The head of an influential organization of St. Louis area business leaders, the public face of the effort to push city leaders to spend millions of dollars from the Rams settlement on neighborhoods including downtown, is leaving town.
Greater St. Louis Inc. announced today that its CEO, Jason Hall, has accepted a job in Columbus, Ohio, as CEO of the Columbus Partnership, an organization similar to the one he is leaving. “I will continue to champion St. Louis reaching its full potential from afar, and I look forward to this next phase in my career in metropolitan civic leadership,” Hall said in a statement.
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The statement gave no timeline for Hall’s departure, other than saying he would step down from his role in the coming weeks. GSL will embark on a national search for his replacement.
Hall is a Granite City native who was a rising star at the law firm that’s now Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner when then-Governor Jay Nixon tapped him to run the Missouri Department of Economic Development. Hall was openly gay before that was common at large law firms or in Missouri politics, and his nomination was blocked by Senate Republicans. After serving as executive director of the Missouri Technology Corporation and then vice president at the St. Louis Regional Chamber, Hall helped create Arch to Park, which focused on developing the area between the Gateway Arch and Forest Park. It became one of five civic organizations that joined forces in 2021 to form GSL—with Hall as its first CEO.
Under Hall’s leadership, the organization has worked to make the city more competitive on the national and global stage, with the goal of speaking with one voice on economic development issues. Among many other initiatives, GSL runs TheSTL.com and the #STLMADE campaign to promote positive stories from the region.
The organization is also deeply influential in local politics, supporting candidates who tend to be pro-business and development-friendly.
In recent weeks, Hall has been engaged in a tête-à-tête with Aldermanic President Megan Green over how to spend the $280 million the city won in its settlement with the Rams after the NFL team relocated to Los Angeles. Green has said she favors putting the money into an endowment, which would generate funds for specific projects, such as daycare funding, in perpetuity.
Hall, on the other hand, along with several aldermen, has favored spending the money more quickly, with about $100 million of it going to downtown and the remaining $130 million allocated to struggling neighborhoods in North and Southeast City. A bill at the Board of Aldermen that would do just that has at least four yes votes: North City Alderwomen Laura Keys and Pam Boyd, who is the bill’s primary sponsor; Tom Oldenburg, who represents a ward in South City; and Alderwoman and mayoral candidate Cara Spencer, whose Ward 8 stretches from Downtown into South City.
Hall recently stated in a letter to Green that the business community would match that $100 million “at least two-to-one,” meaning that if Boyd’s bill and GSL’s plan come to fruition, Downtown could see more than a quarter-billion dollars in investment.
After Hall departs GSL, but before his successor is named, the organization’s chief real estate investment officer, Dustin Allison, will serve as interim CEO.
“GSL won’t miss a beat during this transition process,” said Andy Taylor, of Enterprise Holdings, who serves as GSL’s founding chair.
