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From the University of Missouri Business Development Program
As 2014 winds down, we take time to reflect on the year just passed. And while there may be a few scattered dark clouds ahead, there's been plenty of good news. Here are 12 examples of the good news from the past year:
- The Royals win! The Royals win! Well, close. After 29 years, it's an amazing turnaround no matter how you look at it.
- From 2012 through 2014, the programs within the MU Extension Business Development Program assisted Missouri clients in creating more than $2 billion in economic impact, including:
- Creating or retaining 27,170 jobs,
- Increasing sales by $643 million,
- Acquiring investments of $661 million,
- Winning government contracts of $809 million.
TAAF and Mid-America TAAC impact and results are available here.
The BDP is a solid return on investment, creating $105 of economic impact for every $1 invested and creating one job for every $1,044 in total funding. - A Small Business Administration report said the BDP's SBTDC program infused $670 million into Missouri's economy over four years.
- Patents increased nearly 70 percent from 2008-2013 in Missouri, led by pharmaceuticals and bioscience.
- The MU College of Engineering and BDP established the University of Missouri Extension Scholarship in Engineering Entrepreneurship, the first two recipients of which are Jeffrey Ruffolo, Boonville High School; and Mary K. Rodlund, Blue Valley High School. The idea is to boost engineering entrepreneurship.
- 1 Million Cups, the Kauffman Foundation-fueled event where entrepreneurs present their best ideas to other entrepreneurs, has spread from a bright notion to every part of the U.S., including Kansas City, St. Louis, Columbia, Springfield and Cape Girardeau.
- In south KC, Cerner Corp. broke ground at the company's $4.5 billion Trails Campus, the largest economic development project in state history. It's expected to generate an estimated 4,500 construction jobs, 16,000 new Cerner jobs; and plenty of spin-off retail, housing and other construction, further transforming an already renewed KC.
- Nilson Goes, Infinite Energy Construction, Kansas City, a BDP client, was named the SBA's Missouri Small Business Person of the Year. Goes overcame an impoverished childhood in Brazil to become CEO of a multimillion dollar, multistate firm.
- The St. Louis tech and VC scenes continue to grow. St. Louis was the fastest growing city in the world in tech startup funding, said a November VC report, attracting $380 million, an amazing 1,221 percent growth rate between November 2013 and October 2014 compared to 2012-13. These startups, coming out of the BDP, incubators and programs such as Arch Grants and Capital Innovators, then make the area more attractive to other small businesses, attracting bigger businesses and more capital.
- 3-D printing keeps pushing the envelope. A working 3-D printed car was recently displayed in Las Vegas, one company printed 10 houses in one day and surgeons are restoring faces and creating prosthetic hands and legs with printers. And the MU College of Engineering and BDP are right in the thick of it, running a 3-D printing/prototyping lab open to the public.
- St. Joseph was named the U.S.' seventh-fastest growing metro area due to booming agricultural sciences, animal health and construction.
- Finally, a new golden age of entrepreneurship might be dawning. Over the next 50 years, an estimated $75 trillion (with a "t") will be passed on to the next generations, $1.5 trillion in Missouri alone. $3.14 billion is expected to transfer in Boone County this decade. Learn more at Community Foundation of Central Missouri.
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Holiday marketing tips For many businesses, the holidays bring in half of annual sales. Don't let this crucial time of year sneak up on you -- get ready now, before you get wrapped up in the day-to-day holiday rush.
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Upcoming application deadlines
Learning around the state
The BDP offers a variety of outstanding educational opportunities throughout the year. Here are highlights of upcoming events. Business training
Educational offerings are available for the following major subject areas: - Starting a business
- Writing a business plan
- Business management (including FastTrac)
- Marketing/sales (including social media/e-commerce)
- Finance/cash flow/bookkeeping (including QuickBooks)
- Winning grants
- Human resources/hiring employees
- Growing a business
- Exporting/international trade
- Selling to the government
- Special conferences for women, veterans, government procurement, more
Visit the small business training calendar or the procurement training calendar for more events, dates, details and registration information. |
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