The St. Louis Business 500 highlights some of the metro area’s most impactful, innovative, and inspirational leaders, from C-suite executives to under-the-radar entrepreneurs across an array of industries.
Beyond the brief bios below, we created a questionnaire to shed light on some of these leaders’ achievements, aspirations, and interests beyond the office. Click the names highlighted in blue for more interesting insights from some of St. Louis’ top business leaders.
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Rick Shang
CEO, Vulpes Corp.
The team behind Vulpes Corp. is rethinking manufacturing and supply chains in the United States. Co-founded by Shang and his father, chemical engineer Dihu Yu, Vulpes develops oil-based products for the agribusiness, industrial, and pharmaceutical industries—all designed to reduce environmental footprints and lower production costs. The rapidly growing company recently opened its first full-size factory in Dallas, and it has plans for greater expansion in the years ahead.
Sarah Bernard
Co-founder, Inclusively
The workplace has changed dramatically since the COVID-19 pandemic, and Bernard wanted to ensure that people with special needs and accommodations weren’t left behind. That’s why, along with Charlotte Dales, Bernard co-founded Inclusively in 2020. The company uses its Retain AI tool to collect real-time employee data and give employers the tools to accommodate their needs. Last year, Bernard helped Inclusively win $13 million in Series A funding. In June 2024, the World Economic Forum’s Global Innovators Community selected Inclusively to join its 2024 Technology Pioneers cohort.
Luke Babich
CEO, Clever Real Estate
A graduate of Stanford University, Babich returned to his roots in University City, where he ran for city council. Co-founding Clever five years ago, Babich set out to make home-buying a more transparent, affordable process. Each year, Clever connects more than 30,000 buyers with a real estate agent who can help meet their needs. The business also acts as an educational platform, with its media pieces informing more than 10 million consumers about home-buying and -selling.
Founder and CEO, GiftAMeal
While studying at WashU, Glantz created GiftAMeal, a business that leverages social media and cell phones to help feed the community. When a patron dining at a participating restaurant uses the app to take a photo of their meal, GiftAMeal makes a restaurant-funded donation to a local food bank. The restaurant donates a second meal if that same photo is shared to social media. Glantz has led GiftAMeal in reaching more than 2 million donated meals, with more than 1,000 participating restaurants across 39 states, plus D.C. and Puerto Rico.
Chris Hoffmann
CEO, Deutschmann Lane Holdings
Hoffmann Brothers may be a family company, but Chris Hoffmann is far more than a family hire—he now oversees a family of businesses as CEO of Deutschmann Lane Holdings, which operates Hoffmann Brothers, as well as Ferguson Roofing & Exteriors, HBH Investment Company, and Deutschmann Lane Real Estate. Before becoming CEO of Hoffmann Brothers, he served as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps and worked in corporate banking.
Nadia Shakoor
Co-founder and CEO, Agrela Ecosystems
A principal investigator at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, Shakoor is the co-founder and CEO of Agrela Ecosystems, an agtech startup that aims to make research-quality environmental data collection more accessible. The company’s environmental sensor platform, PheNode, is designed to “empower users with customizable data collection and the rapid integration of new technologies”—in other words, to bring drone and other state-of-the-art innovations to farmers and the agricultural industry.
