Bakker tapped to establish region as info tech leader
BYLINE: Greg Edwards
St. Louis, a city working to establishing itself as a hub for biotechnology and plant and life sciences, is ready to take on its next challenge: a greater presence in information technology.
Willem Bakker, a native of the Netherlands with 25 years of experience running small technology companies, was hired last month to lead the effort. He holds dual titles: president and chief executive of the Technology Entrepreneur Center (TEC), and executive director of the Information Technology Coalition.
"The IT Coalition focuses on the big picture of creating an environment in St. Louis that fosters and grows IT," Bakker said. "TEC focuses on mentoring and supporting entrepreneurs."
"The goal is more IT professionals working here in St. Louis," said Mark Showers, chief information officer at Monsanto Co. and chairman of TEC.
TEC, a nonprofit incubator funded by the state, the city and individuals, currently has five startup entrepreneurs under its wing, including Heaton Technology Services, providing IT management for small companies; iMobile Access Technologies, a mobile communications firm serving the deaf and hearing impaired; and GameRail, which makes custom Internet networks for video gamers. All are located in TEC's 10,000 square feet of office space in the Bandwidth Exchange Buildings at 210 N. Tucker, home to several established Internet and telecommunications companies. "It is ideally suited because of all of the fiber optic cable," Bakker said.
"TEC provides everything from furniture, to file cabinets, to infrastructure, to office services," said Francis Chmelir, director of operations. The center helps startups find funding and expertise.
The effort to make St. Louis an information technology hub was slowed by the dot-com bust, Showers said.
Similar to the efforts of the Coalition for Plant and Life Sciences -- which in the last six years has spearheaded the addition of thousands of jobs and more than $500 million in venture capital in St. Louis -- the technology push is the result of a study by the Battelle Memorial Institute commissioned in 2000 by the St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association.
"St. Louis has lots of large companies that employ IT workers even though they aren't IT companies," said Walt Plosilla, a Battelle vice president. They include AT&T, Monsanto, A.G. Edwards Inc., Edward Jones, Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc., MasterCard and Savvis Inc. In addition, St. Louis has newer companies in the field, such as World Wide Technology Inc., a reseller of technology products, and the Newberry Group, an information technology consulting firm.
The coasts are the stiffest competition for information technology professionals and entrepreneurs, Bakker said.
Coalitions in other industries are likely in the future, he said, in financial services, advanced manufacturing and health.