Marquette Tech developers announce five new tenants

The local investment group responsible for the forthcoming Marquette Tech District has announced five new tenants moving into the Marquette Tower.

Jeffrey Maurer of Mayson Capital Partners of Cape Girardeau and James Stapleton, founder of Codefi, made the announcement in a Thursday-morning news conference. All five tenants will move in, Maurer said, “as fast as we can get their space ready in this building later this year.”

Two of the new tenants will join the tower through the technology incubator and co-working space Codefi.

Integrated Managed Care Systems started in Codefi less than a year ago. Founded by Southeast Missouri native Lindy Duncan, the health-care information-technology firm provides software with proprietary analytics tools to health-care tech professionals and health-care providers across the U.S.

Its new location within the Marquette Tower will allow the company and its nine employees to expand its business collaborations throughout the nation.

Integrated Managed Care Systems already collaborates with a number of businesses, one of which is Health Check Inc. The company, which provides revenue-cycle services for hospitals throughout the country, is undergoing a major expansion, and its next step is to move into Codefi.

John Scala, president of Health Check Inc., said he intends to hire 50 to 60 new employees for the Cape Girardeau branch.

Already the company, which has offices in Florida and Mississippi, has hired several new employees for the Cape Girardeau branch, including Jennifer Monroe of Jackson, who will serve as the vice president of revenue, integrity and analytics, and Mike Kelley of St. Louis as vice president of sales.

More hiring will occur after the company officially moves in later this year.

Health Check, Duncan hopes, will be the first of many companies Integrated Managed Care Systems works with that will make a home in Cape Girardeau.

Codefi occupies the fifth and sixth floors of the Tower.

The sixth floor, Stapleton said, is fully committed. With the addition of Integrated Managed Care Systems and Health Check, the fifth floor also is nearing capacity.

“Today’s announcement is an example of how tech districts work to create and attract growing companies that provide excellent jobs,” Stapleton said in a news release. “Over the last couple years, we have worked with local partners to create an ecosystem that is beginning to produce real results. We look forward to additional announcements in the near future of more new tech businesses launching and expanding in Cape.”

Another tech-based company will join the Marquette Tower outside the Codefi offices. Jason Wray, CEO and president of the marketing and video-production agency Creative Edge Inc., announced his intention to expand his business into Cape Girardeau after 17 years in Jackson.

When the plans for the tech district became public, Wray said, he already was looking for a way to bring his business to Cape Girardeau, having seen a commitment to innovation from the city and its officials.

“We feel like this is going to be an incubator, not only for startups but also to multiply existing businesses that have similar mindsets,” Wray said. “We’re very anxious and excited to become a part of the Cape Girardeau community.”

Creative Edge will take up residence in the second floor of the tower.

Several entities will become a part of the Marquette Tower’s first floor. Realty Executives of Cape County, which recently moved to a property in downtown Cape Girardeau just east of the Marquette, soon will relocate again, to new offices near the front of the tower, in the retail space facing Broadway.

Technology is at the heart of real-estate sales, owner Bill Cole said, and “I absolutely hope to rely on some of the expertise that’s going to be in this building to allow us to do some other things that are very forward-thinking in real estate.”

The Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce, and along with it the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Cape Girardeau Area Magnet, also will move to the Marquette Tower.

The three organizations will occupy the Carriage House and adjacent rooms in the north side of the Marquette Tower complex.

Access will be available from Fountain Street and through the main lobby of the Marquette Tower.

“Our local investor group is really pleased with the momentum building as each new tenant commits to the vision we shared for our project, which in turns adds to the value of the Marquette Tech District for all of downtown,” Maurer said in a news release. “We are seeing how the efforts started by Codefi and its affiliates to create and attract tech startups, combined with increased access to tech-powered spaces and new amenities in the tech district, along with support from the chamber and MAGNET, are catalyzing an emerging sector that will add employment and broader economic opportunities for the community.”

bbrown@semissourian.com

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