Who We Are
It's our personal mission to cultivate growth in Ferguson and the St. Louis area — not only economically, but personally and socially. Above all, people are the most valuable part of any community. We love to get to know you better, so we thought we'd introduce ourselves and put some names and faces to our organization.
Dave Spence, CEO
Dr. Dave Spence was born in Overland in St. Louis County, Missouri. He spent much of his childhood in the St. Louis area with his mother and two sisters. Following graduation from Kirkwood High School Spence earned a degree from the University of Missouri in Columbia.
In 1985, after being turned down by 12 banks the 26-year old Spence purchased Alpha Packaging, a small plastics firm. Under his ownership it expanded from 15 to 800 employees. Spence has a family background in the plastics industry. His father had started a rubber and plastics business, for which Dave Spence worked as a teen; however, Spence has also served as Chairman of Legacy Pharmaceutical Packaging. Spence and wife, Suzie, married in 1990 and are the parents of four children.
In November 2011, Spence announced his intention to run for Governor of Missouri regardless of whether Missouri Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder decided to run.
Dr. E Lance McCarthy, CEO
Dr. E. Lance McCarthy is a nationally recognized Faith Based Economist and Investment Advisor, with a specialty in urban development. Dr. McCarthy has assisted non-profit organizations, churches, corporations, professional athletes and cities with economic development and financing plans. His public policy research, Fortune 100 experience, entrepreneurial endeavors and non-profit initiatives give him insight into our nation’s most pressing problems. Most recently Dr. McCarthy has been appointed National Economic Advisor for Faith Driven Consumer, the organization which represents more than 41 million Faith Driven Consumers in the United States, who collectively spend $2 trillion annually. Dr. McCarthy will be working with corporations to assist them in working with the Faith Driven Consumer. He also represents faith-based funding sources that have provided $1 billion dollars in investments for churches nationwide. Presently, Dr. McCarthy is a financial consultant on the upcoming movie “Mary”—set to arrive in theaters nationwide in December 2016.
Sheldon Scipio, Director of International Development
Sheldon Scipio is the Former CEO of Mercuri Caribbean Ltd. Mercuri Caribbean Ltd is his shared vision with his partner Jevon Jeffrey and is the only supplier of customized USB Models in the Caribbean. Sheldon Scipio first attended Holy Cross College and Arima Senior Comprehensive A levels, where he studied the sciences. He has been The Blackberry/Data lead at TSTT in charge Training and BES Server Installation & Trouble-shooting, and a Physical Trainer for the National Soccer and Basketball teams. He studied Human Resource Management at Cipriani College of Labour And Co-operative studies and entered TSTT where he developed the vision for Mercuri Caribbean, Ltd. Sheldon Scipio has also been a speaker on mobile banking throughout the Caribbean. He expanded the vision Mercuri Caribbean Ltd through a partnership with partnerships with AIO, a Network IT Company doing VM Ware installations at various Government Ministries etc, and with Venture Draft International forming the brand “Pro To Go” in the MLB becoming the first Caribbean company to have contracts in professional sports in the US (Texas Rangers) as well as having exclusive rights with the NFL players association to use their images etc for his product. He continues to assist local Sports, Teams and Individuals with lectures on Entrepreneurship and Self-Motivation.