State ramps up efforts to communicate with entrepreneurs

Merging for efficiency

Under the leadership of Gov. Matt Blunt, we have reorganized the department to focus on attracting and retaining good, family-supporting jobs and have merged key departments to improve services to job creators.

A new partnership

• We created the Missouri Partnership to serve as the premier statewide, private- sector business recruitment organization. The Missouri Partnership is a consortium of successful business and state leaders working together to boost our state’s economy through strengthened public and private partnerships that help make Missouri communities more attractive for economic growth.

• We merged the Division of Business Development and Trade with the Division of Community Development to form the Division of Business and Community Services.

This change, in response to the governor’s call for more accountability, directs the resources of the combined departments toward helping Missouri communities reach their full economic potential.

As a result of the consolidation, the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center is now a part of the Business and Community Services division.

This change will harness the center’s vast informational resources toward helping both the state and local communities expand their research and innovation efforts.

• We also are stepping up departmental efforts to recognize ingenuity and our entrepreneurs by placing more DED representatives in the field to improve communication and create new funding opportunities to attract and retain businesses.

In the field

Because we have a diverse state economy, our representatives will specialize in the fields of financial services, life sciences, the automobile industry, defense and homeland security, information technology, agricultural business, and energy transportation and logistics.

Creating jobs

Having trained specialists in fields that are having a dynamic impact on our state’s economy will show leaders in these fields at home and abroad that we are serious about creating long-term partnerships that will enhance opportunities for all Missourians.

Gov. Blunt has challenged us to build upon the success we’ve had in creating more than 46,000 new jobs since he took office.

We fully accept this challenge and look forward to the opportunities that lie ahead.

For more information about DED’s programs and services, visit our Web site at www.ded.mo.gov.

Greg Steinhoff is the director of the Missouri Department of Economic Development.[[In-content Ad]]