BizJournal 💲📰

Venture Cafe St. Louis, which has provided weekly entrepreneurial programming in the Cortex innovation district for nearly a decade, plans to wind down its current operations.

The warehouse retailer is opening two new distribution centers in the Midwest next year, one of which will be in the St. Louis area.

The largest health insurer in Missouri plans to add 250 workers at its headquarters office in downtown St. Louis.

Fontbonne University said Thursday that it would cut staff and programs in response to budget shortfalls.

Bi-State Development's board on Wednesday approved a $390.4 million contract with Siemens Mobility Inc. to provide up to 55 new light rail vehicles, which will replace aging MetroLink vehicles.

Moody's Investors Service earlier this month downgraded Webster University's issuer and debt ratings to Ba3 from Ba1, but the school said the move, which considers the year ended May 2023, doesn't include recent enrollment gains.

Connor James still remembers the first “really good cup of coffee” he had: “It really opened my eyes to what coffee can taste like,” he said.

One of the St. Louis region's largest privately held companies is changing up its executive suite as one of its top executives retires.

A family-owned Mexican-South American grocery store in St. Louis County plans to expand into a long-vacant big-box space across the street.

Esquire magazine has named a St. Louis sushi-focused restaurant on The Hill one of the 50 best new restaurants in America. Sado, located at 5201 Shaw Ave., was named on the annual list of "Best New Restaurants in America" by the magazine on Tuesday. A group of the magazine's food writers traveled and dined at more than 200 restaurants and compiled their list of the 50 best. MORE: Sado, the highly anticipated sushi restaurant from Nick Bognar, to open on The Hill How the Bognar 'dynasty' helped…

A former Missouri legislator with a controversial history of posting inflammatory statements on social media has won a $77,000 discrimination settlement claim with the St. Louis County government. Maria Chappelle-Nadal, a former Missouri state representative and senator who was once censured for calling for the assassination of former President Donald Trump on social media, later landed a government job working for St. Louis County Councilwoman Rita Heard-Days as an aide. In the fall of 2022, Heard-Days…

Gerard Craft's Cinder House restaurant at Four Seasons Hotel in downtown St. Louis will close after a five-year partnership, officials said.

Bankrupt broadcaster Bally Sports plans to drop regional sports broadcasts, possibly in September 2024 as part of a wind down, according to reports, a move that would force two local pro franchises – the Cardinals and Blues – to find other television and streaming arrangements.

The Cortex Innovation District said Wednesday it's secured $7 million from the state of Missouri to address tech talent shortages.

An Earth City-based technology provider and IT services firm has appointed two of its employees to new C-suite roles.

A new coffee shop from developer New + Found and U.S. Coffee in Good Spirits Champion Matt Foster will open at City Foundry.

A global professional services company has acquired one of the St. Louis region's largest information technology consulting firms.

The deal, which reportedly could be finalized by the end of the year, would create a health insurance giant and become the largest M&A deal of 2023, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Scott Colbert acknowledged Wednesday that he was wrong – kind of – a year ago when he predicted a recession was likely.

BJC HealthCare and Saint Luke’s Health System said they'll combine on Jan. 1, creating a cross-state system with 28 hospitals and hundreds of clinics.