Just the facts

Two men shared the floor to spill the good, the bad and the ugly about Missouri’s economic condition.

In their seminar, “Building a Strong Economy … By The Numbers,” Missouri Economic Research & Information Center Director Marty Romitti and Policom Corp. President William H. Fruth showed key numbers rating the Show-Me State’s business production.

The good: steady job growth since June 2004; gross state product of $226 billion, which is 20th in the nation; third-most diversified economy in the United States; geographically close to 40 percent of the U.S. population; and a record $12.8 billion in exports to 191 countries in 2006, an increase of 22 percent from 2005, according to Romitti.

The bad: Since 2000, Missouri lost 58,100 manufacturing jobs, which is especially painful because those are generally high-paying jobs, Romitti said. Springfield currently is the 207th-strongest economy out of 363 national metropolitan statistical areas, according to Fruth, who has evaluated more than 600 local economies in his 20 years in economic development.

The ugly: From 1996–2005, Missouri’s employment growth ranked 41st in the country, and per capita income growth ranked 42nd, said Fruth, who classified Missouri’s economy as unimpressive. Signaling a weakening economy, per capita government transfers in Missouri grew at the 16th-fastest rate during that period. Government transfers include Social Security checks, Medicare, Medicaid and welfare. An increase in government transfers signals an aging and increasingly poor population, said Fruth, of Palm City, Fla.

The answer: Fruth said communities need active economic development organizations, available and preapproved industrial land and available labor. It’s vitally important, and often overlooked, to retain existing companies, he said.

Also, communities should seek “primary” employers that mostly sell their products or services to other areas. These companies bring new money into an area and often pay higher than average wages, driving an economy, Fruth said.[[In-content Ad]]