David A. Leezer
Vice President, Economic Development Collaborative
Interim Vice President, Business Development

David Leezer joined the SLCEC team in May of 2006 overseeing the county’s new Economic Development Collaborative. The primary focus of the Collaborative is to work with local communities and economic development allies to create a stronger working relationship in St. Louis County. The Collaborative oversees new communications models and innovative cooperative ventures to help make St. Louis County more competitive in the economic development arena.

With over 20 years of economic development experience, Leezer has an established track record of creating cutting edge cooperative programs to enhance the local economy. Prior to joining SLCEC, he served as Director of Economic Development for St. Charles County, Missouri working with local communities, state officials, developers and commercial brokers to create over $2 Billion of new investment during a seven (7) year period. Leezer also spent ten (10) years as an economic development professional for a major midwestern electric and natural gas utility assisting a variety of communities improve their marketing and business development efforts. He is also experienced in local government management having worked as a Director of Administration for a municipality and an economic developer for a four county planning agency.

Leezer, who is a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD), obtained both his B.A. and M.A. in Political Science, with an emphasis on public administration, from Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois. He is also a graduate of the Economic Development Institute from the University of Oklahoma.

David A. Leezer
314-615-5065
dleezer@slcec.com

Monica Conners
Project Manager , Business Development

Ms. Conners has over 11 years of management experience, of which 5 have been spent in the area economic development.  Ms. Conners joined the St. Louis County Economic Council in April of 2006 as a project manager in the Business Development division and previously worked for the St. Louis Regional Chamber & Commerce (RCGA).  Ms. Conners also worked for the Virginia Economic Development Partnership where her primary focus involved managing the incentives proposal process for client companies and consultants.  Her portfolio of announced projects exceeds $1 Billion dollars.
Ms. Conners also has several years in the banking industry working in areas of management, strategic planning and lending for multiple institutions.