The COVID-19 crisis and the emergency measures taken to slow its spread have wreaked havoc on entrepreneurs and small business owners across the state: shops have closed, capital investments for new startups have slowed, markets have shifted.
And yet historically, we know that Missouri startups are vital to our economy.
From 2015 to 2019, new and young businesses with fewer than 20 employees created 196,808 jobs, accounting for 80% of all new jobs in the state. The Missouri Department of Economic Development calls small businesses and startup firms the “engines that keep Missouri moving forward."
Continuing to show our support of these job creators will help pave a path to economic recovery for our rural and our urban communities.
Show Me Jobs: The Impact of Missouri Startups
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 41,803 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 196,808 jobs, accounting for 78 percent of all new jobs. (Page 4)
- New tech firms created an average of 1,657 jobs each year for the past five years. (Page 5)
- Missouri had 19,004 startup firms in 2019. (Page 6)
- The distribution of startups across the state is widespread. Startup activity can be found in all corners of the state, mapped by geography and per capita. (Pages 6-7)
- Wages at startup firms exceed the average after Year 2. (Page 10)
- Wages at startup tech firms start at more than double the state’s average wage. (Page 10)
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 created from 2015 to 2019, where they created them, how startup (and tech) wages compared to the state average and where startup industries are clustered.
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.