Linda Martinez likes taking action. That’s why she and a couple friends renovated an old commercial building in downtown St. Louis.
“I was an attorney at Bryan Cave involved with a lot of economic development activities, creating jobs, and urban redevelopment,” she says. “I guess I just got tired of talking about it and wanted to do something. So my friends and I bought a building across from the City Museum, renovated it and moved in. To some degree it’s the same thing I did when I stopped practicing law to commit myself to the public sector, just on a much larger scale. I wanted to be part of this recovery. I wanted to help move the State forward.”
As Missouri’s Economic Development Director, Martinez is the first woman ever to hold this position. But it’s a distinction she doesn’t dwell on.
“It’s really not about that,” she says. “I’m glad to be part of a very diverse team that Governor Nixon has assembled. It does speak to the progress that women have made in the field.”
Interestingly, Martinez’ career aspirations didn’t include passing the bar, much less working in government. In fact, she took some pre-med courses while attending the University of Missouri-Columbia. But after graduation, while working for an organization in Florida, she came in contact with a couple of transactional lawyers. Suddenly her career path became very clear.
“I really didn’t know what lawyers did when I was growing up,” she says. “Of course I knew about court room lawyers, but absolutely nothing about transactional lawyers. So after working with them I thought, ‘I think I’ll go to law school.’”
Martinez attended Washington University’s law school and clerked for Bryan Cave, where she was offered a position after graduation. She worked for the firm for over 26 years
specializing in project finance and development transactions, and working with clients such as BJC HealthCare, Washington University Medical Center, the St. Louis Blues Hockey Club, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, the Garden District Commission, and Marriott International.
“I had such great opportunities while at Bryan Cave,” she says. “I worked with the best clients, the best attorneys and the best business people that you can imagine. It was a lot of fun.”
An auto racing fan, Martinez recalls the story of how she was on the way to the Daytona 500 when she got a phone call asking her to review an agreement.
“Do you believe it? It was an agreement for an auto racing facility just outside of London,” she exclaims. “How great was that? Really, I had more fun than you should have in a career.”
Despite her love for her work, when someone suggested she apply for the head of economic development for the State, she jumped at the chance.
“I thought, why not? I did not want to wait until I retired to do my public service. I needed to do it now. This is the time, this is the place, and this is the job.”
Today, Martinez has her sights set on getting Missourians back to work.
“Right now I’d say it’s the most challenging thing about this job,” she comments. “There are about 250,000 or so people in Missouri out of work. So we’re constantly working with companies and communities to support the creation of jobs. But not just more jobs like we have now. Sure, we want to keep those jobs. But we also want to develop good, solid, high-paying jobs for the future and to expand employment options. We’re working so everyone can have the joy and self respect that comes from being fully employed.”
Martinez admits working for the public sector is quite a bit different than working for Bryan Cave.
“That’s not to say it’s better or worse, just different,” she says with a laugh. “But sometimes I think my forehead’s really going to be flat from hitting it against the wall. But honestly, I love what I’m doing and I wouldn’t want to do anything else.”
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TalkingPOINTS
BORN: Kirkwood, Missouri
EDUCATION: Undergraduate at University of Missouri-Columbia; Law degree from Washington University
BOOKS: I read a lot of literature in the field, but I admit to reading all of the Harry Potter and Twilight books.
HOBBIES: I love NASCAR, Cardinal
baseball and hanging out with my friends watching movies. |
