The St. Louis County Port Authority Community Investment Fund recently approved nearly $5 million in grants to be dispersed to nonprofits in the county.
The annual grant program has been in place since 2010, but it took a pause last year. It supports economic and community development projects in St. Louis County that align with the Port Authority’s investment priorities, including business expansion, real estate development and entrepreneurship in underserved communities. The program has grown in recent years.
Around 36 applications were reviewed in 2023, resulting in 21 awards totaling $3.3 million. This year, over 80 applications were submitted, and 38 nonprofits were approved for funding.
The funding hasn’t been dispersed yet, and that will vary based on individual nonprofit paperwork processing times, Port Authority officials said.
“We spend a great deal of time going through the applicants that we receive in order to select the very best ones that we think will have a major impact on people's livelihood in St. Louis, on the economic conditions in St. Louis, (and) on the ability to create new and interesting jobs that will keep people living in St. Louis and active in our community,” said Kevin F. O’Malley, chair of the St. Louis County Port Authority. O’Malley served as the U.S. ambassador to Ireland from 2014 to 2017 in former President Barack Obama’s administration.
“Like our funding the new St. Louis-London flights announced in October, we are hopeful that the investments we announce today will provide new opportunities and improve the economy of St. Louis County and the region.”
Approved organizations receive varying amounts, O’Malley said.
“We do this on reimbursement. After the grant is approved, then a formal grant agreement is entered into,” O’Malley said. “Then we reimburse expenses after they've been incurred.”
Applications for the current grant cycle closed in July.
According to the Port Authority, nonprofit organizations that will receive grants include:
- A Red Circle
- Affton-Lemay Chamber of Commerce
- African Chamber of Commerce St. Louis
- Affinia Healthcare Family Medicine
- Ajax St. Louis
- Claudie’s Urban Gardens
- Cortex Square One
- CyberUP
- Employment Connection
- Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Metro St. Louis Foundation
- HEAL Center for the Arts
- International Institute of St. Louis
- Keyway Center for Diversion and Reentry
- House Everyone STL
- LaunchCode Foundation
- Legal Services of Eastern Missouri
- Lemay Child and Family Center
- Mercy Health Foundation-South
- Motivating Purpose with Education and Readiness
- NAREB St. Louis
- North County Inc.
- NPower–Tech Fundamentals
- Network for Strong Communities
- New Avenue Inc. Community Resource Center
- Per Scholas
- Rebuilding Together St. Louis
- Room at the Inn
- Rustic Roots Sanctuary
- Small Business Empowerment Center
- St. Louis Artworks
- St. Louis County Library Foundation
- TechArtista Foundation
- The Core Collective at Saint Vincent
- The Little Bit Foundation
- University of Missouri-St. Louis Transform UMSL Project
- Vintendo4Africa
- Welcome Neighbor STL
- Zion Travelers Community Involvement Association
