Ingram's August 2022

INNOVATION

ing Missouri IDEA Fund and the Missouri Technology In centive Program. MTC has invested nearly

Aspiring business owners can either call or go on-line to use the agency’s Re source Navigator to help establish con nections that can assist with financial planning and borrowing needs, sales and marketing strategies, technical issues and product development, operations, educa tional resources and information about government contacting opportunities. KCSourceLink Like it’s statewide cousin, KCSource Link connects entrepreneurs to resourc es—coaches and mentors, funding and educational tools—and also helps them navigate events like Global Entrepreneur ship Week. The program uses data to mea sure outcomes, identify gaps in resources and connects companies to various grant writing organizations and government of fices.

$44 million in over 135 ear ly-stage, high growth tech companies, which have lev eraged those contributions into more than $1 billion in additional private capital. A distinguishing feature of MTC is its reach across the breadth of the state. Through its Innova tion Center Program, which com mercializes research, discoveries and innovations by working closely with various universities. At innovation centers across they state, program participants enjoy business counseling and development guidance, plus financial assistance to move their concepts from the lab or garage into for mal business settings, with a goal of pro ducing more high-paying jobs. In addition to St. Louis and Kansas City, the in novation centers operate in Cape Girardeau, Columbia, Joplin, Kirksville, Rolla, Spring

On Point | The Sharptooth Boardroom is a video/audio conferencing venue at the T-Rex Innovation Center, an incubator for innovative start-ups in the St. Louis region.

T-REX, a non-profit innovation and entre preneur development center that attracts in novation to Downtown and the urban core of St. Louis. With co-working space, tech nology incubator, and entrepreneur reso- urcecenter,itnowservesmorethan400found ers, developers, designers, mentors, edu- cators and others. With a motto of “Building the futureof St. Louis, one start-upat a time,” T-Rex has facilities where entrepreneurs can operate in a reduced-risk environment, with lower capital and operating costs. More than two dozen start-ups cur rently call the T-Rex site their home, and 10 others that found their bearings there have moved on to other locations. Among those housed there are innovative firms ex ploring private-jet mid-air refueling tech- nologies, greenhouses on a classroom scale to introduce students to farming and agricultural concepts, fintech and home-health enterprises and wireless rail car monitoring systems. Missouri Technology Corporation The Missouri Technology Corpora tion is a public-private partnership tasked with supporting entrepreneurship and supporting new and emerging high-tech companies. With its strategic investments in tech-based Missouri companies, MTC funds several statewide programs, includ

field and St. Joseph. MOSourceLink Expanding on its success in the Kansas City area with KC SoureLink, this UMKC - s p o n - sored initiative helps entrepre neurs and small businesses inMis- souri by connecting them to elements across the entrepre

neurial spectrum.Many of those are non-profit organizations that provide business-building services to more than 6,000 Show-Me State entrepreneurs each year.

New Frontiers | The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency has been a St. Louis fixture for 70 years, but its new $1.75 billion campus has been transformational, putting the region in the higher echelon of intelligence analytics for the federal government.

13

D e s t i n a t i o n M i s s o u r i . c o m

Missouri’s Business Media

2022