Thousands of geospatial leaders from across the country to attend largest annual industry gathering October 5-8

 

 

ST. LOUIS – Thousands of leaders from the geospatial technology sector will make their way to St. Louis October 5-8 to attend GEOINT Symposium 2021, the largest annual gathering of industry leaders in the country. This marks the first time GEOINT Symposium is being held in St. Louis, and it is scheduled to return in 2023 and 2025, highlighting St. Louis’ rapidly increasing prominence as a national center for geospatial technology.

 

“We are excited to show off St. Louis and our geospatial ecosystem to the rest of the country,” said Jason Hall, CEO of Greater St. Louis, Inc. “With the rapid growth of our geospatial sector and the commitment of our entire region, attendees at GEOINT Symposium 2021 will see that the future of geospatial technology is being built right now in St. Louis.”

 

Part of what is being built is Next NGA West, the $1.75 billion new home of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency currently under construction north of downtown St. Louis. The new facility will feature unclassified space, allowing NGA staff to collaborate with private sector businesses and academic institutions on solutions for the future.

 

The St. Louis geospatial ecosystem, in alignment with the strategic priorities outlined in the GeoFutures Strategic Roadmap, is also building:

- An expanded workforce and talent pipeline to meet the needs of the growing geospatial sector.

- A network of collaborative research universities to collaborate with existing industry sectors on research and applied projects.

- A robust startup ecosystem to drive innovation and research capacity in location sciences.

- Alignments with major industry sectors to connect geospatial companies with the region’s established corporations for synergistic growth with advanced industries.

- A thriving investor and support network to fuel the growth of dynamic startups with venture capital, accelerator programs, and other forms of startup support.

- A true community with support from business, government, academia, and the community.

- An inclusive and equitable industry ecosystem through industry commitments to expanding inclusion and equity and support for neighborhood-led revitalization.

 

“We hope that after seeing the growth, activity, and collaboration taking place in St. Louis’ geospatial sector, attendees at GEOINT Symposium will realize that if they aren’t here now, they really should be,” said Andy Dearing, Project Lead for GeoFutures. 

 

GeoFutures, an initiative of Greater St. Louis, Inc., was launched in October 2019 to bolster the St. Louis region’s rapidly growing geospatial sector and develop a strategic plan for the future. In June 2020, GeoFutures released its Strategic Roadmap, which laid out strategic priorities as well as signature initiatives to help strengthen and grow the region’s geospatial sector and to leverage existing strengths and generate greater prosperity and inclusive growth in the community.

 

To further strengthen St. Louis’ standing as the country’s center for geospatial technology, Greater St. Louis, Inc. announced a strategic partnership with the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation, the nation’s leading geospatial foundation and sponsor of GEOINT Symposium. 

 

As part of its commitment to showcasing the St. Louis geospatial ecosystem to global industry leaders, Greater St. Louis, Inc. is sponsoring the St. Louis Hub, which will promote the region’s business, civic, academic, workforce development, and community partners with programming on stage each day of GEOINT. Programming at the St. Louis Hub includes (full schedule attached):

- Daily panel discussions that highlight various aspects of the local geospatial ecosystem

- Networking happy hours featuring STLMade treats and beverages like gooey butter cake, toasted raviolis, and beers from 4 Hands and Anheuser-Busch

- Lightning talks from St. Louis geospatial startups

- A Main Stage keynote address from St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones (Thursday at 11:15 a.m.)

 

GEOINT attendees will be greeted by a major visibility campaign from Greater St. Louis, Inc.’s STLMADE Initiative. Beginning Monday, October 4, STLMADE banners featuring St. Louis geospatial story subjects will be installed on light poles along 8th Street between Citygarden and America’s Center and in front of hotels around Downtown where GEOINT attendees are staying.

 

Inside the America’s Center, the STLMADE brand will greet GEOINT Symposium attendees as they enter. STLMADE will also be featured prominently on the St. Louis Hub and on a series of connected St. Louis exhibitor spaces with representatives from GeoFutures Initiative and the corporate, academic, innovation, and workforce organizations that make up the St. Louis geospatial ecosystem. 

 

Events for GEOINT attendees will kick of Tuesday night with a welcome reception at Ballpark Village. Thursday night will culminate with the Geo-Discovery Experience, a party for GEOINT attendees at T-REX and the Globe Building, which are home to many of the region’s geospatial startups and businesses.

 

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A complete schedule of St. Louis geospatial ecosystem events and activities follows.

 

For more information about GeoFutures, visit: website, Twitter, and Linkedin. 

 

NOTE: Media will need to register with USGIF to enter the America’s Center for GEOINT Symposium. If you have not registered with USGIF for a media credential, please contact Tony Wyche with GeoFutures at tonywyche@soapbox-pr.com for information on how to do so.

 

Tony Wyche, Soapbox Public Relations [on behalf of GeoFutures]

 

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- St. Louis Geospatial Ecosystem: Booth #1731

- St. Louis Innovation: Booth #1838

- St. Louis Academic: Booth #1739

- St. Louis Regional Hub Stage: @1535

 

 

 

 

 

 

Panel discussion on growing use and impact of geospatial in transportation and logistics.

- Matthew Geekie, Senior Vice President, Secretary and General Counsel, Graybar (Moderator)

- Dwight Cox, Founder and Principal, Air Refuel Tanker Transport, LLC

- Byron Porter, Founder and CEO, Hum

- Bob Elfanbaum, CEO, Object Computing, Inc.

- Asim Raza, Chief Legal Officer and Director of Corporate Affairs, Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis

 

- VADM Robert Sharp, Director, NGA

- Kristin Sobolik, PhD, Chancellor, University of Missouri-St. Louis

 

Panel discussion highlighting the community-led planning process for development of the neighborhoods surrounding the Next NGA West facility.

- Jason Hall, CEO, Greater St. Louis Inc. (Moderator)

- James Page, St. Louis Alderman

- Neal Richardson, Executive Director, St. Louis Development Corporation

- Otis Williams, former Executive Director of SLDC

- Zekita Armstrong-Asuquo, Gateway Global 

- Don Roe, Executive Director, St. Louis Planning and Urban Design Agency

 

Featuring #STLMade treats and beverages

 

 

 

Panel discussion featuring government and community leaders discussing the need to collaborate with industry and academia to develop a future K-16-R STEM workforce program reaching underrepresented communities.

- Tara Mott, Account Manager, Esri/Co-chair St. Louis Area Working Group (Moderator)

- Sue Pollmann, NGA Program Director NGA West

- Dr. J. Nikki Markiel, NGA Sr. GEOINT Authority for Geomatics

- Zekita Armstrong-Asuquo, Gateway Global

- Justin Bennett, CEO, Geodata IT

 

Panel discussion where leaders of St. Louis geospatial innovation hubs and investment organizations talk about their experience with and support from the St. Louis geospatial innovation ecosystem and how St. Louis is growing as the center for geospatial innovation. Panel discussion followed by individual innovators presenting their products in short lightning talks.

- Nathan Rubbelke, St. Louis Business Journal (Moderator)

- Dr. Dedric Carter, Chair, Missouri Technology Corporation

- Brian Monheiser, Co-Founder, GEO261; Member, T-REX Geospatial Advisory Committee

- Sam Fiorello, CEO, Cortex

- Emily Lohse-Busch, Executive Director, Arch Grants

- NOTE: after panel ends, startups deliver lightning talks/pitches capped at 5 minutes each. Jack Scatizzi, Exec. Director, Missouri Technology Corporation, will moderate.

 

Featuring #STLMade treats and beverages 

 

 

 

- Mark Chatelain, Associate Chief Information Officer

- Chris Ashebranner, Associate Deputy Program Director, IT & Readiness, N2W 

- Scott Gum, N2W, Assistant Program Manager, IT, N2W

 

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