According to the “Business Tax Index 2011,” the 15 best tax systems are: 1) South Dakota, 2) Texas, 3) Nevada, 4) Wyoming, 5) Washington, 6) Florida, 7) Alabama, 8)Alaska, 9) Ohio, 10) Colorado, 11) South Carolina, 12) Mississippi, 13) Oklahoma, 14) Virginia, and 15) Missouri.
How is your small business doing?
Lower home prices and cheap mortgage rates have made home buying much more affordable than just a few years ago. For Americans looking to buy retirement property, Columbia, Missouri is a highly rated choice; number 8 to be exact. That’s where U.S. News and World Report has placed our exceptional community in their most recent Top 10 list of places where buyers can purchase property for less than $600 a month.
Tell us what YOU like about Columbia, Missouri.
The 2010 Milken Institute Best-Performing Cities Index ranks U.S. metropolitan areas by how well they are creating and sustaining jobs and economic growth. The components include job, wage and salary, and technology growth. The Columbia, MO MSA is ranked #22 up from #51 in 2009.
How do you think Columbia is doing?
Posted in 1, Business Prospects, Entrepreneurs, Site Consultants/Relocation Specialists
Tagged Columbia, jobs, Milken, technology, wage
The U.S. Small Business Administration has awarded $100,000 to the University of Missouri Extension’s Missouri Small Business & Technology Development Center to promote small-business technology research around the state. With the new SBA funds, the Columbia, Mo., center plans to offer a series of training events around the state for technology-oriented researchers.
Posted in 1, Entrepreneurs, Investors/Stakeholders
Tagged research, small business, technology
InvestMidwest: March 30-31 in Kansas City. InvestMidwest is accepting applications. Over 270 attended 2010 InvestMidwest, including 63 venture capital professionals and 44 companies representing 13 states from throughout the Midwest in the three industry tracks of life sciences, IT/general business and cleantech/alternative energy. InvestMidwest encourages high-growth companies (revenue projections of $20 million or higher within five years) from throughout the Midwest to apply.
Did you know that the University of Missouri, Columbia is one of only six labs in the USA that are part of the NIH driven Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer? Read all about the collaboration between Nanoparticle Biochem, Inc. (NBI) and Shasun Pharmaceuticals Limited. Lead by NBI founders, Kattesh Katti and Dr. Raghuraman Kannan, Shasun NBI LLC will proceed with plans for further development of NBIs lead molecule, NBI-29 for Prostate Cancer toward FDA approval.
Posted in 1, Business Prospects, Entrepreneurs, Investors/Stakeholders
Beginning in October, REDI will be conducting its’ annual survey of area employers, including a request for current number of employees. From this information, we compile the Boone County Top Employers List. We are always on the lookout for companies/organizations that we might be missing. Who do you think needs to be surveyed?
AT&T will be announcing an exciting project in our area that will tweak the interest of REDI’s High Speed Internet Task Force and citizens in Columbia. Join us on Thursday, September 9th at 10:00 a.m. at AT&T-Columbia, 1305 Grindstone Parkway, Columbia Missouri.
Celebrate discoveries, inventions and innovations in the state of Missouri. Plan to exhibit or attend the 2010 Missouri Technology Expo on October 7th at the Christopher S. Bond Life Sciences Center.
Do you plan to attend? Do you have something new to offer the world?
Posted in 1, Entrepreneurs
Columbia, Missouri is ranked #23 on the list of Best Cities for Job Growth in the Small Cities category by Newgeography.
The methodology for the 2010 rankings emphasizes the robustness of a region’s growth both recently and over time. It allows the rankings to include all of the metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) for which the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports monthly employment data. The data reflect the North American Industry Classification System categories, including total nonfarm employment, manufacturing, financial services, business and professional services, educational and health services, information, retail and wholesale trade, transportation and utilities, leisure and hospitality, and government.
YOU ARE INVITED: Workshop and Pitch Event on August 16-17, 2010 at the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute.
Who Should Attend? Anyone with a technology or media business proposal to pitch:
You will:
Best Student Pitch wins a trip to a National Pitch Slam Contest in New York, Los Angeles or San Francisco
Posted in 1, Entrepreneurs
REDI Vice President Bernie Andrews and staff from MURR (MU Research Reactor Center) recently attended the Society of Nuclear Medicine’s (SNM) 57th Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah, which is considered the “premier event for educational and networking opportunities in molecular imaging and nuclear medicine.” SNM is an international scientific and professional organization that was founded in 1954 to promote the application and technology of nuclear medicine. For more information about the annual meeting, check out their website: http://www.eshow2000.com/snm/2010/welcome.cfm.
Attending the meeting really emphasized how important it is to promote and develop high-tech businesses. Establishing connections with area businesses, including those with a technology focus like MURR, is just one example of how REDI is taking strides to develop Columbia’s economy and encourage the expansion of high-tech companies. The MURR is the largest university-operated nuclear research reactor in the United States, and thus provides a great benefit to Mid-Missouri through its emphasis on research and development, education, and products and services that relate to biotechnology and nuclear medicine. The research reactor continues to investigate diagnoses and treatments of cancers and other diseases. MURR researchers and engineers have continued to work closely with the University of Missouri, particularly with the School of Medicine and College of Veterinary Medicine, in analyzing treatments that benefit humans and animals.
The economic feasibility that companies like MURR provides to Columbia is what REDI continues to obtain through attending conferences and trade shows. REDI’s participation in the SNM annual meeting is key to promoting the assets like MURR that Columbia currently has, as well as attracting similar businesses to develop in the area and positively impact the city’s economy.
Discovery Ridge Research Park has a new director! It was announced yesterday that Greg Williams, has been appointed the Director of the University of Missouri System Research Parks, including the Missouri Research Park in St. Charles County, the Research Park at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, Innovation Park at the Missouri University of Science and Technology, and Discovery Ridge Research Park here in Columbia. Discovery Ridge Research Park is central Missouri’s newest research park and currently has two tenants that have nearly 300 employees.
These research parks are a viable asset to the university and the state of Missouri overall. As Mike Nichols, Vice President of Research and Economic Development for the University of Missouri System, states, “these parks…[are] key to enhancing the university’s public/private partnerships and spurring the state’s economy. These parks help start-up and established businesses bring innovations to the marketplace that result in more jobs and new tax revenues to the state.”
With experience as the Senior Vice President of Economic Development for Springfield and Executive Director for the Randolph County/Moberly Economic Development Corporation and Brookfield-Marceline Economic Development Council, Mr. Williams’ leadership is sure to expand the current area’s development and enhance the strong relationship that the research parks have with REDI. We look forward to working with Mr. Williams on fostering the growth of the research parks and continuing the emphasis on technological innovation for the area.
Welcome to Columbia, Mr. Williams!
“If you want to take your organization from good to great, you’re going to need a management framework that will help improve performance. The Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence is that framework; and working with the Excellence in Missouri Foundation and Missouri Quality Award Program is the best way to get you started on the journey from good to great!” Larry Potterfield, Founder/CEO of Midway USA – Columbia.
Larry Potterfield is a National Baldrige Award winner and Missouri Quality Award winner.
The Excellence in Missouri Foundation, established in 1992 can provide personalized consultations and customized services to increase productivity and efficiency in communication, management, customer relations, human resources and more.
REDI believes in the principles set forth by the Excellence in Missouri Foundation and is a foundation member.
Whether you are a seasoned business or entrepreneur just starting out, we encourage you to attend one of their workshops and gain the insight and tools to make your business great!
Please contact Raina Knox, President, Excellence in Missouri Foundation for information on the next Columbia workshop.
Raina.knox@mqa.mo.gov
www.mqa.org
Posted in Entrepreneurs, Investors/Stakeholders
Being in Columbia and right next to a top research university let’s us have easy access to a variety of resources. The most important being the University of Missouri itself. The University of Missouri School of Journalism’s librarian, Dorothy Carner, is hard at work putting together a resource database for journalism and media entrepreneurs. This site includes everything from idea generation to financial problem solving techniques and intellectual property issues. Check out her great work: Entrepreneurship@Journalism.
Posted in Entrepreneurs
Today through Thursday, the global biotechnology community is meeting in Chicago, and we are attending the convention along with the Missouri Biotechnology Association (MOBIO).
The convention will help shine the spotlight on groundbreaking biotechnology in the midwest. The theme of this year’s BIO International Convention is “Fulfilling the Promise: Heal, Fuel, Feed the World,” highlighting the diverse practical applications of biotechnology.
Chicago last held the conference in 2006.
This conference will feature keynote speakers and more than 1,700 exhibitors. More than 500 are expected to be from outside the U.S. The convention will also hold more than 125 breakout sessions in 17 tracks focusing on top industry issues and trends, research and development, partnership opportunities, and new business models required to meet global health challenges. New tracks for 2010 include Delivery and Manufacturing of Biologics, Global Drug Development and Marketing, Innovations in Vaccines, and MarketPlace Watch.
REDI is a member of moth MOBIO and BIO.
Read more about the convention here or share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Back in 2008, REDI helped bring San Fransisco-based Media Convergence Group’s start-up, Newsy.com, to Columbia. Newsy’s founder Jim Spencer hooked up with REDI when he was looking for a location that would allow Newsy to grow. We were able to help the company relocate to downtown Columbia. This partnership allowed Newsy easy access to the one of the world’s top schools of journalism and made sense for the company financially.
Since then, Newsy partnered with the University of Missouri School of Journalism, raised over $2 million in funding and released highly successful iPad and iPhone applications. The company promises to change the way we view news by providing multiple perspectives from multiple sources in short video segments for mobile consumption.
Most recently, Newsy’s iPad application has been ranked in the top 50 of all free iPad apps in the iTunes store. This is quite an accomplish considering the thousands of apps iTunes offers.
Check out this iPad demo from Newsy! And Download the app in the iTunes store!
Forbes.com released its ‘Best Small Places For Business and Careers’ last Wednesday, and Columbia was #8 overall on the list. Columbia also ranks #7 in educational attainment. This is the fourth consecutive year that Columbia has made the top 10!
Share your thought about Columbia as a place for business and careers in the comments section below.
Welcome to REDI 2.0′s blog.
We are working to improve communication with our clients and business people in the Columbia area. We have created a Twitter account, a Facebook page, and now this blog. We developed the blog to encourage discussion on important local economic issues. You will find that there are four categories – stakeholders/investors, entrepreneurs, business prospects, and site consultants/relocation specialists. The tabs are specialized with news and information geared towards you. We would appreciate feedback during this process, so please comment below if you have thoughts or suggestions for us.
Thank you for taking the time to visit our blog. Become a fan of ColumbiaREDI on Facebook, and if you have Twitter follow @ColumbiaREDI.
