Stranch, Jennings & Garvey (SJ&G) attorney Sam Gladney was re-elected chair of the Bi-State Development Commission in St. Louis, Missouri. He was first appointed to the Board of Commissioners by former Missouri Gov. Mike Parson in December 2020.
Bi-State Development (BSD) is a dynamic and multi-faceted resource for economic development in the St. Louis region. For more than 65 years, BSD has partnered with private and public organizations on hundreds of projects designed to keep the St. Louis region competitive, creating thousands of jobs on both sides of the Mississippi River.
Since 1962, when it began its partnership with the National Park Service, BSD has been instrumental in the creation and operation of key tourism, recreation projects and assets at the Gateway Arch and along the St. Louis riverfront. BSD also operates the region’s public transportation system, MetroLink, MetroBus and Metro Call-A-Ride; the St. Louis Downtown Airport; and the St. Louis Regional Freightway.
BSD is governed by its Board of Commissioners, which is responsible for BSD’s overall leadership and policy direction. The board is composed of five members from Missouri and five from Illinois. Missouri board members are appointed by the governor of Missouri.
Gladney joined SJ&G in 2023 and serves as of counsel for the firm. He concentrates his practice on labor law, employee benefits, nonprofit formation and compliance, and regulatory affairs.
A St. Louis native, Gladney earned his J.D. in 2016 from the University of Missouri – Kansas City School of Law. He is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he received a bachelor’s degree in applied science.
Following his graduation, he served in the U.S. Army for eight years, with two deployments in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. During those deployments, he managed micro-grants to support Iraqi businesses southeast of Baghdad and led a platoon in Mosul. He was awarded the Bronze Star after his second deployment.