St. Louis buys dozens of empty lots for ‘world-class’ workforce center

[ad_1]

ST. LOUIS — City officials have purchased more than two dozen empty lots in north St. Louis to turn into a “world-class” workforce center, they announced on Friday.

The 15-acre site, which includes the former offices of Killark Electric, is at 3940 Dr. Martin Luther King Drive. The city said it aims to turn the 150,000-square-foot industrial building there into a workforce training hub for manufacturing jobs.

“We are proud to plant our flag in North City,” Neal Richardson, the president of the city’s St. Louis Development Corp., said at the mayor’s annual business luncheon on Friday.

Killark, a subsidiary of manufacturing firm Hubbell Inc., which provides products for harsh and hazardous locations, moved to the Fenton Logistics Park about five years ago.

People are also reading…

Richardson called the rehab of the properties a longterm investment, and said officials aim to open the center next year. It will be an extension of the nearby Advanced Manufacturing and Innovation Center, he said.

And it’s coming off the success of the Northside Empowerment Center, Richardson said, that had by August served over 1,000 individuals and 315 businesses since it opened in January.

He said he hopes the new center will be a catalyst and “beacon of hope” for youth across the region.

“I almost have chills thinking about it,” Richardson said.


Black entrepreneurs gain skills, grow their businesses at ‘Build Black Weekend’ event in St. Louis


$2M for marketing? St. Louis agency must do more than draw investment, chief says


St. Louis mayor OKs $93 million aimed at rebuilding struggling neighborhoods


St. Louis group formed to respond to COVID gets $2 million to tackle systemic issues


Dellwood economic and community hub opens in long-vacant shopping center


St. Louis-area hiring is slowing and employers need to prepare for the long term, experts say

Photographs from St. Louis Post-Dispatch staff and freelancers for the week beginning Oct. 1, 2023. Video by Beth O’Malley

Beth O’Malley



[ad_2]

Source link