In the face of proposed budget cuts, the University of Missouri System is taking a do-it-yourself approach to statewide economic recovery.
The tactic is entrepreneurial and pragmatic. Short on jobs? Make some. Seeking scientific breakthroughs? Support research. Need a way to convert ideas and talents — the melding of Missouri’s great minds — into marketable products that can improve lives? Make an investment.
Buoying both the economy and the academy, the UM System’s Enterprise Investment Program, a funding source for Missouri high-tech startup companies, is contributing to two new ventures conceived at MU.
System leaders have announced EIP awards of up to $400,000 for HLB Horizons, a nanotechnology company that manufactures chemical compounds used in semiconductors and rechargeable batteries, and up to $200,000 for EternoGen, a medical-device company that produces a long-lasting biological collagen scaffold used as a soft-tissue filler. EIP also helped procure for EternoGen an additional $100,000 from Missouri IDEA Funds and $200,000 from Centennial Investors, a Columbia-based angel investment network.
BioGenerator, the investment arm of BioSTL, announced seed investments in three local biotech startups in mid February. Those companies include Vasculox, which is developing drugs for disorders including leukemia and lymphoma; ... Read More
PLS Logistics Services, a Pennsylvania-based freight brokerage service and third party logistics provider, has opened a St. Louis branch office with 25 employees. The office at 707 North 2nd Street that ... Read More
The Missouri Department of Economic Development (DED) today announced that Leggett & Platt Adjustable Bed Group will expand in Joplin. The company has signed a lease for a 42,000 square-foot facility ... Read More
Three Missouri universities rank among the top 100 public colleges in America, more than any of the Show-Me state’s Midwestern neighbors, according to a new ranking released by The Business Journals. ... Read More
Evogene Ltd., a biotech company that has partnered with Monsanto for nearly a decade, has plans in place to build a 6,000-square-foot research and development facility at Bio-Research & Development Growth ... Read More
T-Mobile US Inc. held a Feb. 9 job fair at its Springfield call center as part of plans to hire an additional 145 customer service workers. Scott Goldberg, a spokesman for ... Read More
The Columbia Water and Light Department generated 7.22 percent of its energy for utility customers using renewable sources, exceeding the 5 percent goal for 2014 and nearly halfway to the 15 ... Read More
2014 was a record-setting year for job creation and capital investment in Missouri, with over 155 total projects announcing over 28,500 new jobs. The majority of the new jobs (over 16,000) were announced ... Read More
The Missouri automotive industry is growing at a rapid pace. Since 2010, Ford, General Motors and more than 60 automotive suppliers have added—or announced plans to add—more than 9,900 new jobs ... Read More
Record year for jobs and capital investment: FY2014 was a record-setting year for new job creation and capital investment from growing companies partnering with the state to expand. Largest-ever expansion in ... Read More