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Business
June 16, 2021 • Community News – St. Louis County • www.mycnews.com
Vantage Credit Union St. Louis region gets an economic boost as announces Quest For Education redevelopment projects bring new jobs at scholarship recipients former auto assembly plant sites Vantage Credit Union congratulates ten local high school seniors selected to receive a 2021 Quest For Education scholarship (QFE). Recipients were honored with a reception at Topgolf on May 18. Eric Acree, Vantage President & CEO and Dr. Jerry Eichholz, Board Chairman presented each recipient with their $1,000 scholarship. The QFE scholarship has supported college-bound high school seniors and their commitment to further their education for over 25 years, and has granted over $700,000 during that time. With roots deep in the educational community, Vantage recognizes the importance of higher education for a successful future, and strives to give back to its younger members for all their hard work and dedication. “We’re so proud of these outstanding student leaders and grateful for the opportunity to support them on their educational journey,” said Jenny Sandifer, QFE scholarship coordinator. Here are the 2021 Quest For Education scholarship recipients with their high school, listed in alphabetical order: Wesley Arndt, Warrenton High School; Molly Fitzgerald, Francis Howell High School; Mary Kate Gillespie, Hillsboro High School; Kaleb Jenkins, Clayton High School; Aleksandra Levin, Whitfield School; Jaxon Luraschi, Pattonville High School; Isaiah Thompson, Westminster Christian Academy; Faith Wenzel, Warrenton High School; Grace Wenzel, Warrenton High School; and Symone Woods, Parkway North High School. Winners of the QFE scholarship were judged on their essay response to the question, ‘If you could have one do-over in your life, what would it be and why?’ and a combination of appropriate honors and awards; participation in extracurricular, community and volunteer activities; employment and recommendation letters. Credit Union membership is required. Every year, dedicated volunteers (local educators, Vantage Board and Supervisory Committee members and select employees) serve as QFE Selection Committee judges.
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Major redevelopment and investment in former and current auto manufacturing sites in the St. Louis region are part of a success story that highlights rebirth, resiliency, ingenuity to attract new businesses, the value of public-private partnerships, and the excellent locational attributes the bi-state area offers. After purchasing the former Ford Motor Company property in Hazelwood, in 2008, Panattoni Development Company invested $250 million to transform the property into Aviator Business Park, a 160-acre development with 2.6 million-square-feet of space housing more than 1,150 employees. US Capitol Development purchased the former Chrysler plant facilities on 300 acres in Fenton in 2014 to develop Fenton Logistics Park, where they have now completed five buildings that are 100% percent occupied, with another four buildings under construction. The redevelopment represents an investment of $300 million and has resulted in 2,000 jobs. Each project was highlighted during FreightWeekSTL 2021. Mark Branstetter, Partner with Panattoni Development Company, provided insight on what attracted his company to the former Ford auto assembly site. “There’s an old axiom in real estate; it’s location, location, location,” Branstetter said. “And for us, as we looked at the site that was Ford and became Aviator, it was 160 acres and a purely urban infill. It’s adjacent to all the major Interstates – I-270 is the loop and 70 and 170 and Lindbergh (Boulevard), which is a major thoroughfare, adjacent to Lambert Airport, and it was rail served by Norfolk Southern. So, it had a whole lot of arrows in the quiver that, you know, if you can see through what was sitting on top of it and you could get to the dirt, then it became a really interesting site for us.” Branstetter reinforced the need for labor.
“It’s eminently important. I’d be hard pressed to point to any deals of significant size of late that you haven’t seen some form of a workforce analysis done by the tenant to find out if they can come up with labor, particularly for anybody that’s employing a number of employees there. So, we see that consistently,” Branstetter said. “When I said this is an urban renewal project, and the same goes for (Fenton Logistics Park), you’re surrounded by residential density and workforce development already built in without the need for significant ground. So, you’re already an infill. You already have access. And then, for our project, we have connectivity with Bi-State (Development) and Metro (Transit), so we’re able to move a lot of employees into and out of the site.” Branstetter joked that the former Ford plant site was covered by a 3.3 million-square-foot manufacturing facility. He said that, if you had the parts to make a car, you could have made it, because everything was left behind by Ford - 73 robots, the tracking system, the chain drive system, and all the pits were fully equipped. It took until 2008 for the real estate deal to close. Then the financial crisis happened in 2009 which ended up being a positive, as Branstetter said they were able to take their time from a demolition and remediation standpoint. Through this process, they had Ford as a partner, two of the largest environmental remediation companies in the world, and the state of Missouri, city of Hazelwood and St. Louis County. Their equity partners and lenders all were extraordinarily flexible. “I would say if there’s anything to note on these projects, that is a must, it is flexibility, because you’re going to run into things that you didn’t anticipate and you just have to deal with them,” Branstetter said.
