When the FAST 50 Technology Awards were first presented in 1996, winners didn’t know their technology neighbors, non-technical businesses didn’t realize the significance of the technology resources available in the St. Louis region and potential employees from outside the region didn’t appreciate the vast opportunities available in the high-tech companies in the metropolitan area.
With the advent of the Technology Gateway: The St. Louis Regional Science & Technology Alliance, people are starting to take notice of the significance technology plays in the regional economy. Created 16 months ago by the RCGA and St. Louis-area technology leaders, the Technology Gateway Alliance is focused on: capital formation; workforce development; technology transfer; resources for entrepreneurs; technology image and marketing of the St. Louis region; and IT and biotech plant sciences networks.
In its short life, the Technology Gateway Alliance has achieved significant accomplishments:
- a membership of 215-plus area high-tech companies, organizations and institutions, with more than 600 active participants
- the production of a 90-page venture capital resource guide for high-tech entrepreneurs, available on the website and in hard copy
- the development of the St. Louis Virtual Job Fair website to showcase St. Louis area high-tech companies and provide access to job opportunities.
Barbara Bouchey, the director of the organization, just announced that the Missouri Venture Forum and the RCGA/Technology Gateway Alliance will co-sponsor the InvestMidwest Venture Capital Forum in May 2000. This will be the first venture capital conference in our region specifically for high growth and technology companies.
Also next spring the organization will host a showcase for research and technology developments that are coming out of the universities and being applied in the private sector. The Technology Fair will highlight the region’s leading-edge technologies and provide exposure to groundbreaking research programs, inventions, patents and technology-based business opportunities.
Gregory A. Sullivan, founder and president of G.A. Sullivan, RCGA board vice chair for science and technology, and chair of Technology Gateway Alliance, notes “Through Technology Gateway, the leaders of our regional technology community, commercial, government and academic, have been brought together for the first time ever, to share ideas about how we can advance the technology economy in our region.” Washington University Dean of the School of Engineering, Dr. Chris Byrnes will succeed Sullivan as chair in January.
Doug King, chair of the Technology Gateway Image & Marketing Committee, and president of the St. Louis Science Center, says the organization is probably the fastest-starting technology council in the country. “When I first went to Washington D.C. in 1996 to start one, we were thrilled that we had 100 members after a year. That, at the time, was considered by my organization, incredibly quick. The St. Louis initiative is remarkable, particularly in a community that historically hasn’t thought of itself as a technology region.”
More than 600 people from the 215 organizations serve on committees for the organization. “We have enjoyed many benefits as a result of our involvement in Technology Gateway, including increased visibility of and in the St. Louis marketplace,” notes Skip Martin, vice president of PC Innovators Consulting. “Even the interaction with companies we might consider competitors has increased our understanding of the marketplace, and what it takes to be successful. We are gaining a larger view of the world.”
The Technology Gateway Alliance is a fee-based membership organization.
It is open to any business, academic institution, governmental
entity, nonprofit organization or individual involved and interested
in the development and future of technology in the St. Louis region;
RCGA membership is a prerequisite. The web site address is www.technologygateway.org.
