No MO: Kansas City, St. Louis drop off Inc list of ‘50 Best Cities for Starting a Business’
January 6, 2020 | Startland News Staff
Shots fired. A new ranking by Inc. magazine claims startup powerhouse Austin, Texas, is “leading the nation in job creation and high-growth company density — and delish BBQ.”
Kansas City? Not even on the list.
Inc.’s Surge Cities index — detailing what founders can learn from the 50 Best U.S. Cities for Starting a Business in 2020 — totally omitted KC from its latest ranking after putting the City of Fountains at No. 40 in 2019.
St. Louis (ranked No. 33 in 2019) also dropped from the index.
Austin, Texas
The report considered such elements as job creation, population growth, net business creation, rate of entrepreneurship, wage growth, high-growth company density, and early-stage fundraising deals — all areas where Austin excelled, editors said. (The Texas capital city also ranked No. 1 in 2019.)
“Austin is one of the few markets that is able to support a full range of kinds of startups — like Silicon Valley or New York,” said Joshua Baer, the founder of Capital Factory, the city’s dominant startup incubator, in the Inc. report. “It’s because we have a diverse set of strengths in our background.”
In contrast, Kansas City’s business ecosystem is dominated by the health care industry, which accounts four of its top five private sector employers, according to Inc.
Other peer cities on the list: Boise (No. 5); Nashville (No. 11); Oklahoma City (No. 39); Minneapolis (No. 40); Columbus (No. 44); Tulsa (No. 47); Des Moines (No. 48); and Indianapolis (No. 50).
Click here for the full list of Inc.’s 50 Best U.S. Cities for Starting a Business in 2020.
2020 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
As book banning spreads across US, one KC media company calls out specific threat to diverse creators
The Kansas City publishing powerhouse behind many of the nation’s most-beloved newspaper comics — from Calvin & Hobbes and The Far Side to Garfield and Peanuts — this week raised its voice amid a growing push to condemn book bans flaring up across the country. “Books are safe harbors, where the freedom of expression and…
Torch.AI secures second acquisition in two months with more in its pipeline, revealing strategy to ‘turbocharge’ military intel
Leawood-based artificial intelligence firm Torch.AI recently expanded its team and capabilities through the acquisition of B23 — a Virginia-based data extraction software company, noted Adam Lurie, chief strategy officer of Torch.AI “Our belief is that the combination of Torch.AI’s software platform Nexus, alongside the subject matter expertise and customer capabilities of B23, will allow us…
New initiative has a message for KC: When Black men say they need a ’90s self-love reboot — listen
Love yourself enough to know you matter It’s virtually impossible to love others when there’s not already a sense of self love, said Kansas City small business owner Christina Williams, announcing the launch of an initiative to guide its community of Black men to understanding and believing in their own self-worth. “I know a lot…
Splitting time between student, entrepreneur lives earns Splitsy co-founder top UMKC honor
Recognition as UMKC’s Student Entrepreneur of the Year is a reminder that innovators often begin early, said Brad Starnes, one of Kansas City’s most-talked-about emerging young startup founders. “When I was about 8 years old, I submitted a drawing to an engineering firm,” said the co-founder of Splitsy, a bill splitting app that launched its…