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ST. LOUIS — The city's economic development agency on Thursday approved extending marketing and consulting contracts with two outside companies.Ìý

The board of the Ó£ÌÒÊÓƵ Development Corp., which manages development and tax incentives in the city, agreed to extend its marketing and communications contract with until June 2025. The contract is worth up to $615,000, with a portion of it being paid with funds from the American Rescue Plan Act.Ìý

The board also agreed to extend its contract with Ó£ÌÒÊÓƵ-based Levy Consulting through the end of the year. The agency will allocate up to $85,000 for Levy to help with the onboarding of SLDC's .Ìý

Under the leadership of Neal Richardson, SLDC has expanded its use of outside contractors — a move that had drawn scrutiny. But Richardson, who was appointed in 2021, has likened the contracts to that of deferred maintenance of a house. He has said that they will modernize the agency, cull bottlenecks and improve production.Ìý

Other contracts the board approved: 

• $50,000 for additional support to the T-REX business incubator in downtown Ó£ÌÒÊÓƵ. SLDC was one of the original funders of the organization.Ìý
• $50,000 to help outfit the Coast Guard's new office on First Street in Laclede's Landing.Ìý
• $49,500 to extend the contract of MWR Coaching & Consulting, which provides leadership training, through June 2025.
• $150,000 contract with TechSTL to create an online data platform for citizen needs reporting, resource inventory and other tools.