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Greater St. Louis Inc., the regional economic development initiative of the St. Louis RCGA, comprises a team of experienced, dedicated professionals who can help your firm quietly and thoroughly explore every conceivable option throughout the bi-state region. We have made a genuine commitment to serve the needs of businesses from the start to the finish of every project. Contact Us Please feel free to contact any of us directly with your questions and/or information needs.
Mailing Address: The St. Louis RCGA is located on the 13th floor of One Metropolitan Square in downtown St. Louis. Access to the building’s parking garage is on Pine Street, between Broadway and Sixth Streets. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.  Steve Johnson  Senior Vice President 314.444.1140 sjohnson@stlrcga.org Steve joined the RCGA in September 2004 as Senior Vice President for Economic Development. In this role he leads the RCGA’s regional marketing and business recruitment efforts that are the centerpiece of a five-year, $20 million campaign. Steve’s 20-plus years of regional economic development experience include 11 years as Senior Vice President for Economic Development with the Kansas City Area Development Council and several years leading economic development programs with the chambers of commerce in Mobile, Alabama, and Jefferson City, Missouri. A Missouri native, Johnson is a graduate of Harding University and serves on the boards of several organizations including the Southern Technology Council and the St. Louis Regional Automotive Partnership.  Jim Alexander Vice President - Business Recruitment 314.444.1135 jalexander@stlrcga.org As vice president for business recruitment, Jim is responsible for managing the RCGA business recruitment team and programs. The primary goal of the business recruitment team is to attract new jobs and investment to the 16-county, bi-state St. Louis region. Jim and his team work closely with state, county, and local economic development professionals to identify, qualify, manage, and successfully close business recruitment projects for the region. Jim brings over 25 years of economic development and sales experience to the RCGA. His experience includes sales and management positions with Honeywell, Praxair Electronics, PricewaterhouseCoopers, (PwC) and Centerior Energy. Since joining the RCGA in April of 2003, Jim and his team have successfully closed over 35 business recruitment and expansion projects including Hershey Foods, the Solae Company, Centocor Biologics, Isle of Capri headquarters, TRW Automotive, and Harmon Becker Automotive. Jim is a member of several real estate and economic development organizations. He is an active board of directors and committee chair of organizations including the Industrial Asset Management Council, CoreNet Global, the Illinois Development Council, the World Affairs Council of St. Louis, and the Japan America Society of St. Louis. He received his bachelor’s degree in Communications at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio and received his master’s degree in Business Administration from Lake Erie College in Painesville, Ohio. He is also a graduate of the Economic Development Institute at the University of Oklahoma. Tim Alexander Director, Business Research & Analysis 314.444.1146 talexander@stlrcga.org Tim provides research support for the economic development team as Director of Business Research & Analysis. He has over 10 years experience in industry research and libraries. Most recently, Tim was Senior Vice President of Library and Research Services for Health Capital Consultants, a St. Louis based healthcare financial & economic consulting firm. In this position, Tim managed all research services including conducting in-depth research and writing industry reports. Tim earned a master's degree in Library Science from the University of Missouri and a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics from the University of Iowa.  Lori Becklenberg Director, Business Recruitment - Office 314.444.1193 lbecklenberg@stlrcga.org As director of business recruitment for office projects, Lori manages business recruitment and expansion projects, executes marketing trips, tradeshows and special events, develops and qualifies recruitment leads and implements marketing initiatives on behalf of the entire bi-state region. She brings nearly 10 years of economic development experience to this position. Prior to the RCGA, Lori most recently has held the position of senior project manager with the Missouri Department of Economic Development. Lori’s responsibilities included: serving as lead for the St. Louis team; automotive industry specialist; conducting site visits; preparing and presenting marketing proposals and presentations; preparing site location analyses and structuring and negotiating economic incentives packages. She worked on significant projects including Edward Jones, Isle of Capri, Fireman’s Fund Insurance, Centene, RehabCare Group and several others. Lori earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from William Woods University in Fulton, Missouri and has completed coursework at the Economic Development Institute.  Louis Copilevitz Director, Business Recruitment - Industrial 314.444.1139 lcopilevitz@stlrcga.org Louis Copilevitz recently joined the RCGA Economic Development team as Director of Business Recruitment, to focus on the industrial user market. The primary goal of this position is to attract new businesses to our 16-county region. Louis comes to the RCGA with over 13 years experience in the Commercial Real Estate industry having worked as an independent broker and as a developer’s representative. Most recently, Louis worked for McEagle Properties where he was responsible for the leasing of company developed assets which encompassed office, industrial and retail product. Other experience includes working as an independent real estate broker for Trilogy Real Estate, Cushman Wakefield and Hutkin Development Company. In these positions, Louis represented property owners, developers, tenants and buyers in purchasing, selling or leasing various types of commercial real estate. Associated responsibilities included conducting market studies, site and property analysis and lease or contract negotiations. Louis has served as a board member of the City of Clayton- Economic Development Advisory Committee, St. Louis Association of Realtors- Commercial Information Exchange and the O’Fallon YMCA. Louis earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Denver; majoring in Real Estate and Construction Management. He has completed numerous continuing education programs such as the International Council of Shopping Centers- Shopping Center University, several Certified Commercial Investment Manager (CCIM) courses and holds a Missouri Real Estate broker license.
Prior to joining St. Louis RCGA, Jay was President of Active Capital in Irvine, California. He also founded and ran Venture Point, the only strictly high tech, high growth oriented Small Business Development Center (SBDC) in the nationwide network of U.S. SBA sponsored SBDCs. Prior to starting Venture Point, Jay was Director of Strategic Initiatives for the Orange County Business Council running technical assistance projects supporting tech transfer, defense conversion, equity investing and high growth. Previously, he directed a consortium of U.S. information systems companies (ACIST) in Moscow, Russia for three years. And has directed numerous projects designed to promote international trade, technology development and foreign investment for private corporations and federal agencies. Jay is a founding board member and executive officer of the Pacific Incubation Network (PIN), board member of the Tech Coast Venture Network and current Chair of the California Venture Forum. He has also founded and/or directed several conferences in life sciences and information technology and has twice chaired the national Corporate Investment and Strategic Alliance Conference. His educational background includes International Business Certificate from the American Graduate School of International Management (Thunderbird) Glendale, Arizona and bachelor's degrees in political science and philosophy from Westminster College.
Felicia serves as executive assistant to the senior vice president for economic development. She is responsible for the administrative needs of the senior vice president and the economic development initiative governance.  Nancy Krelle Project Manager, Economic Development 314.444.1113 nkrelle@stlrcga.org As project manager for economic development, Nancy is responsible for the database management and administrative needs of investor relations activities and the existing business monitoring initiative. She helps to maintain the economic development portion of the website, as well as assisting the vice president of economic development on marketing collateral. Prior to joining the RCGA in 2006, Nancy had previously worked in public relations for the American Cancer Society and served for a year as a campus ministry intern for a student group at Washington University in St. Louis. Nancy is a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication with minors in business and Spanish.
Linda Leonard, CEcD Linda brings 20-plus years of economic development experience. She joined the RCGA in 1995 and has led a number of activities within the economic development division including national marketing, business recruitment, and research and analysis. She held similar positions with the Kansas City Area Development Council for 12 years. An Ohio native, Linda graduated from Lake Erie College in Painesville, Ohio with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics with a minor in American Studies. She earned the International Development Council’s highest professional designation (CEcD) in 1989. She also has served on the former American Economic Development Council’s national Board of Directors.
Judy Schrum Judy joined the RCGA in 2008 and brings 19 years of administrative and customer support experience. She has worked in the security sector for 12 years with St. Louis-based companies, which include Cam-Dex Security and Federal Bureau of Investigation. A St. Louis native, Judy has studied commercial art at the St. Louis Community College – Meramec.
Lindsay Ochoa As a project coordinator for business recruitment, Lindsay is responsible for the preparation, assembly and transmittal of proposals. She also coordinates business recruitment marketing trips, tradeshows and project activities. Lindsay joined RCGA at the beginning of 2008. Prior to RCGA, Lindsay worked for Panera Bread Company for four years. While she was there, she was a Shift Supervisor and Training Facilitator. At Panera, Lindsay helped train, manage, and develop new associates. She also participated as a Project Manager for the Department of Marketing at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Lindsay is a graduate of Southern Illinois University Carbondale. There, she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing.
Ruth Sergenian Ruth Sergenian joins the RCGA as Director of Economic Policy & Analysis bringing over 20 years of real estate market research, and economic and community development consulting experience. Prior to joining the RCGA, she spent eight years as an analyst and project manager with RegionWise, a regional research center at Saint Louis University’s School of Education and Public Service. She also worked as a consultant with Development Strategies in St. Louis. Her work included conducting market studies, economic and fiscal impact analyses for housing and commercial developments, and neighborhood revitalization projects around the country. Clients included non-profit organizations, development companies, business organizations, and government agencies. Prior to moving to St. Louis, Ruth was the Director of Commercial Real Estate Research at the National Association of Realtors in Washington D.C. During her tenure with the Realtors, she oversaw the publication of three editions of The National Real Estate Review. She held the position of Senior Associate with REIS Reports in New York, where she researched and wrote about commercial real estate markets around the nation for institutional clients. Ruth has also worked for real estate development firms in St. Louis and Lansing, Michigan. Volunteer efforts include holding officer positions in the St. Louis Chapter of the American Statistical Association from 2002 and being the chapter president in 2005. She is a member of the United Way Research Committee. Ruth has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from SUNY at Stony Brook and a Master’s Degree in Urban Planning from the University of Michigan. |
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Jay DeLong 
