Report: Kansas is more innovation-friendly than Missouri
February 24, 2016 | Bobby Burch
The Sunflower State is more hospitable to innovation than its eastward neighbor, a recent study found.
The Consumer Technology Association’s annual “Innovation Scorecard” ranked all 50 states in 10 different categories to determine which states best fostered innovation and economic growth. The study dished Kansas slightly higher innovation kudos than Missouri, comparing their friendliness to innovation, positions on right-to-work policies, investment attraction, welcomeness to new business models and more.
Kansas earned the CTA’s top distinction of “innovation champion” while Missouri was named an “innovation leader,” which is the organization’s second-highest ranking. The primary difference between the states’ ranking appears to be Kansas’ contentious “right to work” status. Missouri currently allows “security agreements” between unions and employers that require workers to participate in established labor unions, which the CTA claims hinders innovation.
The organization applauded both states for progress in different areas. Kansas nearly doubled its venture capital funding in the last year, from $14.51 in 2014 to $28.67 per capita in 2015. The state also boosted spending on research and development, increasing from $529 per capita in 2014 to $726 in 2015.
Missouri boosted its overall Internet speeds — from about 9,000 kbps on average to now about 11,800 kbps. Missouri also produces a high number of STEM graduates, hosting schools such as the Missouri University of Science and Technology, which graduates more than 90 percent of its students with STEM degrees.
The CTA is a nationwide trade organization representing more than 2,200 tech companies in the U.S. For more information on the rankings, click here.
2016 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
After shootings, ‘It’s most important to keep the public safe,’ Smart City leaders say
Citizens expect public safety from their city government to encompass such basics as sidewalks and water, Bob Bennett said. And for that reason, improving public safety must be a top concern for smart city projects around the nation, the chief innovation officer at the City of Kansas City, Missouri, added. “We have to provide the…
$1.6M grant will create incubator for low-income, minority entrepreneurs
A large federal grant will help reanimate an older industrial building in Kansas City to serve as a small business incubator. The U.S. Economic Development Administration recently awarded a $1.6 million grant to the Hispanic Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City, Missouri. The Kansas City organization said that the grant should create about 90 new…
Kauffman report: KC ranks 28 out of 40 in entrepreneurial growth
Fewer Kansas City companies are growing to become medium- or large-sized firms, according to a report released Thursday by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. It’s a common story across the U.S., as the nation rebounds from the slump of the Great Recession, the report says. The 2017 Kauffman Index of Growth Entrepreneurship report suggests the…
Housing trends show young professionals don’t care about Troost’s stigma, UC-B says
Lance Carlton initially was skeptical of developing east of Troost Avenue, he said. “But the mentality of the market has changed,” said Carlton, co-managing partner of UC-B Properties, which brought its offices to the 4300 block of Troost in August 2016. The company helped prove an appetite for residential development on the corridor with 19…