AECOM, Featherston hired to develop Chrysler plant
St. Louis Business Journal
November 3, 2010
Officials have hired AECOM of Chicago to develop a plan for the former Chrysler plant in Fenton and hired Barbara Featherston as senior project manager.
Officials from Fenton, the Missouri Department of Economic Development and St. Louis County picked AECOM to research, analyze and develop a plan identifying the best sectors to replace jobs lost at the Fenton plants and surrounding vendor supply chain.
AECOM's fee is $301,000.
Featherston will oversee the planning initiative to diversify the economy and expand employment opportunities in the wake of the Chrysler plant closings. She previously worked for the Center of Research, Technology and Entrepreneurial Exchange (CORTEX), a nonprofit organization that facilitates the development of a plant and life science district in midtown St. Louis. She also previously worked for General Electric and Sara Lee Bakery Group in their corporate real estate divisions.
Featherston's salary is $98,000.
The plan is expected to be completed by the end of 2011.
In September, a group of local business developers made an offer to buy the shuttered Chrysler plant, but the St. Louis County Economic Council and other state and local entities decided to move ahead with a market analysis.
About 7,000 or so workers previously worked at Chrysler's Fenton plants. The North assembly plant in Fenton produced Dodge Ram pickup trucks until it closed in July 2009. Chrysler's South plant, which made minivans, closed in October 2008. The 300-acre site has sat vacant since Chrysler shut down all operations there in fall 2009.
