Otis Williams to Retire from SLDC

St. Louis, MO – St. Louis Development Corporation has announced that Otis Williams, Executive Director of the City of St. Louis' development agency since 2013, will retire in April of 2021. 

As SLDC's leader, Williams served both Mayors, Francis Slay and Lyda Krewson respectively, and worked behind the scenes on some of the largest projects such as the development of the new Busch Stadium, Ballpark Village, the Cortex Innovation Community and redevelopment of the old Arena site and City Hospital. He also played a key role in the city retaining the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency's western headquarters and construction of the 1.75 billion dollar facility.

Williams stated, “I feel really good at seeing some of the developments that have occurred. They weren't easy. St. Louis is not necessarily the destination for a lot of development, and what we tried to do is change the attitude and the environment, to really make it such that developers would want to do business in the city." Williams said he's proud of "energizing" the agency's incentive review process, through which it sought to assure that developer returns weren't "excessive," and a new economic development framework, unveiled in July, that could help alleviate some of those problems.
 
Williams came to St. Louis in 1998 after a 28-year military career, which he concluded with the rank of colonel in the U.S. Army. Williams served in SLDC for 22 years in various roles, including interim director and No. 2 to Rodney Crim, the current CEO of the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership who once led SLDC.  Williams will retire in April of 2021, which will correspond with the end of Mayor Lyda Krewson's term.

Please direct any inquiries to Mr. Williams retirement to John Parker, Director of Corporate Communications and Media at 314-363-1102 or email him at Parkerj@stlouis-mo.gov. 

About: 

St. Louis Development Corporation (SLDC) is an umbrella, not-for-profit corporation organized under Chapter 355 of the Missouri State Statutes with the mission of fostering economic development and growth in the City of St. Louis by stimulating the market for private investment in City real estate and business development and improve the quality of life for everyone who lives in, works in, and visits the City.  The mission of the SLDC is to stimulate the market for private investment in City real estate and business development and improve the quality of life for everyone who lives in, works in, and visits the City of St. Louis. If there are questions, please contact John Parker, Director of Corporate Communications and Media at 314-363-1102 or email him at parkerj@stlouis-mo.gov.