Missouri to create ‘Office of Entrepreneurship,’ prioritize access for emerging ventures

Newly signed legislation — part of a nationwide Right to Start initiative with roots in Kansas City — is expected to boost starters across Missouri, advocates said this week, and reflects broad public and bipartisan support for eliminating barriers for new entrepreneurs and overlooked business owners.

“Advancing entrepreneurship will energize the Missouri economy,” said Missouri Sen. Travis Fitzwater, R-Fulton, a longtime advocate for the bill, which he first introduced in 2021. “This new law makes advancing startup businesses and young companies a statewide priority and provides essential tools to maximize that potential for the benefit of all Missourians.”

Gov. Mike Parson, R-Missouri, on Tuesday signed the Right to Start Act (SB 894 and 825), which will take effect on August 28, 2024. The legislation passed in the Missouri House and Senate with bipartisan support in 2024: by votes of 117-7 in the House and 31-1 in the Senate.

Right to Start is a national initiative to advance entrepreneurship as a civic and community priority led by Victor W. Hwang, an economic growth expert who previously served as vice president of entrepreneurship at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

Among the stipulations of the Missouri’s Right to Start Act:

• Creates an Office of Entrepreneurship within the Missouri Department of Economic Development to promote policies and initiatives to support the growth of entrepreneurship of Missouri-based businesses with less than 10 employees;
• Requires that, by no later than June 30, 2026, and annually thereafter, the Commissioner of Administration files a report with the Missouri General Assembly that includes information on contracts awarded to businesses that have been in operation for less than three years;
• Requires the Commissioner of Administration, in conjunction with the Office of Entrepreneurship, to make recommendations to the General Assembly on improving access and resources for Missouri businesses that have been in operation for less than three years, including businesses owned by members of a racial minority group, and women-owned and veteran-owned businesses.

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Missouri is the second state to sign into law the Right to Start Act (and create an Office of Entrepreneurship) — Nevada enacted and signed into law its Right to Start Act with strong bipartisan support in July 2023 — although Hwang emphasized the Show Me State was the first to support the initiative, setting the stage for an even greater footprint.

In addition to Missouri and Nevada, he said, Right to Start successes include:

• New Mexico created an Office of Entrepreneurship, inspired by Right to Start policy recommendations, by executive department action in September 2023.
• Kansas created the position of Director of Small Business and Entrepreneurship by executive department action in March 2024, inspired by Right to Start’s work in the state. 
• Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced in May 2024 the appointment of the state’s first-ever Chief Innovation Ecosystem Officer to “help build a community of innovation and make Michigan a place where innovators and entrepreneurs feel seen and heard and work together to drive us forward.” 

“It’s exciting to see the national momentum building around the creation of statewide Offices of Entrepreneurship and similar initiatives to support entrepreneurs,” said Hwang founder and CEO of Right to Start. “Missouri was the first state to introduce such a Right to Start policy, and its enactment of the Right to Start Act underscores its national leadership on continuing to move entrepreneurship forward at the state level.”

Multi-level reforms

Right to Start policy recommendations and Right to Start Acts are being considered throughout the United States on the local, state, and federal levels, said Jason Grill, chief government affairs officer for Right to Start.

“Elected, appointed, and department officials increasingly appreciate both the economic impact and the importance of entrepreneurship, as well as the broad public support for it,” said Grill, a former two-term member of the Missouri House of Representatives, who was the co-founder of School of Sock (Sock 101) among other ventures. “They’re eager to find ways to reduce and eliminate barriers to starting and energizing new, young businesses.”

Click here to learn more about Right to Start’s key policy positions that Hwang and Grill believe are helping to drive the advocacy group’s momentum.

From the archives: First-ever ‘Right to Start Act’ would ban non-competes, establish Missouri Office of Entrepreneurship

Among Right to Start’s longtime priorities: non-compete reform that would unleash entrepreneurs who want to create new jobs by freeing them from unfair bans and non-compete restrictions.

In April, the Biden Administration announced a new rule banning non-compete agreements — a move Hwang and Right to Start applauded.

“Those agreements have long been a major barrier in the way of entrepreneurs starting their own businesses, and banning non-competes has always been a policy priority for Right to Start,” Hwang told Startland News. “New and young businesses create virtually all job growth in America, and this decision will advance new business startups and job growth. As the FTC states, the ‘rule will generate over 8,500 new businesses each year, raise worker wages, lower health care costs, and boost innovation.’ Over the long term, we support passage of legislation, at both national and state levels, to ban non-competes as the most durable and sustainable path. But, for now, this rule is a major step forward for entrepreneurship in America.”