MOSourceLink Blog

Startup Weekend is just a few days away—and we over here at MOSourceLink want to extend the celebration of startups by helping you get something started. Check with us this week for the best startup advice in this four-part blog series leading up the intense weekend of ideas, innovation and business.

On September 27, 2010, President Obama signed into law the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010. The Act created the State Small Business Credit Initiative, which was funded with $1.5 billion to strengthen state programs that support lending to small businesses and small manufacturers. With a 10-1 leverage required, the Initiative is expected to build $15 billion in funds for small business growth. The program is offered through the U.S. Treasury Department.

An ever increasing number of nonprofit and governmental agencies are talking about small business and entrepreneurship. New initiatives, conferences, and webinars for high growth entrepreneurship are popping up across the country. In the midst of the flurry, policy-makers and business development professionals need current, on-the-ground data to appropriately address the needs of small business owners. MOSourceLink collects the data needed to inform the discussion.

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon shared the following message for MOBIO members this morning: "Missouri has established strengths in high-tech research, particularly in life sciences. One of those strengths is the optimism and determination of biotech entrepreneurs to overcome market challenges to turn their research into products. The Missouri IDEA Funds program is one way the state can smartly assist entrepreneurs in meeting those challenges at each stage of the process. The Treasury Department realized the benefits of this concept, and is holding up our Missouri program as a model for other states."

Good grief it’s been a long winter, eh? Fortunately for us, today is the start of spring, so I thought I’d devote a short note to our agri-business and landscaping services. The calls have already started shifting, so let’s talk regulations and resources.

Especially check out the stats on the rise of women and Hispanic business owners, their success rates (or lack thereof), and the higher education levels of entrepreneurs. We still have some work to do.

The U.S. Small Business Administration offers these eight reasons to export

Recently, Ingram’s from Kansas City asked me to write an article on women in the business world. It was fun to see where women stand today. Looks like the up-and-coming generation of women are making their mark

The numbers are just in and Missouri was a winner with $12.9 billion in exports for 2010. This is a 35% increase from 2009, with exports up in nearly every category.

Frequently at KCSourceLink, we have clients who need help to certify their businesses as minority-owned or women-owned businesses. However, certifying your business as a MBE/WBE is not a benefit for all businesses.