Explore St. Louis and the City of St. Louis are pleased to announce the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF) will bring its 2023 and 2025 GEOINT Symposiums to St. Louis. The USGIF events are the nation’s largest gathering of industry, academia, and government – including the Defense, Intelligence and Homeland Security Communities, as well as commercial, federal/civil, state, and local geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) stakeholders.

“I am so thrilled to welcome the GEOINT Symposiums in 2023 and 2025,” said Mayor Lyda Krewson, City of St. Louis. “With the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s new western headquarters located here, exciting improvements to America’s Center, and investment in innovations including Geosaurus at T-REX, St. Louis is the perfect place to convene top leaders in the geospatial field.”

These events are projected to bring more than 4,000 attendees to St. Louis, generating 7,500 hotel-room nights and having a direct economic impact for the region of approximately $4.5 million. In addition to attendees, each event will host more than 210 exhibiting organizations, as the GEOINT community will be discussing opportunities and solving challenges.

“We are excited to be hosting USGIF’s GEOINT Symposium in St. Louis for the first time in 2023,” said USGIF COO Karin Fitzgerald. “The Foundation has expanded its relationship with the city in recent years by planning more events in St. Louis, launching a St. Louis Area Working Group, and recently welcoming Mayor Krewson to give a keynote address at GEOINT 2019. We are excited to continue our relationship with St. Louis as it advances as a recognized geospatial center of excellence.”

In addition to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) building its new western headquarters in St. Louis, another major catalyst for geospatial industry interest downtown has been T-REX, a non-profit innovation & entrepreneur development facility that supports St. Louis technology startups and is located just one block from The America’s Center.

By the end of 2019, T-REX will open a first-of-its-kind Geospatial Resource & Innovation Center on its 4th floor, aptly named Geosaurus. Geosaurus, Powered by Bayer, will be an inclusive community space uniting St. Louis’ expanding geospatial cluster, focusing on nurturing early-stage geospatial startups and supporting workforce development.

“Being selected to host the 2023 and 2025 GEOINT Symposiums shows to the world that St. Louis is truly emerging as the global center for innovation in the geospatial and location intelligence industry,” said Dr. Patricia Hagen, President & Executive Director of T-REX. “The transformative potential this industry has for St. Louis in terms of economic investment and job creation is astounding—and we’re already seeing the ripple effect.”

Approximately 27,000 local jobs are currently tied to the geospatial sector, amounting to a $4.9 billion total economic impact, according to numbers released by the St. Louis Development Corporation.1

“USGIF chose St. Louis for the GEOINT Symposiums for several reasons, including the community emergence as a world leader in geospatial excellence, the new NGA Campus is under construction, the T-REX operation is immediately adjacent to the America’s Center Convention Complex, placing the community resources in geospatial excellence right at the doorstep of GEOINT. By 2023, the plans for the America’s Center Convention Complex include numerous upgrades that will uniquely accommodate their needs,” stated Kathleen “Kitty” Ratcliffe, President of Explore St. Louis.

The $175 million “AC Next Gen Project,” recently approved by St. Louis City and St. Louis County, will provide state-of-the-art improvements to America’s Center. Along with a new, 65,000 square-foot, multi-purpose ballroom, which will open into a new outdoor pavilion located on the north side of T-REX, the project also includes the addition of 92,000 square feet of advantageous exhibit space, improved aesthetics of the building and surrounding area due to the construction of new loading docks with enclosed access, as well as enhancements to the complex’s central entrance on Washington Avenue.

“As the national hub for geospatial excellence, St. Louis must be equipped to host world leaders and national conferences—and that’s where we come in,” continued Ratcliffe. “Critical investments in America’s Center ensure that St. Louis will become the place to host significant events and showcase our innovative, entrepreneurial community.”