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Building A Better Silicon Valley

  • February 28, 2017

Missouri is attracting and producing world-class talent, cultivating innovation districts across the state, and becoming a major hub for startups and entrepreneurs. For years Missouri has quietly been moving away from its perception as a “fly-over state” to become a leader in innovation, and it seems only recently that the rest of the world has taken notice.

 

CNN recently highlighted the Missouri cities of Kansas City and St. Louis for their innovation and growth, and that innovative spirit continues across the rest of the state from Columbia to Springfield, St. Joseph to Cape Girardeau. Missouri ranks in the top ten states in the U.S. for starting a business, while many of its cities have been recognized for startup growth.

Missouri has long been known for producing world-class talent and is home to top-flight universities such as the University of Missouri – Columbia, Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla and many more. With more than 3 million educated workers Missouri’s talent pool is deep, specialized and experienced in our state’s key growth areas including advanced manufacturing, agtech, logistics and more.

But Missouri does more than just producing world-class talent it attracts it as well. Gone are the days of millennials and entrepreneurs migrating towards the east and west coasts. Cities like San Francisco and Portland, which were once magnets for the millennial generation, have seen their cost-of-living skyrocket in recent years. Today, many 20 and 30 somethings are looking to the center of the country as the new place to live, work and play.

Many of these millennials are finding their way to Missouri, with its low cost-of-living, high quality of life and world-class colleges and institutions. Missouri cities like Columbia and Kansas City are seeing enormous growth in their college educated, millennial population, and St. Louis was recently named the No. 1 city in America for millennials.

Missouri has also been hard at work cultivating innovation districts across the state. The UMKC Innovation Center in Kansas City, Missouri Innovation Center in Columbia, and the Cortex Innovation Community in St. Louis are just some of the nearly two-dozen innovation communities spread across the state.

And the innovation community in Missouri is not done growing yet. It was recently announced that 39 North, a new agtech innovation district, would be “planting roots” near St. Louis, taking full advantage of Missouri’s long history in agriculture.

Additionally, Missouri offers startups and entrepreneurs some of the lowest business costs in the country, and our strategic location at the center of North America makes getting products to customers faster than ever anywhere in the world.

There’s an old saying that you are judged by the company you keep, and Missouri offers growing companies access to global-leaders in industries such as advanced manufacturing, agtech, health and more. All of this provides startups and entrepreneurs with a solid bedrock on which to grow.

For more information on why Missouri could be a prime location to launch or grow your business, contact Steve Johnson, CEO of Missouri Partnership, at 314.725.2688 or via our contact form, with any questions you might have, and learn how Missouri Partnership can help with your business expansion and investment needs.

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