NGA’s Mark Tatgenhorst to head Geosaurus, slated to open later this year

ST. LOUIS (August 1, 2019) – Geosaurus, the first-of-its-kind Geospatial Resource & Innovation Center under development within T-REX’s downtown innovation facility, has named Mark Tatgenhorst its founding Program Director.

Tatgenhorst, a 33-year veteran leader of research and innovation initiatives for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), will spearhead development operations for the state-of-the-art center, slated to complete construction by the end of 2019.

Geosaurus will be an inclusive community space uniting St. Louis’ expanding geospatial cluster, focusing on nurturing early-stage geospatial startups and supporting workforce development.

“Mark’s impeccable tenure with NGA encapsulates the Geosaurus ethos and his expertise will strengthen our mission to further solidify St. Louis as the global center of excellence in geospatial and location information,” said Dr. Patricia Hagen, Executive Director of T-REX.

St. Louis has emerged as a leading center for geospatial technology advancement, due in large part to NGA building its new $1.75B western headquarters just north of Downtown and to the city’s rapidly growing tech ecosystem.

Tatgenhorst has played a key role in facilitating NGA’s outreach to the external innovation community, serving as co-chair for the St. Louis Area Geospatial Ecosystem Subcommittee and NGA Campus West Research Directorate Lead.

“I had to be a part of the energy surrounding Geosaurus,” Tatgenhorst said of his new position. “This collaborative environment and innovative approach is the exact next step the geospatial industry needs to make, and it’s happening in St. Louis. I couldn’t say no to this tremendous opportunity.”

Funding for Geosaurus programming, including the addition of the Geospatial Program Director position, has been made possible by a $500,000 grant by the United States Economic Development Administration, a bureau within the U.S. Department of Commerce.

“EDA is pleased to support T-REX’s efforts to assert the St. Louis region as a pioneering worldwide player in the geospatial industry,” said Angela Belden Martinez, EDA Regional Director. “We congratulate incoming Director Tatgenhorst and look forward to the launch of this transformative, inclusive space as a means to foster specialized tech talent and to expand access to high-skilled careers.”

Bayer is a founding sponsor of the resource center as well, contributing a matching $500,000 grant for renovation and buildout of the nearly 15,000 square foot space on T-REX’s 4th floor.

Dr. Hagen selected Tatgenhorst after an extensive interview process following an open call for candidates beginning in October of 2018. He is scheduled to retire from his government position this month and will begin working directly with T-REX August 5.

“We had applicants from around the world interested in this pivotal leadership position, which speaks to how important innovation is to this industry,” said Dr. Hagen. “And everyone I’ve spoken to has said, ‘you couldn’t have found a better guy for the job.’”

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Join us August 14th at this month's Geosaurus Unleashed as we introduce Mark Tatgenhorst to our community with a fireside chat alongside Dr. Patricia Hagen, President & Executive Director of T-REX.

More press:
"NGA Veteran Tapped to Lead T-REX's New Geospatial Center" - St. Louis Business Journal
"NGA's Mark Tatgenhorst to Lead New Geospatial Center Geosaurus at T-REX" - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Sledgehammers breaking through a mock wall signaled the construction start of the new "Geosaurus, Powered by Bayer" Innovation Resource Center at T-REX, a St. Louis based advanced technology incubator. Geosaurus will serve as the latest pillar in St. Louis' efforts to become the global leader in geospatial intelligence, excellence and expertise.

Last year, T-REX was awarded a $500,000 grant from Bayer to support the creation of a new geospatial innovation space that would be located inside the nonprofit's downtown St. Louis building. To accommodate "Geosaurus, Powered by Bayer", crews are renovating T-REX's entire 14,760-square-foot fourth floor.

With an emphasis on entrepreneurship, innovation, workforce development, partnerships with area universities and training programs, Geosaurus will provide collaborative content and programming for advancing the geospatial industry. It will also become a talent pipeline for companies like Bayer and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which is relocating its Washington, D.C. headquarters to a site that is less than two miles away from T-REX. By 2026, it's estimated that companies operating within the "Geosaurus, Powered by Bayer" Innovation Resource Center will create more than five thousand new geospatial industry jobs and generate more than $500 million in economic growth for the St. Louis region.

"St. Louis has so many incredible geospatial resources across the region, and Geosaurus will be the thread that connects them," said Patricia Hagen, President and Executive Director of T-REX. "This is where innovations will be fostered; talent will be cultivated and partnerships will be formed."

T-REX is home to more than 200 companies, including those focused on geospatial intelligence such as Geodata IT, SAIC, Optimal Geo, UNCOMN and Boundless, which Bayer began a collaborative relationship with in 2017 to coordinate open source geospatial code to the Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial (FOSS4G) community.

"Geospatial intelligence is becoming a high priority for agriculture as well as other industries that rely on highly technical and precise mapping data," said Al Mitchell, Vice President of Corporate Engagement for Bayer. "Bayer is excited to partner with T-REX in the development of Geosaurus, which will help to further define St. Louis as an innovation and technology hub."

One of the first companies moving into Geosaurus will be the Combatting Wildlife Trafficking Geo-Analytic Hub, which is working to harness geospatial analytics and predictive modeling for efforts to stop global poaching.

Joining Mitchell and Hagen at today's "wall smashing" ceremony were St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson, Downtown STL, Inc. CEO Missy Kelley and St. Louis Development Corp. Executive Director Otis Williams. St. Louis architectural firm Remiger is designing the "Geosaurus, Powered by Bayer" space. Construction of the new center is expected to be completed in August 2019.

Provided via PR Newswire
Feb 21, 2019

T-REXers work tirelessly each and every day as the true innovators and future economic drivers of our region. As we close out 2018, let's take a moment to celebrate our collective successes this year, and measure our momentum heading into 2019.

[Read more...]

Originally published on the Engility blog by Michael Aper and republished through EQ: Entrepreneur Quarterly. Engility is now SAIC.

This is not a cautionary tale of genetic engineering gone bad; it is a tale of how Engility recognized an opportunity to better partner with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) by moving into the T-REX Innovation Center (a St. Louis nonprofit incubator that takes its name from its beginnings as the Technology Entrepreneur Center at the Old Railway Exchange).

We also gained access to some of St. Louis’ most interesting startup companies Comparing one’s customer to a dinosaur is not always wise, but given the early success of T-REX for Engility and NGA, I think the venerable tyrannosaur may be my new personal spirit animal.

It’s Okay To Be King

The NGA does a lot of very cool things with geospatial data, but traditional intelligence community thinking has kept its engineers more or less at arms’ length from commercial innovators. That changed when NGA set out to “work in the open” and make St. Louis the geospatial tech capital of the world—working with the commercial and academic sectors. I watched with interest as startup companies began flocking to the T-REX offices. NGA started using T-REX spaces heavily in 2017 during the Department of Defense Intelligence Information System (DoDIIS) Worldwide Conference and hosted NGA Tech Showcase West from the facility a few months later. NGA was coming out of windowless rooms to collaborate with diverse thinkers in an open-concept environment…and I wanted to make sure Engility was there. I laid out the plan to move our St. Louis offices to T-REX, and Engility’s leadership agreed.

The T-REX offices open a whole new world of opportunity. The startup mentality mixes things up and gets government and IC personnel thinking about solutions differently than we’re used to. Getting the brain steered in a different direction can lead to effective brainstorming sessions and unique approaches to problem solving. As creatures of habit, it’s refreshing and motivating for government personnel to get outside the classified walls and into this type of energetic, innovative, and entrepreneur environment.

Engility joined the T-REX community in May 2018, the same month that NGA began increasing their presence at the facility. We now sit in the same building that our customer frequents as their primary location for offsite meetings and events. In addition, there will soon be a new Geospatial Resource Center on the 4th floor. T-REX is quickly becoming the geospatial hub of St. Louis.

Taking Big Bites

The tyrannosaur was capable of 500-pound bites. Taking the lead from my spirit animal, Engility is looking to take full advantage of our new office space. In the coming months we have plans to host demos for our NGA customers, give sneak peeks to newly-released apps via NGA’s GEOINT App Store, engage with new talent, attend customer and building events, and host a variety of events meant to engage our customer and fellow T-REX denizens.

We’re still just beginning our chapter here at T-REX, but we are fresh off a visit with senior NGA leadership, which we expect to be the first of many successful customer and vendor engagements.

In one of the largest local efforts to link the St. Louis startup community with leading experts, Missouri Venture Forum has landed more than 35 speakers for its second annual. Roadmap to Entrepreneurship” conference... [Read more...]

  T-REX, the Downtown St. Louis innovation center dedicated to helping technology startups thrive, today delivered its first report highlighting the organization’s economic impact on the St. Louis community since its founding in 2011.... [Read more...]

T-Rex, the downtown incubator for tech startups, has helped create more than 2,200 jobs and $350 million in economic output since its founding in 2011.... [Read more...]

The 200 companies who’ve gone through T-Rex have created 2,230 jobs. Most of the start-ups who’ve gotten too big for the space have stayed downtown once moving on, and geospatial intelligence firm ‘Boundless’ will open.... [Read more...]  

Those are among the findings of the 2017 Kauffman Index of Startup Activity, which was released this morning. Produced by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the index provides an annual look at how many people are starting new businesses in the United States in a given year and who those people are.... [Read more...]

The 200 companies who’ve gone through T-Rex have created 2,230 jobs. Most of the start-ups who’ve gotten too big for the space have stayed downtown once moving on, and geospatial intelligence firm ‘Boundless’ will open.... [Read more...]