39 North Agtech Innovation District

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
923227038
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Olivette, MO, USA
Phone
3143323826
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Economic Development

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$484,842
Expenses
$744,304
Assets
$1,740,188
Liabilities
$954,809

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Emily Lohse-Busch (Executive Director)

Highest reported compensation

  • Emily Lohse-Busch (Executive Director): $207,000 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

39 North aims to be the agri-food tech/plant science hub that brings together people, resources, and facilities to grow St. Louis' economy and global reputation.

What it reported doing in 2024

Amplify and develop the local, national, and international agtech narrative to help inform and educate people about St. Louis' agtech leadership. 39 North gave a total of 25 tours in 2024 to over 300 individuals, many of whom were from outside of the St. Louis region and were considering relocating or increasing their economic activity in St. Louis. 39 North gave approximately 11 relavant talks and panels in 2024 to amplify the agtech narrative for St. Louis. In addition, 39 North attended 29 events outside of the district to amplify the narrative locally, nationally and internationally. Notably, 39 North hosted two notable and prestigious "platform" events at The Hub in 2024 that brought national and international audiences to St. Louis, many for the first time. The XPrize Agtech Brainstorming Event, brought 50 leading agtech experts and representatives from major corporations together to discuss the future of ag. The Association for Corporate Growth AgTech Investor Conference brought over 120 investors from across North America to 39 North to discuss agtech investment trends and meet local growing companies.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 91% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 65
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 23
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 67.1%; rating input score 67
  • Fundraising efficiency: $13.05 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -53.5%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.34; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.55; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 27.8%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 140.9% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -86.3% per year; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 48.4% per year; rating input score 100; 96th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 67.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $500K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $207K · 9 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2023 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 47/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 5/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 10/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 12/100.