Cortex CEO and president Dennis Lower is stepping down at the end of 2019 after nearly a decade leading the innovation district.
Lower was tapped to lead the innovation district in St. Louis鈥 Central West End neighborhood after a national search in 2010. Before Cortex, he led similar research parks sponsored by universities in Shreveport, La., and Newark, N.J.
Cortex 鈥 created by a collaboration between Washington University, BJC Healthcare, the University of Missouri-St. Louis, St. Louis University, and the Missouri Botanical Garden 鈥 grew from 35 companies in 2010 to 390 currently, including Microsoft, Square, Boeing, Accenture, Express Scripts, Centene and Aon. Companies in the district now generate nearly $342 million of direct payroll annually, according to Cortex, and employ 5,700 people. Cortex鈥檚 long-term goal is to have 15,000 jobs within its boundaries.
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鈥淒ennis has done an exceptional job building and growing Cortex. His contributions to economic advancement, innovation and inclusion have been remarkable,鈥 Hank Webber, chairman of the board of Cortex and executive vice chancellor of Washington University, said in a statement. 鈥淲e could not have had a stronger CEO for the past ten years.鈥
A national search for Lower鈥檚 successor will begin soon.
Two decades ago, Cortex was an underutilized corridor of industrial buildings. By focusing on providing space for biotech entrepreneurs and tech startups, the district now lures large companies such as Microsoft who want to be close to where the talent is.
鈥淭hey want to be in a place where people are constantly innovating,鈥 Lower said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 attractive. That鈥檚 a value proposition. And it鈥檚 a value proposition that wasn鈥檛 there 10 years ago.鈥
Lower won鈥檛 disappear after his departure. He鈥檚 open to tackling specific projects for Cortex as a consultant, but he said it would be 鈥渘ice for me to free up some time to look at some other areas where I鈥檇 like to contribute.鈥 He鈥檚 been at the research park and tech district development game for 25 years.
鈥淚 did it for 25 years because I really love it and I did it because I really believe it changes communities,鈥 he said.