New Geospatial Classified Facility Opening in St. Louis, Missouri

A new 75,000 square foot sensitive compartmented information facility, or SCIF, is under construction in the historic Globe Building in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. The new SCIF facility is expected to be up and running with more than 500 new jobs this September.

“Those are new jobs that are coming to St. Louis, and we’re hiring daily to bring more people to St. Louis,” said Westway President Jack Pryor, whose team is leading the development of the SCIF. “This is a great opportunity for us.”

The SCIF, which is the equivalent of 2 acres in size, is unique among tech-oriented facilities as it allows companies to conduct classified business with the nearby western headquarters of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA).

Missouri Senator Roy Blunt credited St. Louis officials who had been working to land projects like the SCIF in Missouri for years, even before geospatial technology and imagery saw widespread use across industries like it does today.

“We’re getting to see the real economic opportunity, not only that comes in building out a building like this, but the jobs that will be here on a permanent basis,” Blunt said. “Some jobs will eventually outgrow this building and go somewhere else, but in all likelihood, they’ll be somewhere else in St. Louis.”

The Missouri facility is the first multitenant SCIF outside the Washington, D.C. area, and it’s the largest SCIF outside of that region.

Geospatial analysis and cybersecurity are emerging sectors in Missouri, with solid foundations due to the presence of NGA and their thousands of employees. NGA broke ground on its new western regional headquarters in north St. Louis in 2016. Scheduled to open in 2025, NGA West represents a $1.7 billion investment.

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