diff --git a/gamechangerml/api/fastapi/model_loader.py b/gamechangerml/api/fastapi/model_loader.py
index f675edc9..8994b9eb 100644
--- a/gamechangerml/api/fastapi/model_loader.py
+++ b/gamechangerml/api/fastapi/model_loader.py
@@ -16,7 +16,8 @@
     from gamechangerml.src.search.sent_transformer.model import (
         SentenceSearcher,
         SentenceEncoder,
-        SemanticSearcher
+        SemanticSearcher,
+        GcSentenceTransformer
     )
     from gamechangerml.src.search.doc_compare import (
         DocCompareSentenceEncoder,
@@ -68,6 +69,7 @@ def __init__(self):
         __document_compare_searcher = None
         __document_compare_encoder = None
         __semantic_searcher = None
+        __gc_sentence_transformer = None
 
     # Get methods for the models. If they don't exist try initializing them.
     def getQA(self):
@@ -161,6 +163,14 @@ def getSemanticSearcher(self):
             ModelLoader.initSemanticSearcher()
         return ModelLoader.__semantic_searcher
 
+    def getGcSentenceTransformer(self):
+        if ModelLoader.__gc_sentence_transformer == None:
+            logger.warning(
+                "semantic_searcher was not set and was attempted to be used. Running init"
+            )
+            ModelLoader.initGcSentenceTransformer()
+        return ModelLoader.__gc_sentence_transformer
+
     def set_error(self):
         logger.error("Models cannot be directly set. Must use init methods.")
 
@@ -178,6 +188,7 @@ def set_error(self):
     document_compare_searcher = property(getDocumentCompareSearcher, set_error)
     document_compare_encoder = property(getDocumentCompareEncoder, set_error)
     semantic_searcher = property(getSemanticSearcher, set_error)
+    gc_sentence_transformer = property(getGcSentenceTransformer, set_error)
 
     @staticmethod
     def initQA(qa_model_name=QA_MODEL.value):
@@ -385,6 +396,28 @@ def initSemanticSearcher(
         except Exception as e:
             logger.warning("** Could not load Similarity model for Semantic Searcher")
             logger.warning(e)
+    
+    @staticmethod
+    def initGcSentenceTransformer(transformer_path=LOCAL_TRANSFORMERS_DIR.value):
+        """
+        initGcSentenceTransformer - loads Sentence Transformer on start
+        Args:
+        Returns:
+        """
+        logger.info(f"Loading GC sentence transformer model")
+        try:
+            ModelLoader.__gc_sentence_transformer = GcSentenceTransformer(
+                encoder_model_name=EmbedderConfig.BASE_MODEL,
+                transformer_path=transformer_path
+            )
+            encoder_model = ModelLoader.__gc_sentence_transformer.encoder_model
+            # set cache variable defined in settings.py
+            latest_intel_model_encoder.value = encoder_model
+            logger.info(f"** Loaded GC Sentence Transformer Model from {encoder_model}")
+
+        except Exception as e:
+            logger.warning("** Could not load Encoder model")
+            logger.warning(e)
 
     @staticmethod
     def initSparse(model_name=latest_intel_model_trans.value):
diff --git a/gamechangerml/api/fastapi/routers/search.py b/gamechangerml/api/fastapi/routers/search.py
index 72a62951..c65197f8 100644
--- a/gamechangerml/api/fastapi/routers/search.py
+++ b/gamechangerml/api/fastapi/routers/search.py
@@ -93,9 +93,10 @@ async def semantic_search(
     Returns:
         results: list of floats
     """
+    logger.info(f"Hit embedSemanticQuery with json: {body}")
     query_text = body["query"]
-    embeddings = MODELS.semantic_searcher.embed_query(query_text)
-    return  list(embeddings.astype(float))
+    embeddings = MODELS.gc_sentence_transformer.embed_query(query_text)
+    return list(embeddings.astype(float))
 
 
 @router.post("/semanticSearch", status_code=200)
diff --git a/gamechangerml/api/fastapi/routers/startup.py b/gamechangerml/api/fastapi/routers/startup.py
index 465b7428..03604826 100644
--- a/gamechangerml/api/fastapi/routers/startup.py
+++ b/gamechangerml/api/fastapi/routers/startup.py
@@ -39,7 +39,8 @@
     MODELS.initTopics,
     MODELS.initRecommender,
     MODELS.initDocumentCompareSearcher,
-    MODELS.initSemanticSearcher
+    MODELS.initSemanticSearcher,
+    MODELS.initGcSentenceTransformer
 ]
 
 
diff --git a/gamechangerml/src/search/sent_transformer/model.py b/gamechangerml/src/search/sent_transformer/model.py
index 6a37a449..fed5f002 100644
--- a/gamechangerml/src/search/sent_transformer/model.py
+++ b/gamechangerml/src/search/sent_transformer/model.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 from txtai.embeddings import Embeddings
 from txtai.pipeline import Similarity
 from txtai.ann import ANN
+from sentence_transformers import SentenceTransformer
 
 import os
 import numpy as np
@@ -474,4 +475,21 @@ def search(
     
     def embed_query(self, query_text):
         embeddings = self.embedder.transform(query_text)
+        return embeddings
+
+class GcSentenceTransformer(object):
+    """
+    Instantiates Sentence Transformer model 
+
+    Args:
+        transformer_path (str): Path to transformer directory
+        encoder_model (str): Model name supported by sentence_transformers
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, encoder_model_name, transformer_path):
+        self.encoder_model = SentenceTransformer(os.path.join(transformer_path, encoder_model_name))
+    
+    def embed_query(self, query_text):
+        query_text = " ".join(preprocess(query_text))
+        embeddings = self.encoder_model.encode(query_text)
         return embeddings
\ No newline at end of file