The St. Louis Business 500 highlights some of the metro area’s most impactful, innovative, and inspirational leaders, from C-suite executives to under-the-radar entrepreneurs across an array of industries.
Beyond the brief bios below, we created a questionnaire to shed light on some of these leaders’ achievements, aspirations, and interests beyond the office. Click the names highlighted in blue for more interesting insights from some of St. Louis’ top business leaders.
Jump to Section: Arts, Sports & Leisure / Banking & Finance / Community Builders / Education / Emerging Leaders / Government & Economic Development / Health Care / Leading Industries / Living Legends / Nonprofits / The Political Scene / Professional Services / Real Estate / Sustainability / Technology & Innovators
ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT
General Director, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis
As Opera Theatre of Saint Louis enters its 50th festival season, Jorgensen has his eyes on cementing the nationally and internationally lauded company’s place in the community. “I want for us to be ever more focused and more rooted in St. Louis,” says Jorgensen. “We are making meaningful steps toward this goal already, and it is something I hope other arts organizations across the country will join us in prioritizing.”
Executive Director, Pulitzer Arts Foundation
In her role at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation, a museum devoted to presenting historical and contemporary works of art within a global context, Starke is responsible for overseeing a space where visual and performing arts collide. In addition to learning from other museum directors and business leaders across the country, Starke says she’s fortunate to work closely with arts community stalwart Emily Rauh Pulitzer, whom she calls a “visionary leader and mentor.”
Min Jung Kim
Barbara B. Taylor Director, Saint Louis Art Museum
Kim became the first woman to lead the Saint Louis Art Museum when she stepped into her current role in 2021. Since then, she’s shepherded the museum through a pandemic, welcomed groundbreaking exhibitions, and led the organization toward initiatives that expand and re-center the institution’s collections. Collaboration and partnerships are paramount to Kim, and it shows in recent programming, such as hosting St. Louis Storytelling Festival events, offering Open Studios with Craft Alliance, and bringing performing arts organizations into the museum for Festive Fridays.
Executive Director, Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis
Over the past year, Melandri has thought a lot about CAM’s past and future. While celebrating the museum’s 20th anniversary, Melandri was able to reflect on the Washington Avenue art space’s impact: It has shown more than 700 artists and welcomed more than 600,000 visitors over the past two decades. “Taking a moment to recognize this milestone in the organization and all of the people who have made it possible has been truly inspiring,” she says.
Artistic Director, Saint Louis Dance Theatre
Douthit-Boyd is leading the recently renamed Saint Louis Dance Theatre (formerly Big Muddy Dance Company) into a new era with the company’s 2024–2025 season, “(RE)Imagine,” featuring an impressive lineup of new and significant works. It’s an inspiring time for the prolific artist, who previously held positions with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and COCA—though the work is far from over. “The amount of work that it takes to sustain a healthy nonprofit business can be very challenging,” he says. “Making sure you’re dedicating enough time to support both the artistic and financial needs is crucial.”
President and CEO, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra
Bernard has long championed the symphony and her adopted hometown. Later this year, the Quebec native will be able to show off one of the biggest accomplishments of her SLSO tenure. “We are turning Powell Hall into a new music center of the 21st century that will transform the way audiences experience symphonic music,” Bernard says. Not only will the renovated space enhance traditional SLSO performances, but it will also provide more ways to connect with the community through its new Education and Learning Center.
Founder and Producing Director, The Black Rep
Since founding The Black Rep in 1976 as a student at WashU, Himes has remained a prominent voice in the St. Louis arts scene, captaining his own organization while also flexing his acting chops and leadership skills beyond it. After nearly 50 years at the helm, Himes says his constant challenge is “communicating the value of the arts—theater arts in particular—in building social and cultural awareness.” To that end, The Black Rep welcomes many talented young people into the theater each year through camps, performances, and fellowships.
Producing Artistic Director, St. Louis Shakespeare Festival
Anyone wondering about the relevance of Shakespeare—and theater at large—need only stop for a quick chat with Ridgely. The festival is constantly innovating, offering unique takes on classics and taking programming directly to the people. Now, Ridgely says, is not the time to slow down in the arts sector. “It’s been a rough couple years for the theater industry as a whole. I understand the impulse to want to play it safe,” he says. “But that’s not how we make the best case for ourselves as an artform. Everyone’s wondering what’s next. It’s our job to venture out into the unknown and try to answer that.”
Managing Director, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis
Audiences wondered about the future of The Rep after the departure of artistic director Hana Sharif and the announcement of a $2.5 million budget shortfall in 2023. But they needn’t have worried. Under Williams’ capable guidance, The Rep has mostly weathered the storm. A successful Rally for The Rep campaign, a buzzy 2024–2025 season, and the return of the Steve Woolf Studio Series are all big wins for the company, and Williams is hopeful for what lies ahead.
Lauren Ross
Executive Director, Laumeier Sculpture Park
Even while addressing budget woes and instability in the arts space, Ross has managed to keep Laumeier Sculpture Park moving forward and focused on the future. The park, which is home to many permanent outdoor installations, recently tackled fundraising for and conservation of Alexander Liberman’s “The Way,” a project that is estimated to cost more than $335,000. Next up on the docket: plans for Laumeier’s 50th anniversary in 2026.
Chris Hansen
Executive Director, Kranzberg Arts Foundation
Hansen’s passion for St. Louis’ cultural community is clear. The longtime arts and entertainment industry professional has spent more than a decade leading the Kranzberg Arts Foundation, through which he also helps lead the St. Louis Art Place Initiative. Through arts-based community development, Hansen is helping secure St. Louis’ reputation as a creative hub and welcoming home for artists of all kinds.
Kwofe Coleman
President and CEO, The Muny
When Coleman took the helm at The Muny in 2022, it was the pinnacle of a long journey with the beloved institution. Coleman’s first job there was when he was just 16 years old and needed summer work. He has come a long way since those early days assisting patrons, and Coleman is now focused on crafting a Muny experience that is representative of the broad community it serves.
CHEFS + RESTAURATEURS
Owner, The Gin Room
A little over a decade ago, Bahrami was faced with a choice: keep working in her parents’ restaurant, Cafe Natasha’s, and continue what they’d created, or chart her own course. Now, on the 10-year anniversary of her essential bar, The Gin Room, Bahrami stands confidently in her decision to make her own way—a path that took her from Washington, D.C.’s foreign policy world to its gin bars, where she developed a passion for the spirit that has made her one of its leading voices. She’s earned a spot in the international Gin Hall of Fame, but, for Bahrami, a 2025 James Beard Award semifinalist, the real reward is being able to advocate not only for the spirit that she loves dearly but also for the entire St. Louis food and beverage scene.
Dave Bailey
Co-owner, Baileys’ Restaurants
Bailey is perhaps St. Louis’ most prolific restaurateur, alongside his wife, Kara; at one point, they had opened 10 restaurants in 15 years, a number that’s unheard of in such a grueling business, let alone amid all of the headwinds the industry has faced since 2020. Yet they keep going with a quiet fearlessness that has yielded some of the area’s most beloved institutions (Rooster, Baileys’ Range, Baileys’ Chocolate Bar, Small Batch) while remaining steadfast in championing the city.
Co-owner, OG Hospitality Group
Ever since he cooked the first burger ever served at Mike Duffy’s as a teen, Baldanza has known that he wanted to be in the hospitality business. He believes a restaurant has the power to be an essential part of the community—a belief that has animated every venture he’s opened: the Corner Pub, the Tavern Kitchen and Bar, and Shack. OG Hospitality seems to be continually expanding, yet it never seems to stray from its core identity.
Fred Burmer
CEO, Lion’s Choice
When Burmer became Lion’s Choice’s CEO in 2023, he did something a lot of experienced corporate restaurant professionals would not have: He asked for the long-retired Lion’s Choice founder’s seal of approval for his first menu tweak. That humility and understanding of the balance between honoring a brand’s past while shepherding it into the future is why this former Yum! Brands pro is the perfect steward for St. Louis’ beloved titan of roast beef.
Owner, Niche Food Group
Two decades ago, Craft was a young, untested chef who came to St. Louis with a vision for a restaurant that would change the way our region dines. What that means has evolved over the years as Craft, a 2025 James Beard Award honoree, has grown from a chef/owner into one of the nation’s hospitality leaders. Initially, Niche pushed our palates to new places. Now, Craft is pushing the industry to be more humane, sustainable, and intentional in the way it treats those who work and dine in it—and doing so while building up those around him.
CEO, HUSTL Hospitality
In a previous life, Eickenhorst worked for nonprofits, dedicating herself to making the world a better place. Now in the hospitality business, Eickenhorst is no less committed to building up St. Louis through her restaurants: Steve’s Hot Dogs, The Fountain on Locust, The Fountain on Delmar, and Steve’s Meltdown. She sees her restaurants as much more than places that bring delicious food to people; they are places where she can both empower and develop her employees and bring about change in St. Louis. (Her crusade to change the city’s archaic liquor license process is especially noteworthy.) All of this is animated by the belief that, if it’s worth your energy, anything is possible.
Joe Fresta
Owner, The Pasta House Co.
Half of the dynamic duo who founded one of St. Louis’ most iconic restaurant chains, Fresta has discovered the secret recipe to honoring the 50-year-old brand’s past while still making it feel like a vital part of the current dining landscape. Part of that is his ability to maintain consistency in the dining experience. Even more so, it’s Fresta’s unwavering commitment to the St. Louis community that he shows through the brand’s philanthropic efforts, which resonate across the region.
Michael & Tara Gallina
Co-owners, Take Root Hospitality
Eight years ago, the husband-and-wife team returned to Michael’s hometown of St. Louis from the esteemed Blue Hill at Stone Barns in New York to open a restaurant of their own. Over the years, the Gallinas have reinvented themselves from a single restaurant, Vicia, into a multi-unit hospitality group, all while navigating the twists and turns of an ever-changing business. The Gallinas’ ability to gracefully adapt while remaining true to their core values—as well as being a driver for positive change in the service industry—is an example for anyone in the business.
Co-Owner, Sugarfire Smokehouse, Hi-Pointe Drive-In, The Boathouse
A few days before the fine-dining-chef-turned-pitmaster opened his first Sugarfire Smokehouse, he called his investors in a panic, convinced he’d made the worst restaurant decision of his life. Fast-forward 12 years, and Johnson has become one of the genre’s defining voices and, by extension, a national ambassador of St. Louis’ culinary scene. He’s done so by not taking success for granted and getting back up when he falls. That combination of humility and fearlessness is his winning recipe.
Founder/CEO, Clementine’s Creamery
While many only daydream about quitting their corporate job to follow their true passion, Keefe actually took the leap: She left behind a successful career in marketing to become a leader in the nation’s craft ice cream scene. From a small scoop shop in Lafayette Square to a multi-unit and retail brand—one that’s landed her a coveted spot on Oprah’s Favorite Things list—Keefe shows that bravely doing what you know is right in your heart can yield the biggest success.
Owner, Katie’s Pizza & Pasta Osteria
Now on the verge of a major, national expansion of her consumer-packaged-goods brand and with a multi-unit restaurant chain under her belt, Lee is an unstoppable force. Her brand has grown at a dizzying clip since she opened her first pizzeria on Clayton Road in 2008. Through it all, Lee has never lost sight of how far she’s come and the people who inspired her along the way. This is the key to her success: By remaining true to her vision of food as an art form and not compromising quality for expansion, Lee and her team push the idea of what’s possible and continue to set the standard for how a brand can responsibly grow.
Owner, Bengelina Hospitality
Last year, Poremba faced what would be disastrous for any other restaurateur: Compelled to shutter his suite of wildly successful restaurants in the Botanical Heights neighborhood, Poremba decided to meet that setback with a bold vision to reopen them—and expand his brand in a part of town that had been devalued for decades. Eyebrows raised. Heads shook. Poremba was undaunted and is now proudly welcoming guests into two new restaurants—and more are on the way. As much a visionary as a restaurateur, Poremba sees what is possible where others don’t, and in doing so, pushes the hospitality community to places it never thought it could go.
Shayn Prapaisilp
Chief Operating Officer, STJ Group Holdings
Growing up in his family’s ground-breaking St. Louis restaurant, The King & I, Prapaisilp understood that his family was doing much more than serving delicious food; they were introducing customers to their Thai culture through cuisine. In that sense, Prapaisilp feels a responsibility to honor the legacy of what he and his family have created over the years. Yet he also understands the need to push diners further in their culinary exploration as a purveyor of international foods through grocery stores Global Foods Market and United Provisions, where both adventurous eaters and local chefs shop. By deftly balancing both of these goals, he’s been a leader in expanding the area’s palate.
Owner, So Hospitality Group
In 2015, So left his Laclede’s Landing office and headed to an impromptu lunch; mere minutes after his departure, the building partially collapsed. That he chose to rebuild in a part of town people have been vacating for years tells you everything you need to know about So’s tenacity and belief in what St. Louis can be. The 2024 Asian American Chamber of Commerce Entrepreneur of the Year sees his restaurants, Drunken Fish, Kimchi Guys, and 612 North, as forces for positive growth—growth of his employees, his neighborhoods, and the city at large. It’s a big mandate, but in pursuing it, he never loses sight of the guest experience, which is what inspires him day to day.
Kirk Syberg
Co-owner, Syberg Family of Restaurants
For more than four decades, Syberg’s Family of Restaurants have been the sort of low-key gathering places where St. Louisans make memories, whether celebrating after kids’ basketball tournaments, watching the MLB playoffs, or just hanging with friends. Their expansion into finer dining with Twisted Tree continues their restaurants’ legacy of being so much more than simply places to grab a bite and a drink.
Jason & Adam Tilford
Co-owners, Session Taco
Last year, the Tilford brothers were dealt one of the worst blows that a brand could sustain. After being sued by a massive, similarly named corporation for trademark infringement, the Tilfords were forced to rename and rebrand Mission Taco Joint into Session Taco. They incurred significant expenses but met the uncertainty that the change would entail with tenacity and grace. Their positive, get-it-done attitude in the face of seemingly insurmountable circumstances is a model for all small-business owners.
Qui Tran
Owner, Mai Lee, Nudo House
One of Qui Tran’s earliest memories involves riding his bicycle up and down Delmar Boulevard with about a thousand paper menus for his family’s then-new restaurant, Mai Lee. Even as a kid in the 1980s, Tran was Mai Lee’s biggest hype man; as he’s established himself over the years as a vital part of the St. Louis restaurant scene, that passion has translated into the region’s restaurant community as a whole. Tran is not only a beloved restaurateur and the unofficial mascot of Mai Lee, he has become one of St. Louis’ most enthusiastic boosters. He travels across the country to sing its praises, celebrating the city’s collaborative spirit that he has helped to create.
Mark Wooldridge
Senior Vice President, Controller, and Chief Accounting Officer, Panera Bread
Perhaps no other St. Louis food brand has undergone the national growth that Panera Bread has seen during Wooldridge’s nearly two decades with the company. Through it all, he has been a steady hand within the organization, helping it responsibly manage expansion while remaining true to its mission of providing access to quick, affordable, and wholesome food.
SPORTS
President, St. Louis Sports Commission
You can thank Schreiber’s team for bringing marquee events, including March Madness, NASCAR races, PGA majors, and more to the region. A few years ago, events like these might have only received a handful of bids. Now, St. Louis competes with 15 to 20 peer markets for the rights to host. “I’m optimistic we’re making progress in this area, but just looking locally, we could be more successful if we had financial support from our local public sector,” he says. “Lacking that, we are at a competitive disadvantage. But with it, we can generate a great return on investment.”
Jeff Jackson
Commissioner, Missouri Valley Conference
With conference realignment touching every corner of the college sports landscape, it’s harder than ever to be a league commissioner. While the MVC is set to lose Missouri State University in July, Jackson is doing his best to stay on offense. During his tenure, the MVC has added three members—Belmont, UIC, and Murray State—and extended its venue agreement with Enterprise Center to keep its men’s basketball tournament, known as Arch Madness, downtown through at least 2028.
Bill DeWitt III
President, St. Louis Cardinals
Perhaps DeWitt’s biggest win of the past year took place at the ballot box. When Missourians passed Amendment 2 to legalize sports gambling, it allowed the Cardinals, Blues, and other teams in the state the opportunity to provide fans with a safe and regulated sports gaming environment that had not previously existed here. The teams will also have the opportunity to create a dedicated sports gaming location in close proximity to their stadiums, where fans can socialize and share in sports wagering, much like many teams in other states. The Cards have long remained a strong proponent for downtown St. Louis and its entertainment districts, such as Ballpark Village, which serves more than baseball fans with offices (PwC Pennant Building), residences (One Cardinal Way), hospitality (Live! by Loews), and more.
Carolyn Kindle
CEO and Co-owner, St. Louis CITY SC
Kindle, who helms the first women-led ownership group in Major League Soccer and serves as president of the Enterprise Mobility Foundation, has provided the league with a model for future expansion clubs to follow. And it’s not merely MLS contemporaries who can learn something from her. The bulk of the club’s $468 million stadium was privately financed, a fact noted across the country as more cities sour on the idea of public subsidies for sports teams. Through thoughtful community outreach and an emphasis on fan experience, CITY has quickly woven itself into the tapestry of St. Louis culture.
Chris Zimmerman
President and CEO of Business Operations, St. Louis Blues
There’s a good chance that Zimmerman has been the architect of some of your favorite hockey memories. He was instrumental in helping St. Louis land big-name events, such as the 2017 Winter Classic and 2020 NHL All-Star Game. Zimmerman also played a leading role in St. Louis’ bid to host the 2025 NCAA Frozen Four at Enterprise Center. Before joining the NHL, Zimmerman worked as Nike’s North America advertising director before becoming general manager of Nike Golf and later serving as president and CEO of Nike Bauer Hockey.
Curtis Francois
Owner, World Wide Technology Raceway
When he purchased the failing Metro East raceway in 2011, Francois married his passions: auto racing and real estate development. The former head of Tamar Development, Francois saw an opportunity to invigorate the local racing community and help St. Louis plant a flag as one of the Midwest’s premier racing destinations. His bet paid off. After extensive renovations to the facility, Francois landed the NASCAR Cup Series. This fall, the raceway will host the opening round of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
