on two-way traffic. Nowak says a flight between China and Missouri can cost as much as $400,000, so it's important that the plane is filled traveling in both directions. While a lot of work still needs to be done, he estimates that there is $5 billion worth of exports going to China each year from the Midwest.
"What we're together focused on is demonstrating that within a catchment area of St. Louis, there's a reasonable chance to fill those planes with products from Missouri and the surrounding states," said Nowak. "That's the key. It's not just Missouri. The catchment area also includes Illinois and Iowa. It's roughly an area within a day's drive of St. Louis. Can we fill these planes going back? Our research is showing that yeah, we're pretty confident that it can happen."
St. Louis is a great place to settle because it's not overbuilt and is reasonably priced relative to income. Thanks to the attractive cost of living, many large corporations--including brewing behemoth Anheuser-Busch and financial heavies Stifel Nicolaus and Edward Jones--call St. Louis home. With a family friendly culture, and a steadily appreciating median home price of $145,400, the "Gateway to the West" is a great place to buy a home.
From the St. Louis Business Journal. Friday, July 11, 2008
Furniture Brands to change corporate structure, move headquarters By Kelsey Volkmann
Furniture maker Furniture Brands International Inc. said Thursday that it is changing its corporate structure from a holding company to an operating company and will move to a new world headquarters to Clayton.
The model switch will allow the company to receive about $4 million in state and county tax incentives over five years, the company said.
The new location at 1 North Brentwood will provide 40 percent more space and house about 150 additional employees, mostly in human resources, accounting, credit and information technologies.
Some of those company-wide functions had previously been performed at other sites in North Carolina and Mississippi.
After the move, Furniture Brands will employ about 225 corporate employees.
The company said it had employed about twice that many at the corporate level as a holding company.
Brand-specific support functions will remain at those specific offices.
To help retain Furniture Brands in the St. Louis area, the Missouri Department of Economic Development gave the company tax breaks through the Missouri Quality Jobs program.
The company posted profit of $33.6 million in the first quarter on sales of $477.2 million, compared with a profit of about $2.9 million on sales of $557 million for the same quarter last year. Furniture Brands' first-quarter 2008 profit was boosted by the sale of its Hickory Business Furniture subsidiary for $75 million.
The company's brands include Broyhill, Thomasville and Lane.
Furniture Brands' (NYSE: FBN) competitors include Ashley Furniture Home Stores.
Incubators provide care and nurturing for young companies By Angela Tablac
JULY 10, 2008 --Carpenter supervisor Kevin Roach (left) and carpenter Mark Byrd, both with Mercury Construction, Inc., build a pier for a cellular tower in Grantwood Village.
Six years ago Mercury Communications & Construction Inc. confronted what could signal the end for any small business: It couldn't pay the rent.
Mercury, a builder of wireless towers, took a hit after wireless providers scaled back construction in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Mercury's executives lobbied their landlord and got a six-month reprieve on rent. Fortunately, the landlord was the St. Louis County Economic Council, and Mercury was a tenant in one of four business incubators run by the council. A business incubator provides startup companies services ranging from consultation on marketing and growing, to access to photocopiers and notary publics. Typically, the incubator offers space at or below market rates. For one- and two-person firms, the space adds a legitimacy that the owners wouldn't get by operating out of a house.
The flexibility to modify the lease helped to rescue the company, said Julie Steis, vice president of finance and one of Mercury's founders. It expects revenue of $6 million this year.
The St. Louis area has more than a dozen small-business incubators, several of which have recently opened or are under construction.
A recently opened center at University of Missouri-St. Louis focuses on information technology startups. And an incubator at St. Louis' St. Patrick Center, opening this fall, will be host to businesses that want to revitalize the downtown area.
Ken Harrington, managing director of Washington University's Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, said he hopes a greater awareness of entrepreneurship is causing the new incubators to open. But he also said more are starting in the St. Louis area because "each one of these has got a specialized focus."
Success is measured differently among the regional incubators, depending on the theme. The multi-industry centers look at the number of jobs created and the revenue of the tenant companies. Incubators dedicated to biotechnology and technology companies track the grant money awarded to tenants because tech startups usually don't have revenue in their early years.
The theory behind business incubators is much like an incubator for a premature baby: nurturing a new company by teaching the owner how to run a business. The reduced rent and business counseling can help a small company weather problems, giving it a better chance of bringing its products to the market, said Dinah Adkins, president and chief executive of the National Business Incubation Association in Athens, Ohio.
Successful companies typically graduate after two to three years at an incubator, and then rent or buy their own office space.
The biggest benefit for Mercury was the center's willingness to help, Steis said. "I don't think we could have stayed in business" without the center.
Indeed, the landlord component of an incubator operator is "the least of our concerns," said Jan DeYoung, who managed the economic council's incubators until last fall.
DeYoung left his job with the economic council to start the Begin New Venture Center incubator in the St. Patrick Center, a nonprofit group that helps the homeless. Construction on the office spaces started in January.
When the incubator opens in September, it will house companies dedicated to the revitalization of downtown St. Louis and to honoring St. Patrick Center's mission to the homeless.
One floor of the St. Patrick Center's five-story building on North Tucker Boulevard will be set aside for training and business office space. DeYoung hopes some of the St. Patrick Center's clients find jobs with the tenant companies or use the incubator to start their own ventures.
"A grand slam for us would have one of our people come up through our programs and start a business," he said. But he acknowledges that would be a long process for those clients.
DeYoung said 14 companies have applied so far for the space by hearing about it through word-of-mouth, and he expects to have 10 businesses by the end of 2009.
Occupancy in the region's incubators changes as companies add or scale back space, or graduate.
For example, the Economic Development Center of St. Charles County offers month-to-month leases for tenants at its incubators in St. Peters and St. Charles, allowing the tenants to expand or cut back space as employment numbers change.
Greg Prestemon, chief executive of the development center, said the incubators have operated at less than full capacity for about three years because several businesses graduated and, perhaps in part, because fewer people since then have started up new businesses.
Since the opening of its St. Peters incubation center in 1993, 154 companies have graduated from the incubators. The centers housed 51 businesses in 2007 and, after graduations, have 50 companies now.
Occupancy at the St. Louis County Economic Council's incubators is at about 80 percent, which is the historical rate, said Denny Coleman, president and chief executive of the council.
