Headlines often boast of companies coming to Missouri and opening their doors to anywhere from 300 to 1,000 new employees. Entrepreneurs, in comparison, are a job-creating powerhouse, working outside of the spotlight to bring an average of 40,797 new jobs to Missouri, every single year.
Startups are vital to our economy. In fact, new and young firms are the primary source of job creation, in both rural and urban communities. The Missouri Department of Economic Development calls small businesses and startup firms the “engines that keep Missouri moving forward,” and with good reason.
Missouri startups, defined in Show Me Jobs as first-time employers with fewer than 20 employees, create jobs:
MOSourceLink’s Show Me Jobs report quantifies the impact of new and young firms to Missouri’s economy. The report also provides year-to-year comparison data regarding job creation by new and young firms, wage growth and the industrial density of startups.
Highlights from Show Me Jobs
- First-time employers created an average of 40,797 new jobs in Missouri each year for the past five years. (Page 4)
- For the past five years, those first-time employers created a total of 190,764 jobs, accounting for 78 percent of all new jobs.(Page 5)
- New tech firms created an average of 1,529 jobs each year for the past five years.
- Missouri had 19,115 startup firms in 2018. (Page 6)
- The distribution of startups across the state is widespread. Startup activity can be found in all corners of the state. (Page 6)
- Wages at startup firms exceed the average after Year 2. (Page 9)
- Wages at startup tech firms start at more than double the state’s average wage. (Page 9)
Entrepreneurship Matters
Missouri startups created
78 percent of all new jobs in Missouri over the past five year. Download MOSourceLink’s
Show Me Jobs to see the number of jobs they create, where they’re creating them, how startup (and tech) wages compare to the state average and where startup industries cluster.
Have questions or comments about the Show Me Jobs report or need help hiring your first employee? Contact us at 866-870-6500 or at info@mosourcelink.com.
MOSourceLInk and the Show Me Jobs Report is generously supported by the University of Missouri System and Missouri Technology Corporation.