Gov. Jay Nixon today toured the Joseph Newman Innovation Center, a technology-focused entrepreneurship and business incubator in Joplin, to highlight recently released census data showing Missouri leading the nation in new business creation. While the vast majority of states saw a drop in the number of new firms created, new business creation in Missouri surged by 16 percent in 2013, more than any other state in the nation.
After the tour, Gov. Nixon led a roundtable discussion at the Joplin Chamber of Commerce to hear from entrepreneurs, small business owners and local economic development leaders.
“Here in Missouri, we’ve made targeted investments in our small businesses and entrepreneurs, so that they can create jobs and grow our economy,” Gov. Nixon said. “These innovators, problem-solvers, and risk-takers are changing the way the world does business, while creating jobs for families here in Missouri.”
The data, released by the U.S. Census Bureau and analyzed by the Kauffman Foundation, shows that there were 1,293 more businesses created in Missouri in 2013 (the most recent year for which data is available) than in 2012, an increase of more than 16 percent. Over the same time period, 39 states saw a decrease in new business creation. Of the states that did see an increase in the number of new businesses, Missouri outperformed them dramatically – experiencing a bigger growth in new business creation than all ten of those states combined.
In Fiscal Year 2015, Missouri ranked – for the first time – as a top ten state for startup funding, according to Forbes. The Fiscal Year 2016 budget signed by Gov. Nixon includes $18.3 million for the Missouri Technology Corporation, a public-private partnership promoting entrepreneurship.
Created in 1994 to promote entrepreneurship and foster the growth of high-tech companies, the Missouri Technology Corporation was significantly underfunded until Gov. Nixon took office. Under Gov. Nixon’s leadership, MTC has provided more than $24 million to 70 start-ups, helping these companies leverage more than $200 million in private capital to commercialize their products and services, create jobs and grow.
In Fiscal Year 2016, MTC provided $263,000 to the Newman Innovation Center to support business start-up efforts; the Center currently hosts about 15 businesses.
The Governor today also announced that earlier this month MTC provided $100,000 through the Missouri IDEA (Innovation, Development, and Entrepreneurship Advancement) Fund for LocalRaces.com, the newest business to be located at the Newman Innovation Center. The IDEA Fund promotes the formation and growth of businesses that engage in the transfer of science and technology into job creation. LocalRaces.com develops software solutions for managing and entering running and cycling events around the country and plans to hire software developers with these funds.
“We launched our company earlier this year and are already on pace to process race registrations for 1,000 events in 2016,” said Toby Teeter, co-founder of LocalRaces.com. “Receiving funding from MTC has enabled us to attract matching private seed round funding. That combined investment will fund five new software development and sales positions right here in Joplin.”
For more information about the Missouri Technology Corporation and other efforts to support small businesses and entrepreneurs, visit MO.gov.
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