ST. LOUIS — Bolstering the city’s bid to become a hub for geospatial technology, economic development and academic leaders announced Thursday the creation of a new research center that will help build an industry officials see as key to St. Louis’s economic future.
Funded with a “legacy investment” from Andy Taylor, executive chairman of rental car giant Enterprise Holdings, as well as contributions from eight area research institutions, the Taylor Geospatial Institute will fund research and develop programs to draw top scientists to the St. Louis. It will also hire research support staff, house cutting-edge equipment and computing power and build an extensive data library in a bid to draw the top minds in the field here.