The Arch City Report

Twenty-five years ago, the Maplewood-Richmond Heights School District was one point away from losing its state accreditation. Today, it posts the highest performance score of any district in Missouri — and home values in Maplewood have surged nearly 80% (adjusted for inflation) over that same period.

This week, host Erik Siemers is joined by St. Louis Business Journal reporter Kate Marijolovic to unpack how a district once written off as failing became the region's top performer. The turnaround wasn't a single dramatic move — it was years of methodical change driven by Superintendent Dr. Linda Henke, from rewriting curriculum and raising teaching standards to rebuilding community pride through sports, arts, and civic engagement. But the story doesn't end at the classroom door. Realtors say the school district is now the single biggest draw for young families moving to Maplewood, where homes routinely sell in under a week.

Erik and Kate explore what this means for St. Louis Public Schools, which enrolls nearly 10 times as many students and is navigating its own facilities crisis through the "Future Ready SLPS" plan. Could a Maplewood-style cultural shift take root in a large urban district — and would it be enough to reverse the region's demographic decline?

Read more: Find Kate Marijolovic's reporting at bizjournals.com/stlouis, or tap the links in the show notes.

This episode is supported by Maryville University and Cass Commercial Bank.

Katie Lee is the owner of Katie's Pizza & Pasta — a St. Louis food empire spanning four restaurants, a frozen pizza manufacturing facility, and an e-commerce business employing around 500 people. Now she's also a published author.

Her new memoir, *Unemployable: The Katie Lee Story*, traces a turbulent childhood, battles with addiction and sobriety, and the unlikely rise of one of St. Louis's most relentless entrepreneurs. The title comes from a phrase her father, Tom Lee, used to describe them both — and Katie flipped it into a badge of honor.

In this episode, Katie sits down with host Venita Rizvic, special sections editor at the St. Louis Business Journal, to discuss:

- Why she wrote the book as a way to mourn her father and her close friend Rolando

- The tough-love lessons from her father that shaped her entrepreneurial grit

- Writing and self-publishing the memoir in 30 days to meet a Target deadline

- The Target partnership that grew her CPG line from 500 to 7,500 doors in one year

- Balancing single motherhood with a rapidly expanding business

- What's next: a new 50,000-square-foot manufacturing facility, a documentary, and more

*Unemployable* is available now at Target stores nationwide, on Amazon, and at katies.com. Independent bookstore distribution begins November 1st.

The Arch City Report is presented by the St. Louis Business Journal, with supporting sponsors Maryville University and Cass Commercial Bank.

After 1,700 police calls over a decade, the Mark Twain Hotel is finally closed. The settlement reached by Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway with the hotel's owner marked a major early win for Downtown Forward, a nonprofit launched this spring to tackle problem properties and improve quality of life in downtown St. Louis.

Erik sits down with attorney Jerry Schlichter — co-founder of Schlichter Bogard and co-founder of Downtown Forward — to discuss how the Mark Twain closure came together, the relocation of 168 residents through partnerships with the city and Peter & Paul Community Services, and the problem properties and street-level drug activity still facing the area around the Old Post Office and Schnucks Culinaria. Schlichter also shares his decades-long commitment to the urban core, his role in championing the state historic tax credit, and why his firm has never left downtown.

This episode of the Arch City Report is brought to you by Maryville University and Cass Commercial Bank.

SHOW LINKS:

Mark Twain Hotel owner agrees to settlement over hazardous conditions, criminal activity

Missouri attorney general targets Mark Twain Hotel over alleged drug trafficking

Nonprofits highlight efforts to rehouse Mark Twain Hotel residents

When a new presidential administration takes office, policy shifts can ripple through the business world in unexpected ways. This week, reporter Jim Drew joins the show to share the story of Chrysalis Biosciences — a company that, at the start of 2024, was poised to transform a shuttered ethanol plant in Sauget, Illinois into a production facility for renewable jet fuel. With a landmark investment from a $200 million sustainable aviation fuel fund led by Airbus, the future looked bright.

But after Donald Trump returned to the White House, the Biden-era support for sustainable fuels evaporated, investors lost interest, and Chrysalis was forced to pivot. Erik and Jim break down how changes to federal tax credits, carbon intensity scoring, and the Inflation Reduction Act reshaped the playing field — not just for Chrysalis, but for ethanol producers nationwide. Plus, we explore the company's next chapter: a two-part strategy to restart conventional ethanol production while building new fermentation technology to manufacture biopolymers and surfactants, potentially adding 100 jobs to the Metro East economy.

Then, events director Dana Dhom stops by to preview the St. Louis Business Journal's upcoming events, including the Fast 50 Awards on September 24th at City Winery and the 40 Under 40 Awards on November 5th at FanDuel Sports Live in Ballpark Village — plus a look ahead at upcoming panel discussions on the city-county merger question and the future of downtown St. Louis.

Read Jim Drew's full reporting on Chrysalis Biosciences at bizjournals.com/stlouis.

See the full SBJ events calendar here

rban Chestnut Brewing was one of St. Louis's most beloved craft beer brands — until debt, the pandemic, and shifting consumer trends drove it into bankruptcy. Entrepreneur Brian Travers, who acquired the brewery in early 2025, joins host Erik Siemers to discuss how he's steering it toward stability.

Topics covered:

- How his years as an Urban Chestnut regular during COVID led him to acquire the company out of bankruptcy

- Why he kept the original leadership team, including CEO Dave Wolf, largely intact

- Acquiring O'Fallon Brewing and other regional beer brands to build a larger beverage platform

- Urban Chestnut's expansion beyond German-style lagers with the new Squirrel Works hazy IPA line

- Plans to grow into ready-to-drink cocktails and other beverage categories

- Why brand strength and consolidation, not category growth, will define craft beer's next era

- New locations, including the O'Fallon, Illinois food hall, and wholesale expansion into Tennessee and Chicago

This episode is brought to you by Maryville University and Cass Commercial Bank.

Read more about Urban Chestnut's growth strategy:

Former MLB base factory reopens as food hall near Illinois youth sports complex

What does it take to transform a neighborhood and, ultimately, a city? In this special Arch City Report episode, we share highlights from a live panel featuring Build-A-Bear founder Maxine Clark, WashU executive Brian Phillips and East Loop CID leader Samantha Smugala. Hear the stories behind Delmar Divine, The Grove and the Delmar Loop, plus a candid discussion on whether St. Louis can follow Detroit’s comeback blueprint and what real placemaking success requires.

Habitat for Humanity St. Louis is breaking ground on a 40-home development in the Vandeventer neighborhood — one of the largest housing projects North St. Louis has seen in decades. Host Erik talks with CEO Kimberly McKinney about how the $17 million, tax-credit-backed project came together, how the May 2025 tornado accelerated the need, and what it takes to turn vacant city land into an affordable, thriving neighborhood.

Supporting sponsors: Maryville University and Cass Commercial Bank.

SHOW LINKS:

St. Louis nonprofit breaks ground on affordable housing project backed by $17M in tax credits

St. Louis development agency taps unique financing tool for 40-home development

Gateway Regional Medical Center in Granite City has stood for over 120 years, but its 600+ employees recently missed a paycheck. Business Journal reporter Nathan Rubbelke joins Erik to unpack how the hospital's Los Angeles-based owner, American Healthcare Systems, fell behind on payroll, racked up over $2.6 million in delinquent property taxes, and lost hospital properties at a tax sale — all while its co-founders are locked in a bitter legal battle accusing each other of misappropriating funds, including a mysterious $4.5 million in state supplemental funding. The conversation traces Gateway's journey from a nun-run Catholic hospital to a bankruptcy sale to AHS ownership, and explores the broader financial squeeze facing safety-net hospitals serving low-income, Medicaid-dependent communities across the country.

Show Links:

Gateway Regional Medical Center faces tax sales and legal rift as owner provides $1M loan

Where Will You Watch the Blues This Season? Inside the Collapse of Regional Sports Networks

As regional sports networks collapse nationwide, professional sports teams are scrambling to reinvent how fans watch their games. In this episode of Arch City Report, business journal reporter Nathan Rubbelke joins host Erik Siemers to break down how the St. Louis Blues are overhauling both the production and distribution of their broadcasts for the upcoming NHL season — including a new partnership with the NHL's in-house production arm, an expanded slate of over-the-air games, and the search for a new cable and streaming partner.

Then, Patrick Rishe, director of the sports business program at Washington University's Olin School of Business, joins to unpack the bigger financial picture: why local media revenue is so hard to replace, how private equity is reshaping team ownership, and why some markets — and some owners — may be better positioned than others to weather the shift.

Topics covered:

• Why FanDuel Sports Network Midwest's collapse is forcing the Blues to rethink their entire broadcast strategy
• How NHL-produced broadcasts will change what fans see on screen
• The trade-offs between free over-the-air TV, streaming, and pay cable
• Why regional sports revenue can be nearly impossible to fully replace
• The rise of private equity investment in professional sports
• How state income tax policy may be influencing player free agency decisions
• Mixed-use sports districts as a new year-round revenue strategy

Read more of this reporting at www.bizjournals.com/stlouis. Thanks to our sponsors, Maryville University and Cass Commercial Bank.

Missouri voters dealt a major blow to Governor Mike Kehoe's top priority this week, rejecting Amendment 5 — a measure that would have set the state on a path to eliminating its individual income tax.

Despite being outspent more than four-to-one, opponents successfully branded the proposal "the everything tax," raising fears about higher sales taxes and cuts to education and public services. But what does the lopsided result really mean for Kehoe's agenda — and for Missouri's broader political landscape?

Jacob Kirn speaks with Dave Drebes, publisher of Missouri Scout and columnist for the St. Louis Business Journal, to break down why a well-funded tax cut campaign failed in a deep-red state, which constituencies drove the opposition, and what comes next for the governor heading into a budget-constrained legislative session.

In this episode:

• Why the absence of a specific plan became Amendment 5's biggest vulnerability
• The role of the Missouri Realtors Association in funding the opposition
• What the defeat means for Kehoe's political standing and business alliances
• Whether a bold tax reform push could return — or if Missouri is back to slow, incremental cuts
• The structural challenges keeping Democrats in the super-minority at the Capitol

LINKS:

https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis