Missouri's Northwest Region

The Northwest consists of 18 counties stretching two-thirds of the way across the state.  Its largest city is St. Joseph, birthplace of the Pony Express and Jesse James’ last home.  Top industries in the region include Agribusiness, Animal Health, and Manufacturing, with major companies such as Farmland Foods, Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, and Kawasaki Motors all choosing to locate their operations in the area.

May 2013- Triumph Foods, LLC, a leading pork processing company, will be expanding its facility in St. Joseph. The expansion includes approximately a $7.5 million capital investment and is expected to create 105 new full-time jobs within one year.

February 2013- I&M Machine & Fabrication Corporation announced plans to expand in St. Joseph,  making a capital investment of $1.6 million and creating 25 new jobs.

November 2012- ChloroFill announced plans to build a new manufacturing facility in Nodaway County to produce the company’s fiberboard products for the interior design, furniture and construction markets, a facility that is expected to create 40 new jobs over the next five years.

Blue Sun, a St. Joseph producer and marketer of premium renewable fuel products,  announced it will expand its facility, creating 25 new jobs and making new capital investment of $9.5 million.

The Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) at Northwest Missouri State University announced they had entered into an agreement with Missouri Moisture Analyzers LLC. The company builds and calibrates moisture control analyzers used in agriculture production and grain storage. Missouri Moisture Analyzers plans to sell, assemble and maintain equipment and service contracts in the United States, Mexico and Central America. Under the terms of the agreement, Missouri Moisture Analyzers will lease just over 1,000 square feet of space in the CIE. The company is estimated to create seven to nine new jobs the first year.

September 2012- Triumph Foods announced a nearly $10 million dollar expansion in St. Joseph. The company plans to hire 30 new workers as part of the $9.5 million investment. 

June 2012- Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Inc. announced plans to expand operations at two St. Joseph sites. The projects will involve the construction of a 260,000-square-foot warehouse in the Eastowne Business Park and an expansion of Boehringer’s Gene Field Road manufacturing facility. The Eastowne project will become Boehringers Consolidated Packaging and Distribution Center and create more than 25 logistics jobs, while retaining 60 jobs in St. Joseph. The Gene Field expansion is slated to produce more than 80 jobs by the end of 2015.

March 2012- Sonoco Plastics announced plans to add an additional 75,000 square-foot building to their Chillicothe plant, adding 13-14 jobs.

February 2012- NCO Group, a global outsourcing firm, announced that it is expanding its operations in St. Joseph to accommodate two Fortune 500 clients and adding 300 jobs.

Key Industries:

Agribusiness, Animal Health, Manufacturing

Major Employers:

Altec Industries: (St. Joseph)
American Family Insurance Company: (St. Joseph)
Bayer HealthCare: (St. Joseph)
Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Kansas City: (St. Joseph) 
Bluescope Steel North America: (St. Joseph)
Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica (St. Joseph)
ConAgra Foods: (Trenton) 
Deluxe: (Maryville) 
Farmland Foods: (Milan) 
Federal-Mogul (Maryville)
Hillshire Brands (St. Joseph)
Johnson Controls, Inc. (St. Joseph) 
Kawasaki Motors: (Maryville) 
Laclede Chain: (Maryville) 
Loch Sand & Construction: (Maryville)
Maryville Metal Culverts: (Maryville) 
Nucor: (Maryville) 
Sonoco: (Chillicothe)
Triumph Foods: (St. Joseph) 
WireCo WorldGroup: (St. Joseph)

Area	Population 2011	Population Projection 2030	Civilian Labor Force (July 2012)	Employment (July 2012)	Unemployment (July 2012)	Unemployment Rate (July 2012)
Andrew County	17,196	19,670	10,777	10,153	624	5.80%
Atchison County	5,569	5,280	2,967	2,767	200	6.70%
Buchanan County	89,666	93,007	51,304	48,089	3,215	6.30%
Caldwell County	9,315	10,633	4,444	4,094	350	7.90%
Clinton County	20,789	27,124	10,497	9,542	955	9.10%
Daviess County	8,313	7,881	3,710	3,413	297	8.00%
Dekalb County	12,767	12,755	5,708	5,312	396	6.90%
Gentry County	6,786	4,759	3,563	3,348	215	6.00%
Grundy County	10,228	9,730	4,760	4,424	336	7%
Harrison County	8,866	9,632	4,312	4,018	294	6.80%
Holt County	4,814	4,094	2,680	2,514	166	6.20%
Linn County	12,566	10,696	5,636	5,110	526	9.30%
Livingston County	15,074	14,246	7,006	6,529	477	6.80%
Mercer County	3,804	3,142	1,837	1,737	100	5.40%
Nodaway County	23,468	23,018	11,022	10,195	827	8%
Putnam County	4,978	4,391	2,302	2,152	150	6.50%
Sullivan County	6,659	5,822	3,360	3,157	203	6.00%
Worth County	2,150	1,826	1,099	1,036	63	5.70%
Northwest Region Summary	263,008	267,706	136,984	127,590	9,394	7%

 

Median Wages:

The regional average wage was $670 per week in the 1st Quarter of 2012.

Major roads in the region include I-29, I-35, US-36, US-59, US-65, US-71, and US-136. I-29 extends to the Canadian border in North Dakota, passing through cities such as Council Bluffs, Sioux Falls, and Fargo. Major junctions on I-35 include San Antonio, Dallas, Oklahoma City, Kansas City and Minneapolis.

US-36 is four lanes across the state of Missouri and provides access to markets from Ohio to Colorado. US-59 runs from the Canadian Border to Houston. US-65 passes through Springfield, Mo. and Little Rock on its way from Minnesota south to Louisiana. US-71 currently extends from the Canadian border all the way to Shreveport; a large section of the highway from Missouri south is currently being upgraded to Interstate standards as a potential extension of I-49.

The nearest commercial airport to the region is Kansas City International.

Class I rail access to the region is provided by Burlington Northern Santa Fe, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific.

St. Joseph (Pop: 77,185)
Maryville (12,016)
Cameron (9,924)
Chillicothe (9,444)
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2011

Higher Education Institutions:

Missouri Western State University: (St. Joseph) 4-year, public
Northwest Missouri State University: (Maryville) 4-year, public
North Central Missouri College: (Trenton) 2-year, public

Educational Attainment:

Area	High School Diploma	Associate's Degree	Bachelor's Degree	Graduate Degree	Total Degrees
Andrew County	4,798	531	1,612	752	7,693
Atchison County	1,637	179	678	199	2,693
Buchanan County	23,157	2,980	7,530	3,699	37,366
Caldwell County	2,910	435	513	236	4,094
Clinton County	5,724	978	1,556	893	9,151
Daviess County	2,407	372	550	243	3,572
Dekalb County	4,396	605	808	325	6,134
Gentry County	2,055	253	366	179	2,853
Grundy County	2,816	559	588	292	4,255
Harrison County	3,123	350	338	132	3,943
Holt County	1,798	96	390	201	2,485
Linn County	4,427	483	660	587	6,157
Livingston County	4,642	578	1,332	646	7,198
Mercer County	1,201	144	223	142	1,710
Nodaway County	4,879	777	1,803	1,162	8,621
Putnam County	1,517	273	302	237	2,329
Sullivan County	2,092	277	325	134	2,828
Worth County	752	46	166	30	994
Northwest Region Summary	74,331	9,916	19,740	10,089	114,076

Christopher S. "Kit" Bond Science and Technology Incubator: (St. Joseph) In conjunction with Missouri Western University, this 25,000 square feet incubator is also home to the Institute for Industrial and Applied Life Sciences which provides training and wetlab space available within the Kansas City Animal Health Corridor.

Residents of the Northwest region enjoy an excellent quality of life with a low cost of living, numerous cultural opportunities, and excellent health care.

The Northwest region's hospitals include: Heartland Health (St. Joseph), St. Francis (Maryville), and Hedrick Medical Center (Chillicothe).

St. Joseph's Parkway is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, as it was one of the first such boulevard systems implemented in the United States. Anchored on both ends by city parks, the miles of greenway between feature walking trails and scenic overlooks. From May through September, the St. Joseph community gathers for Parties on the Parkway, featuring food, drinks, and live music.

The Pony Express National Museum in St. Joseph commemorates a historic part of the legend of the American West. In St. Joseph you may also tour the historic final home of Jesse James.

Mozingo Lake Park, located near Maryville, is composed of a 1,000 acre lake and 3,000 acre park. Park activities include camping, boating, hunting, as well as some of the best golf in Missouri. Conception Abbey, also near Maryville, is one of only 33 basilicas in the nation. The Basilica boasts Romanesque architecture and original European artwork and scribes dating back to the sixth century.

Marceline Missouri is the boyhood hometown of Walt Disney. Main Street, U.S.A. at Disneyland is based on downtown Marceline. The town hosts an annual cartooning festival, called Toonfest.