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As published in the St. Louis Business Journal.
St. Louis is a region that needs to grow, and our innovation community is working every day to make that happen. Technology, entrepreneurship, cutting-edge research, and skilled workers are central to attracting new ideas, new people, and new investment to the St. Louis region.
The innovators, builders, and educators across our region are aligning their work to make St. Louis a place where technology drives transformative economic growth and opportunity for all. And that technology – whether health care, finance, geospatial, biosciences, or any other growth sector – relies on data.
As leaders of organizations focused on driving innovation and growth here in St. Louis, we have come together to say that for our region to grow and increase opportunity for all, we must build the infrastructure that supports the increasing amount of data upon which our current and future economy is being constructed.
For years, the organizations we lead have been laying a foundation for this ecosystem. We have developed programming to support homegrown entrepreneurs while opening doors to outside innovators. Industries of the future like biosciences, agtech, geospatial, and advanced manufacturing have been dutifully cultivated here and are primed for growth. We’ve trained thousands of St. Louisans to fill high-demand technology roles. From startups to community partners, we’ve invested deeply in cultivating the talent and collaboration that fuels next-generation industries.
But for St. Louis to compete with other regions across the country, we also need the infrastructure that powers modern innovation. Data centers, broadband, and other digital assets are the unseen foundation of today’s economy. They enable the cloud services, artificial intelligence, and emerging technologies that entrepreneurs are using to launch companies and that corporations need to stay competitive.
Much like the railroads, highways, and other critical infrastructure on which we’ve come to rely for the past century, the regions that saw where the economy was headed and invested in infrastructure and systems reaped the benefits adding people, jobs, and investment, while the regions that did not were left behind.
The economy has reached a new crossroads, and if innovators and investors look at St. Louis and see a region that is serious about the infrastructure of the future, they will want to be a part of a city that welcomes their energy and rewards their commitment.
But if they look at St. Louis and see a region unwilling to plan for the future, they may look elsewhere.
Our community has worked tirelessly to position St. Louis as a hub where technology can thrive. That progress needs to maintain momentum. Without infrastructure that keeps pace with the industries of tomorrow, we risk falling behind in a race that other regions are running with urgency. Already, other communities across the country are welcoming billions of dollars in investment and positioning themselves as growth centers for the foreseeable future.
The opportunity is in front of us. If we continue to work together as community leaders, educators, investors, entrepreneurs, and policymakers, St. Louis can be the place where technology powers inclusive growth and creates new pathways of opportunity. But success requires embracing the infrastructure that makes innovation possible.
We are heartened to see the thoughtful approach to technology infrastructure development recently announced by St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer and supported by leaders in the Board of Aldermen. This approach recognizes the critical role developing this infrastructure will play in our growth as a region as well as the fact that individual projects should be judged on their own merits. Furthermore, in recognizing how essential data centers and other large-scale facilities are to supporting future growth and demand, this approach must also recognize the impact this critical infrastructure could have on energy supply, land availability, and the environment.
To truly serve the region, we must ensure these infrastructure investments are designed and managed in ways that support innovation and growth, protect community interests, and deliver broad-based benefits.
We believe in St. Louis. We believe in its people, its ideas, and its potential. Now, we must also believe in building the future here, so the next generation of opportunity takes root in our city, not somewhere else.
- Dustin Allison, Greater St. Louis, Inc.
- Gabe Angieri, Arch Grants
- Karen Branding, Regional Business Council
- Emily Hemingway, TechSTL
- Elliott Kellner, Taylor Geospatial Institute
- Emily Lohse-Busch, 39 North Agtech Innovation District
- Gabe Lozano, LaunchCode
- Mark Munsell, GeoFutures
- Stephanie Regagnon, Yield Lab Institute
- Donn Rubin, BioSTL
- Jesse Winters, T-REX