A strong, stable, diverse economy is an important reason why businesses find success in Missouri. Companies of all sizes thrive in the State of Missouri.
About the State of Missouri
When considering a new site for your business, location means everything. Access to resources, distribution and key market areas is essential. With its central location, well developed infrastructure, strong workforce, and favorable business climate, Missouri offers everything your company needs to develop and succeed.
Location and Infrastructure
Missouri’s location and geography allows it to support any shipping need, it is located in the geographic center of the United States, which offers competitive advantages for Missouri companies. Missouri has the 6th largest highway system in the US, registered commercial trailers, facilitating easy and inexpensive shipping. Missouri also has two of the largest rail terminals in the US, in Kansas City and St. Louis. For air transportation, Missouri has Lambert International Airport in St. Louis and Kansas City International Airport, and also has 15 ports along the 2 major rivers, the Mississippi and Missouri.
Workforce
The success of any investment endeavor depends largely on the workforce. Missouri’s education system has provided the training that has made the Missouri workforce more productive than the national average. The Missouri labor force ranks above national levels of education, 88 % of the population have completed a high school degree or higher, the national rate is 85.2 %. Missouri has 140 accredited higher education institutions providing training to the population; 70% of native Missourians remain in Missouri providing stability of workforce and a competitive wage rate.
Business Climate
In terms of tax climates, Missouri ranked as the 15th most beneficial to corporate growth, with a corporate tax rate of 6.25%, and has the 3rd lowest business tax burden per worker. Missouri supports business expansion with tax credits, financial assistance programs, exemptions in property tax, and other incentives. Missouri companies exported $13.4 billion worth of goods in 2007, an increase of 5% from 2006. Missouri also offers a low cost of living with a high quality of life.
While 9 Missouri companies are on the Fortune 500 list and it is the home to several global market leaders, including Emerson Electric, Sprint, MasterCard and Monsanto, 82% of the exporting companies in Missouri are small and medium sized. Missouri supports a variety of products; it is in the top 10 when it comes to agribusiness employment. It also leads in biodiesel and ethanol research, production, and incentives. 4% of the workforce is involved in high tech industry, including manufacturing, with an emphasis on life sciences.
