Tech Hubs and Top Talent: Missouri Cities Recognized for Tech Innovation and Workforce
- November 06, 2023
Kansas City and St. Louis have been gaining ground in the tech industry for years. Now the world is taking notice of these larger metros as well as Missouri’s up-and-coming communities.
Recently, Kansas City made quite a few headlines celebrating its tech scene and talent. First, it landed on the Wall Street Journal’s list of The U.S. Cities With the Most Cutting-Edge Tech Workers. Coming out ahead of Boston, Los Angeles, and New York in momentum with a ranking of 6, The Burning Glass Institute found the demand for workers with advanced skills in Kansas City to be growing alongside its highly skilled talent pool. The cutting-edge skills studied for this list were related to cloud and serverless computing, machine learning, and artificial-intelligence architecture and cybersecurity operations. Kansas City was one of two major Missouri cities that made the list; St. Louis was also recognized for having the most cutting-edge tech talent.
In the same week, the Biden-Harris administration designated two tech hubs in Missouri; one in the Kansas City region led by BioNexus KC and another in Rolla, led by the University of Missouri System. According to The White House, 31 Regional Innovation and Technology Hubs (Tech Hubs) were chosen from more than 370 applications. The Kansas City Inclusive Biologics and Biomanufacturing Tech Hub will include the Columbia and Jefferson City region and will “position western Missouri as a global leader in biologics and biomanufacturing, increasing domestic production of life-saving vaccines and other preventative technologies,” according to the U.S. Economic Development Administration. Missouri S&T’s Critical Minerals and Materials for Advanced Energy (CM2AE) Tech Hub will “position south-central Missouri as a global leader in critical minerals processing to provide the materials needed to support battery technology” according to the U.S. Economic Development Administration.
Having two designated tech hubs in biologics, biomanufacturing, and critical minerals processing, reflects Missouri’s diversity in high-tech industries while continuing to grow as a global leader in these fields.
St. Louis’ start-up scene has been recognized as one of the best in America, and now it is considered one of the best in the world, according to Venture capital data firm PitchBook. Coming in at number 20 on PitchBook’s 20 fastest-growing startup cities ranked by Growth Score (Q3 2017 to Q2 2023), St. Louis is one of the fastest growing cities for start-ups. St. Louis also offers several incubators, accelerators and coworking spaces to support new business ventures and a community of people willing and ready to help. Its renowned innovation districts span industries like geospatial intelligence, plant science, agtech, and biomedical science and foster collaboration and community among the world’s top talent.
If there’s a key word for Missouri’s tech scene it would be momentum, as all of these recent recognitions showcase Missouri as perfectly positioned for future success in several fields related to advanced technology.
About Missouri Partnership
Missouri Partnership is a public-private economic development organization focused on attracting new jobs and investment to the state and promoting Missouri’s business strengths. World-class manufacturing, distribution, R&D, and corporate services companies choose Missouri for its highly-skilled talent, vibrant communities, central location, and favorable business climate. Learn more about Missouri Partnership’s business expansion and relocation services here.