Centene Donates its $25M Ferguson Claims Center to the Urban League
Date Posted: April 30, 2024
Posted In: News, Organizations,
From St. Louis Public Radio: Centene Corp. has donated its $25 million Ferguson claims center building to the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis. It’s the largest single donation to any Urban League organization across the country.
The 60,000-square-foot building will house early childhood programs, workforce and empowerment services, housing assistance and a regional food distribution center. The Urban League will also lease the space to other nonprofit organizations and commercial businesses.
“When you look at the Ferguson, Dellwood, West Florissant corridor and the overall city of Ferguson, this would then be our fourth facility to show people that the Urban League, the corporate community, the business world, the governmental entities that are involved in partnering with us see this as a continuous priority,” said Michael McMillan, CEO and president of the Urban League. “Ferguson has not been abandoned, it has not been forgotten.”
The former managed care service center is located at 2900 Pershall Road. Centene opened the building in 2016. Its former CEO and president, Michael Neidorff, said the center was an investment in the community and a message to other businesses that left Ferguson after a white police officer killed Michael Brown Jr. in 2014.
Neidorff’s goal was to bring more jobs to the area. It once employed more than 250 people, but after the pandemic occurred and employees were sent home to work virtually, the building sat nearly empty for a few years.
McMillan said he spoke with Centene’s senior leadership team about acquiring the facility to expand empowerment and community programming. At the time, Centene was reevaluating its portfolio of properties to see which buildings were no longer necessary since many employees were working from home.