Stripping Missouri’s supplier diversity goals stifles state’s prosperity potential, says women’s business advocate

Ending nearly a decade of benchmarks that helped ensure greater equity in state contracts for businesses owned by minorities and women is a move in the wrong direction for Missouri, said Jennifer Brungardt, emphasizing the coming impact of lost opportunities for underrepresented entrepreneurs. “Diversity and economic growth will be stifled without proper support from our…

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Scoring Google’s $1B data center feels like Super Bowl overtime as KC keeps notching wins, officials say

Kansas City is hitting it out of the ballpark, said Mike Parson, returning from the governor’s office to the region Wednesday for yet another major economic development announcement — this time, a billion-dollar Google data center coming in 2025. “Maybe I should say, ‘You’re hitting it out of the ballpark and scoring touchdowns,” Parson, R-Missouri, told…

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Missouri receives $95M from federal initiative to boost startup, small business growth

A newly announced $27 million in federal funds earmarked to support small businesses, startups, and entrepreneurs is headed to Missouri, representing the first of three awards approved by the U.S. Department of Treasury — totaling $95 million — to be deployed through the Missouri Technology Corporation. The funding comes via the State Small Business Credit Initiative,…

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With boost to $31M in funding, how will state agency power MO innovation? Check out its plan

Two months after Gov. Mike Parson and legislators bumped the Missouri Technology Corporation’s budget back into the double digits, the state-funded investment agency introduced its plan for implementing five new strategies designed to catalyze innovation and entrepreneurship in Missouri. Presented early this month at the Governor’s Conference on Economic Development, MTC released an execution roadmap…

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