THE MAKING OF A GENIUS CLUSTER

Written by Jordan Palmer / Photo by Joe Martinez

There is just something about St. Louis. Many never leave and many who do either find their way back or continue to hold their hometown close to their heart. It could be friends and family, the high school they went to, the sports teams, or just the memories, but something about this town continues to pull us all in.

Nostalgia aside, St. Louis has a new momentum, and some would say it comes from those St. Louisans who refuse to give up on their hometown and see a vision for the city that makes sense for real, relevant reasons, and not just hometown pride.

St. Louisan Jim McKelvey is part of that new momentum.

“It’s my home town but I did not appreciate it until I left,” said McKelvey. “I’ve lived in Washington, D.C., London, San Francisco, Florida, and even Tokyo. In all cases I found it tough to build anything in those cities. In those places it was too hard and too expensive. I then realized I wanted to be part of St. Louis because it is an industrial city, I like the people, and it’s my home.”

From his home away from home inside the Third Degree Glass Factory, McKelvey has put his thoughts and resources to looking at St. Louis in a new way. “As I sit here on Delmar looking north, looking at structures that need help, I can’t but think of the great potential of the entire area,” said McKelvey. “I’m disappointed St. Louis has lost ground and its vibrancy. I want to bring it back.”

And McKelvey is a man of his word but it took plenty of reallife experiences to get him there.

Beginning back in 1989, McKelvey and a team of engineers from Washington University founded Mira, a digital document viewing system, in St. Louis. By 1996, he had teamed with friend and future co-founder of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, to release one of the first-ever commercial systems for online submission management.

McKelvey, an avid glass blower, launched Third Degree Glass Factory in 2002 with partner Doug Auer. The studio brought back to life an old car dealership building from the 1930s on Delmar. This redevelopment would spark McKelvey’s interest in the area as well as his desire to expand opportunities in St. Louis.

In 2009, after losing a substantial glass sale because Third Degree did not accept American Express credit cards, McKelvey envisioned a better way to connect businesses, consumers, phones, and credit cards. A phone call with his old friend Dorsey led the two to launch Square®, which has become a leader in financial services technology.

“Square started here in St. Louis. Two St. Louis boys,” said McKelvey proudly.

San Francisco made sense for the company’s headquarters with Silicon Valley so close and its abundance of available programmers. But McKelvey soon realized two things: the cost of living in cities like San Francisco or New York could make a city like St. Louis more attractive to entrepreneurs but St. Louis lacked a pool of technical talent to compete.

“We created LaunchCode in St. Louis in 2013,” said McKelvey. “We wanted to provide a local answer to the shortage of programmers and create a local supply. This would help St. Louis companies get the talent we need to be successful and survive.”

McKelvey’s nonprofit offers free tech education and job placement for a new generation of programmers and anyone interested in the tech field. Located just down the street from Third Degree, LaunchCode has changed the landscape of St. Louis’ technical infrastructure and continued McKelvey’s quest to grow his hometown.

In an interview with St. Louis Public Radio in 2017, McKelvey told the story of how he utilized a place called the TechShop in Menlo Park, California, when he was making the first prototypes for Square and perfecting its mobile payment technology. TechShop is what is known as a “makespace” where “makers” can create in a workspace and use tools they normally would not be able to access.

His experiences there led him to become a supporter of the company when TechShop announced it was opening a location in St. Louis. But less than a year after opening, the entire company filed for bankruptcy. Guess who stepped up?

“I immediately contacted Dennis Lower who ran Cortex and Doug Auer who runs Third Degree and said, ‘guys, we’ve got to save this,’” McKelvey told St. Louis Public Radio.

McKelvey and his team are working to turn St. Louis into a city that welcomes makers and artists. “Clay, wood, glass, painting, the culinary arts -- all are welcome,” said McKelvey. “The loose version is that many first-tier cities have become unlivable for artists and craftsmen due to cost. So, I’m telling people to come here.”

This thinking has led McKelvey to envision even more growth for what he calls the “Bridge District” -- the area on Delmar between Union Blvd. and Kingshighway, where he says, “makers have a home.”

“I think it’s going to be a genius cluster for makers. Where the world-class knitter will work with a world-class glass blower just feet away. They can discuss projects and perhaps create a collaboration that would never have happened otherwise,” said McKelvey.

In 2018, McKelvey once again doubled down on his hometown. Square announced an expansion into the Cortex Innovation Community space, bringing 300 jobs to St. Louis. “Square is proud to be from St. Louis and thrilled to expand our presence here, where we’ve exceeded our growth expectations thanks to the wealth of local talent,” McKelvey told Mayor Lyda Krewson.

Less than a year later, McKelvey and Square’s commitment to St. Louis grew even further when it was announced Square was moving into the St. Louis Post-Dispatch building. “We’ve committed $100 million to this project because I want our hometown to have this.” McKelvey’s move is expected to bring 3,000 new jobs to downtown and he believes it could be the catalyst for downtown’s revitalization.

“We have the talent. We will have people living in St. Louis, earning $100,000, and living really well. That same amount isn’t going to get you anywhere in other cities,” said McKelvey. “These new workers will enjoy a lifestyle in St. Louis that will be far superior.”

Looking ahead to the future, McKelvey is optimistic on many levels. “I’m excited that the Black Lives Matters movement has really started a conversation about our racial problems. We are talking about things we’ve ignored. Talking about them is good.”

He’s especially optimistic about St. Louis continuing to be a leader in the financial technology world. According to McKelvey, St. Louis has the second highest concentration of financial technology platforms in the U.S. “If you take Stifel, Wells Fargo, and about 10 other major companies here, we have a unique advantage as a place to locate start-ups. If you’re going to build a FinTech company, this is the place to do it when compared to New York City. The math is just right.”

McKelvey, in his own way, is a megaphone for his hometown as a place where the ‘everyman’ can find a great job, make a good living, raise a family, and live a nice life. “It’s a city that really is affordable, has deep cultural roots, world class museums and educational systems, and is accessible when compared to other cities,” said McKelvey. “It’s a nice place to live, but it’s a great place to level up.”