ST. LOUIS (AP) - A neighborhood organization is partnering with a trade group to turn a century-old St. Louis factory into an incubator for small industrial firms.
DeSales Community Housing Corporation and St. Louis Makes, which focuses on small to medium-sized manufacturers, held a presentation Thursday at what will be the Brick City Makes building, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
The facility - where hats, barstools and restaurant booths were once made - will offer space for urban manufacturers looking for room to perfect their products and connect with similar companies.
"It really doesn't take much to keep these firms in place," said Sarah Coffin, an associate professor of urban planning and development at Saint Louis University. "When we lose urban manufacturers, we lose more than the firm. We lose anchors, oftentimes, in these neighborhoods."
As part of St. Louis Makes' efforts to raise awareness about the manufacturing sector, the group brought Coffin in to help produce a report on the state of the city's middle market manufacturers and what their needs and perceptions are of doing business in St. Louis.
Economic development organizations emphasize tech jobs. But it's much easier to break into those communities with a doctorate or a computer science degree, Marc Bowers, who heads St. Louis Makes, said. Small factories can offer jobs to a larger pool of people as the city works on inclusive economic growth, he said.
"We've got a lot of built environment that can accommodate that," he said of middle-market manufacturers.
The DeSales Community Housing Corporation, which owns the building, is hoping to secure financing to finish the $12 million rehab project by this summer, with spaces opening by the next year.