Ingrams August 2023

DESTINATION MISSOURI BUSINESS CULTURE

Leading Industries

MISSOURI’S ECONOMIC MIGHT IS GROUNDED IN DIVERSE BUSINESS SECTORS.

Quick! What are the key elements of Missouri’s economy? If your first thought was manufactur ing, congratulations: You’re spot-on in picking a sector that accounted for 12.3 percent of the state’s roughly $300 billion GDP at last count. So, yes, we do make a lot of things here, from fighter planes to farm equipment to cars and trucks to chemicals and construction materials. If, however, you thought the services sector might be bigger overall, then con grats again—you are a true student of Show-Me State economic fundamentals. The vastly large services sector—ag gregating everything from real estate, health care, banking, wholesale and retail trade, utilities, information, and much more—accounts for a staggering 70.9 percent of the state’s GDP. That’s nearly six times the share produced by manufacturing. That abundance of thriving business sectors, according to the state’s Depart ment of Economic Development, has thrust Missouri into the upper echelon of U.S. states in terms of diversifica tion—only three other states had more diverse economies last year. The Federal Reserve Bank says its his torical research into economic swings, from boom to bust on a national level, don’t retain their sharp edges here. As a re

CENTER OF GRAVITY | The BJC Health campus, which incorporates the Washington University School of Medicine and St. Louis Children’s Hospital, is a huge employment center for that city.

gion, we come out of recessions faster than most other Fed districts, and we’re among the last to enter periods of downturn. Among some of the pillars of the state’s business sectors: Advanced Manufacturing: There’s a lot more cooking on this front than you’ll find at the Boeing plant in St. Louis, where they turn out the F/A-18 Super Hornet and F-15EX fighter jets for the nation’s military. Ford and General Motors maintain large assembly plants in Missouri, and have invested billions

of dollars over the past decade, a sign of their confidence in the long-term pros pects for those facilities. Food process ing, chemical production, and electrical equipment are other key elements of the manufacturing universe here. Biosciences: St. Louis and Kansas City are home to organizations that play key roles in global and national life sci ences research and commercialization. The biggest asset in that grouping is the 250-mile Animal-Health Corridor, which starts in Columbia and runs west into

DISTRICT 6: SOUTHWEST MISSOURI

DISTRICT 7: SOUTHEAST MISSOURI

DISTRICT 4: MID-MISSOURI

DISTRICT 5: SAINT LOUIS AREA

Counties: Barry, Barton, Bates, Benton, Cedar, Christian, Dade, Dallas, Douglas, Greene, Henry, Hickory, Howell, Jasper, LaClede, Lawrence, McDonald, Newton, Ozark, Polk, Saint Clair, Stone, Taney, Texas, Vernon, Webster, Wright District Population: 1,130,303 Biggest City (population): Springfield (169,724) Other Population Centers: Joplin, Branson, Nixa, Ozark, Clinton Major Employers: Leggett & Platt, Cox Health, Jack Henry & Associates, Missouri State University

Counties: Bollinger, Butler, Cape Gi rardeau, Carter, Crawford, Dent, Dunklin, Iron, Madison, Mississippi, New Madrid, Oregon, Pemiscot, Perry, Reynolds, Ripley, Saint Francois, Saint Genevieve, Scott, Shannon, Stoddard, Washington, Wayne District Population: 507,342 Biggest City (population): Cape Girardeau (39,820) Other Population Centers: Farming ton, Poplar Bluffs, Sikeston, Bloomfield, Perryville Major Employers: St, Francis Medical Center, Southeast Missouri State University

Counties: Boone, Callaway, Camden, Cole, Cooper, Gasconade, Howard, Maries, Miller, Moniteau, Morgan, Osage, Phelps, Pulaski District Population: 578,389 Biggest City (population): Columbia (126,853) Other Population Centers: Jefferson City, Rolla, Fulton, Camdenton, Osage Beach Major Employers: University of Missouri, State of Missouri, Central Bancorp, Fort Leonard Wood

Counties: Franklin, Jefferson, Lincoln, Montgomery, Saint Charles, Saint Louis, Warren District Population: 2,137,895 Biggest City (population): St. Louis (293,310) Other Population Centers: O’Fallon, St. Charles, St. Peters, Florissant, Chesterfield, Union, Wentzville, Wildwood Major Employers: Ascension Health, BJC Healthcare, Emerson Electric, Edward Jones, Anhueser-Busch/InBev, Evernorth