Two of the primary actors at CORTEX – Clayco and UMSL – were also central to a big 2005 announcement that involved changes to state legislation and the writing of yet another chapter in the area's corporate retention book.
   Helped along by a late insertion in a new state law and several developers' promises not to participate in competing offers from nearby Illinois, St. Louis- based pharmacy benefit plan management company Express Scripts on September 8 announced its intention to build a new corporate headquarters on the campus of the University of Missouri- St. Louis (UMSL).
   "The move to UMSL will facilitate an unprecedented opportunity for employee education and growth," said George Paz, president and CEO of Express Scripts, heretofore headquartered in nearby Maryland Heights. "It will enhance our position as an employer of choice for a diverse and best- in- class work force."
   Several of those United States were in the running early in 2005, including South Carolina and Nebraska. But the stretch run came down to downstate Illinois and the St. Louis area. Key to the decision was a modification – lobbied for by the company among others – to Missouri's new Quality Jobs Act that extended tax breaks to companies that retain jobs as well as those that create them.
   The agreement between Express Scripts and the state maintains the current Missouri work force of more than 1,100 corporate headquarters workers and supports the creation of as many as 480 additional jobs at its new US$34- million facility over the next five years. According to the state, Express Scripts will receive $1 million annually in tax credits for five years under retention provisions of the Missouri Quality Jobs Act, passed just 10 days before the announcement. The company will also receive new jobs incentives estimated at $7.5 million for five years in a combination of retained state withholding taxes and tax credits. The actual amount of Quality Jobs Act incentives may vary depending upon the actual, net new jobs created by the project over the next five years.
   The Quality Jobs Act allows withholding tax incentives to be used to target three economic development areas: small and expanding businesses, new technology companies, and high impact projects. The law requires qualifying businesses to create a minimum number of jobs at competitive wage levels, offer health insurance to these new employees and pay at least half their premiums. The portion of the law utilized by Express Scripts provides retention incentives to companies that employ at least 1,000 people at competitive wages, provide health insurance and can demonstrate that the company is getting ready to leave Missouri.
   The Express Scripts headquarters is being designed and developed by NorthPark Partners ESI next door to a development at UMSL and near Lambert- St. Louis International Airport, called University Place/NorthPark: A University of Missouri- St. Louis Business, Technology and Research Park. NorthPark Partners ESI is an alliance, whose members will include affiliates of McEagle Properties and Clayco. The land parcel for the Express Scripts project, owned by UMSL, was at one time a rival location to the adjacent NorthPark development. But Express Scripts brought the two together by choosing NorthPark as its developer.
   The company expects 1,100 people to occupy its new 320,000 headquarters by March 2007.
   But the 1,600 people at its customer- contact center and pharmacy operations in Maryland Heights will stay right there for the foreseeable future. The company is also launching a new patient care contact center in Pueblo, Colo.