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.

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.

December 2011- Sara Lee Corp. announced a planned $3 million expansion of its meat-processing plant, creating 55 new jobs.

March 2011-  Gray Manufacturing Company, Inc. announced that it would create 20 new jobs and new investment of $1.1 million for the expansion of their facility located in St. Joseph.

Walsworth Publishing Company, Inc., announced the creation of 13 new jobs and new investment of $3.2 million for the expansion of the facility located in Marceline.

November 2010- I & M Machine and Fabrication significantly upgraded its St. Joseph production facilities and created 15 new jobs. I & M Machine and Fabrication has been located in St. Joseph since 1974 and serves clients in a broad range of industries, including agriculture, automotive production, food processing and more.

November 2010- Sunshine Electronic Display, which produces electronic signs and Van Am Tool, which provides tooling, machining and stamping services for a variety of clients announced they will expand their operations considerably, together investing more than $3.2 million in new capital into the community and creating 37 new jobs.

Key Industries:

Agribusiness, Animal Health, Manufacturing

Major Employers:

Altec Industries: (St. Joseph)
American Family Insurance Company: (St. Joseph)
Associated Packaging Technologies: (Chillicothe)
Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Kansas City: (St. Joseph)
Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica (St. Joseph)
ConAgra Foods: (Trenton)
Deluxe: (Maryville)
Energizer Battery: (Maryville)
Farmland Foods: (Milan)
Federal-Mogul (Maryville)
Johnson Controls, Inc. (St. Joseph)
Kawasaki Motors: (Maryville)
Laclede Chain: (Maryville)
Loch Sand & Construction: (Maryville)
Maryville Metal Culverts: (Maryville)
Nucor: (Maryville)
Sara Lee Foods: (St. Joseph)
Triumph Foods: (St. Joseph)
TEVA Animal Health: (St. Joseph)
WireCo WorldGroup: (Chillicothe)

Area	Population 2010	Population Projection 2030	Civilian Labor Force	Employment	Unemployment	Unemployment Rate
Andrew County	17,367	19,670	9,960	9,277	683	6.90%
Atchison County	5,894	5,280	3,217	2,911	306	9.50%
Buchanan County	89,811	93,007	48,688	44,877	3,811	7.80%
Caldwell County	9,227	10,633	4,172	3,775	397	9.50%
Clinton County	21,086	27,124	10,258	9,167	1091	10.60%
Daviess County	8,080	7,881	3,856	3,516	340	8.80%
Dekalb County	12,238	12,755	5,107	4,624	483	9.50%
Gentry County	6,030	4,759	3,517	3,274	243	6.90%
Grundy County	10,255	9,730	4,956	4,617	339	7%
Harrison County	8,684	9,632	4,364	4,042	322	7.40%
Holt County	4,867	4,094	2,694	2,487	207	7.70%
Linn County	12,606	10,696	5,757	5,117	640	11.10%
Livingston County	14,198	14,246	7,331	6,826	505	6.90%
Mercer County	3,436	3,142	1,766	1,644	122	6.90%
Nodaway County	22,222	23,018	11,197	10,295	902	8%
Putnam County	4,744	4,391	2,266	2,110	156	6.90%
Sullivan County	6,820	5,822	3,483	3,259	224	6.40%
Worth County	1,952	1,826	1,111	1,040	71	6.40%
Northwest Region Summary	259,517	267,706	133,700	122,858	10,842	8%

 

Median Wages:

The regional average wage was $609 per week in the 1st Quarter of 2011.

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: 76,780)
Maryville (11,972)
Cameron (9,933)
Chillicothe (9,515)

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
Andrew County, MO	4,913	627	1,776	827	8,143
Atchison County, MO	1,718	259	579	274	2,830
Buchanan County, MO	23,067	3,466	7,960	4,042	38,535
Caldwell County, MO	2,962	376	636	243	4,217
Clinton County, MO	6,302	972	1,750	771	9,795
Daviess County, MO	2,353	386	565	209	3,513
DeKalb County, MO	3,758	479	767	371	5,375
Gentry County, MO	2,037	227	503	258	3,025
Grundy County, MO	2,827	524	584	336	4,271
Harrison County, MO	2,980	200	390	203	3,773
Holt County, MO	1,849	177	362	147	2,535
Linn County, MO	4,448	534	827	315	6,124
Livingston County, MO	4,571	508	954	394	6,427
Mercer County, MO	1,198	127	236	86	1,647
Nodaway County, MO	5,336	431	1,898	1,711	9,376
Putnam County, MO	1,610	263	289	123	2,285
Sullivan County, MO	2,218	289	314	172	2,993
Worth County, MO	721	69	156	52	998
Northwest Region	74,868	9,914	20,546	10,534	115,862
Source: ESRI. Population 25+, 2010.

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.