Efactory report highlights successes from 2025

Support from Missouri State University’s Efactory played a role in the creation of more than 500 jobs last year, according to an annual report.

Efactory’s 2025 impact report showed the business incubator assisted entrepreneurs and small-business owners, which increased sales by $84 million and generated $118 million in capital and equity.

Efactory is home to more than 120 companies and 200 members, according to the report. 

“We have this ecosystem of programming for very early stage startup companies but then also a robust set of services for growing companies, growth programs and then also ways we can help people in a variety of different locations, in particular rural communities,” said Rachel Munday, executive director, in an interview. “I love being able to tell that story this year in our impact report.”

Last year, the report showed that Efactory provided assistance to more than 1,500 small businesses, and at least 3,500 hours of one-on-one business counseling.

Austin Smalley founded Falconite Marketing LLC in 2023 and moved into Efactory a year ago. He uses the space at 405 N. Jefferson Ave. as a home base.

“It’s been very beneficial for us. Before we came here to Efactory, we were all just working remotely. Efactory has given us a place to call our home office,” Smalley said, in an interview. “I’ll have clients here locally that will come and visit me in person instead of having to find a random coffeeshop.” 

Smalley said the location provides more than a private office and meeting space.

“They also provide all kind of resources, networking events they host here at the building, which is very convenient because I am here every single day,” he said. “Anything I need help with, I can ask somebody at the Efactory, and they can point me in the right direction if they can’t help me directly.”

Munday said the Efactory has been around long enough to be able to point to specific results.

“Our first few years, you don’t always have the instant success stories that everybody is looking for,” she said. “Now that we’ve been here for 13 years, you can really see this ecosystem that has been created around business support and talent development, which has been really fun.”

Munday said Efactory started producing the annual report in 2019 but the content evolves each year, based on funding and focus. 

For example, a regional collaborative launched as Innovate SOMO – a partnership between Efactory, MSU and Codefi – has grown into the Show-Me Network, which reached 47 partners across the state by the end of 2025, according to the report. 

“At Efactory, success isn’t just measured in companies launched or space filled, but in people: founders taking the leap, students funding new paths and partners choosing to build together,” Munday wrote in a report overview. 

“Defined by connection, this year strengthened our role as a bridge between Missouri State University and the community – aligning talent, research, and real-world experience to advance both economic growth and community good.”

She said the 2026 report will likely focus on alignment with MSU’s strategic plan, Igniting Opportunity, which prioritizes developing talent and the student-to-employer pipeline.

Currently, Efactory has grown to 17 full-time staff members employed by MSU plus three part-time employees and 14 student workers. 

Munday said Cody Brewington, director of the MSU Public Safety Training Center, is now part of the Efactory team. 

“We also brought student employment, which had previously been housed in financial aid, over to Efactory a little over two years ago,” she said. “That brought over three full-time individuals as well as some students.”

Beyond student workers, the Efactory provides training, internships and course projects for students, according to the report.

“That is really important to us to create those real-world opportunities for students,” she said.

Munday’s boss, Allen Kunkel, vice president for economic development and director of the Jordan Valley Innovation Center, announced plans to retire June 30. MSU has not yet announced what it will do with that position.

“Efactory is really our front door of the university in terms of employer partnerships and business and economic development relationships,” said Brad Bodenhausen, vice president for community and global partnerships at MSU, in an interview. 

He said a focus on the strategic plan is “aligning student experience with the talent development needs of employers,” particularly in southwest Missouri but also across the state.

Bodenhausen said the Efactory is an entry point for startups, entrepreneurs and small businesses, among others, to connect with MSU.

“Being that point of contact for the university is critical,” he said. “We are moving in a direction to highlight that even more.”