A conversation with new Cortex CEO Sam Fiorello

Editor’s Note: The following interview took place in mid-February and went to press in early March, before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Sam Fiorello spends a lot of time with his head in the future. As chief operating officer of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center and president of its affiliated research park, he helped launch 39 North, a 600-acre innovation district in Creve Coeur. Now Fiorello is leaving to become CEO of another innovation district, Cortex in the Central West End. Launched in 2002 with a focus on biotech, Cortex has grown to more than 425 companies and nearly 6,000 employees. In 2018 alone, these firms generated more than $1 billion in economic activity. Fiorello’s task when he takes over this spring: grow the district in a way that benefits everyone.

How would you describe the relationship between 39 North and Cortex? I would say they’re siblings. We collaborate a lot. Five or six years ago, the fourth-largest seed company in the world, based in Germany, KWS, announced they were looking for a North American research headquarters. It boiled down to a final four of Boston, the Bay Area, Research Triangle Park [in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina], and St. Louis. We ended up winning. They said we scored very high on “collaborativeness.” It mattered to them that there wasn’t a lot of turf-fighting.

What are Cortex’s biggest challenges? Like in a lot of urban settings, there are issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion. If we in 10 years have all these other metrics of great success—hundreds or even thousands of jobs created and millions of square feet of developments and new money flowing to the region—but only a select few benefit from that, I’m going to count it as a failure. 

Cortex has considered expanding to sectors beyond biotech. What areas would be a good fit? I need to learn more, but I’ve got to believe that with the huge investment the federal government is making in geospatial [technology], that’s going to be a great opportunity for us. Financial technology—you know, St. Louis also has some of the largest buying power and presence for fintech in the world. And health care: not only do you have fantastic resources and skills of [Washington University in St. Louis] and [Saint Louis University] medical schools, but you also have BJC and the other hospital networks.

Would you be targeting large companies? I think more likely is a mix of divisions of large companies that care about the innovation piece and early-stage companies that say, “I can grow my business here.” At the end of the day, nobody is going to come here because they like toasted ravioli, or they like me. They’re not going to come here because we say, “It’s a great place to raise your kids,” or “It’s super affordable housing.” They’ve got to conclude, “This is the best place for me to grow my business.” I think we have to figure that out and articulate that, and once we do, aggressively recruit companies. We’re not going to be sitting back waiting for phone calls. There’s a lot of inertia to keep a company where it is, because you’re moving families. It’s not easy.

Do you think Cortex should expand in the CWE or launch a Cortex East campus near, say, the new Square office downtown? I just don’t know enough right now to answer. But during the interview process, board members and others asked, “Is Cortex a place or an idea?” And I said it’s both. Of course there’s a physical place—acreage and buildings. And the idea is that Cortex works with other enterprises, so its presence can be felt throughout the region. Does that mean you have to have the Cortex logo and a flag planted everywhere? No. The danger is, when you try to do too many things, you’re distracted and you’re diffusing your resources.

What does Cortex need right now? The currency for high-tech jobs is talent. If we can’t win the talent battle, we will lose, full stop. We need to recruit the young, the best, and the brightest, and also we need to mine our pool of citizens who are underemployed and unemployed and increase their skill sets.

And what about recruiting young talent? Wash. U. and SLU get them here. We should keep a larger number of them here. We need to figure out what it will take. It’s not enough to say, “I’ve got a terrific high-paying job for you.” We’ve got to tell a story that meets their needs in terms of live-work-play. 

What will happen to Cortex if the economy takes a tumble? There will be an adjustment. We’re not in a new normal where these things are never going to happen. The good news for a place like Cortex is that the developers have tenants with long-term leases, so there is a flow of revenue that is not quarterly dependent. Now, there may be things you put on hold for six months that otherwise you would’ve charged ahead with. But Cortex is remarkably well-suited to weather corrections.

Cortex’s outgoing CEO, Dennis Lower, said innovation districts take 30 years to fully bloom. Do you think that will be true for Cortex? I would say 30 years is right—it does take a long time—but if we show progress and incremental changes, those will add up to be big changes. One of the things I really believe is that it’s folly for any community to aspire to out-Boston Boston, because you’re never going to win that game. What we should do with great authenticity is become the best St. Louis we can be—and that’s damn good.