Powers Insurance and Benefits has been in Clayton for nearly 25 years.
Now the family-owned business is making the move to the city of St. Louis.
"There really is no location like this in Clayton, so the city’s giving us something too, which is a very visible site," said CEO Pierce Powers. "You’ll see our signage from the highway."
The location is at the southwest tip of Forest Park on the site of a building that’s been vacant for 13 years. Powers says they bought the Hayes Hi-Pointe building in 2014 and had planned to renovate it. He said after historic tax credits were denied for the project it made more sense to raze it and build new.
"So the new building is going to look an awful lot like the building that’s being torn down," he said. "It’ll be three stories instead of two; it’ll be crisp and nice and new and have balconies overlooking the park all the way down to the Arch."
The company has more than 20 employees, including three of Powers’ six children.
Powers said the family-owned business was really a dream of his father, who was a doctor and surgeon. He said when his own plan to become a surgeon was cut short by a car accident during his senior year in college, his father steered him toward insurance.
"He said 'I love what I do. I love my practice, but the only thing I regret is that I don’t have a business to perpetuate,'" Powers said. "'If you can find a business where you feel you give more than you take and have capable children who are interested and can perpetuate the business, then that’s what I’d do.'"
Powers said putting the company in such a highly visible location sends the message that they plan to be around for a long time to come.
