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Missouri City Is Place To Be For Startups, Innovation

  • February 09, 2017

For most of the 21st century Silicon Valley in California has been the hotspot for startups, however a sky-high cost of living and growing business costs has entrepreneurs looking elsewhere for cities to “live and launch.” Columbia, Missouri is quickly becoming a haven for entrepreneurs and startups, and has all of the resources a company needs to succeed.

Columbia’s Innovation Hub and the Missouri Innovation Center and Life Science Business Incubator are two of the resources available to those looking to start a business in the city, and its low cost of living and abundance of available talent led to Columbia being named among the “15 Best Cities in the U.S. for Entrepreneurs” in 2016.

“We have a lot of the resources and expertise that a bigger city has,” said Collin Brunch, Columbia’s new entrepreneurship coordinator. “But as a smaller city, people can get easier access to those. It was only five or 10 years ago that entrepreneurs would have to move to Silicon Valley to get a project off the ground. Now, the resources and the network needed are right in the heart of Mid-Missouri.”

In addition to Columbia’s numerous innovation communities the city is also home to the University of Missouri’s flagship campus. Mizzou as it is commonly known offers more than 50 graduate and higher-level programs that continue to turn out world-class talent in the fields of agriculture, technology, bioscience and more.

Columbia isn’t the only innovation hub in Missouri. Go two hours in almost any direction and you can reach Kansas City, St. Louis and Springfield, Missouri, each of which offers a plethora of innovation districts and experts in the fields of manufacturing, agtech, logistics, energy, food solutions, fintech and more.

With its strategic location, globally connected infrastructure, competitive business and labor costs, highly-skilled and hard working talent, quality of life and a statewide commitment to attracting companies and investment, Missouri is a place where companies come to grow and thrive.

Feel free to 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 expansion needs.