Two years ago, the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry launched an ambitious 15-year strategic plan to position our state as a global economic leader. We called it Missouri 2030: An Agenda to Lead. Missouri 2030 is informed by Gallup research and input from more than 1,000 Missouri business leaders. It is structured around four key drivers: Preparing the Workforce,
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While working to figure out how to make Missouri a better place for business, one issue stood apart: finding a properly educated workforce. According to the Gallup survey contracted by the Missouri 2030 project, only 15 percent of Missouri business owners agree that high schools are preparing students for the workforce, and 75 percent believe that public schools in Missouri
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There has long been a notion that Missouri is a fractured state, divided by the interests of urban versus rural, of east versus west. But to move Missouri’s economy forward with Missouri 2030, it will take a united effort that citizens and business leaders from all regions can stand behind. “The Missouri business community needs to come together,” says Tracy
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Every year, patients in the United States are prescribed billions of dollars worth of unneeded antibiotics. Even worse, the misuse of these drugs is causing a rise in antibiotic-resistant infections, a serious health threat that leads to $20 billion in additional health care costs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Tom Cohen has an idea to
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When the nation’s interstate system was born nearly 60 years ago, it was born in Missouri. During the summer of 1956, President Dwight Eisenhower signed the Federal Aid Highway Act, making $25 billion in federal funding available for interstate construction. Missouri leapt at the opportunity and became the first state to sign a contract for interstate work; Missouri was also
Read moreRibbon cuttings and announcements by state officials herald most relocations and expansions. However, the Missouri Chamber recognized that we should also be looking at the companies that considered coming to Missouri but chose not to. To learn more about the companies that got away and to identify effective reforms that the Missouri Chamber should tackle, we commissioned Gallup to conduct
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Last year, the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry began a strategic planning process for the entire state. We called the project Missouri 2030: An Agenda to Lead. We started by commissioning research to help determine our current economic environment. Until now, Missouri has largely defined itself by a set of anecdotal beliefs: strong workforce, low taxes, low cost of
Read morePlanning an economic development strategy for a region or state is no easy task. It often requires help from an outside expert. Many times, that expert is Ted Abernathy. In recent years, Ted has worked to develop job growth strategies for North Carolina and Arkansas while also creating regional economic and workforce plans in Mississippi, Kentucky, Arkansas, Virginia, North Carolina,
Read moreIn planning for Missouri 2030, the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry wanted a well-planned, substantial survey to establish a data set backed up by one of the world’s most respected names in research. Gallup was the natural choice. Courtney Hesselbacher was part of a team of researchers and data experts who worked directly with the Missouri Chamber as Gallup conducted
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Missouri Business 