Workforce initiative expands statewide

Rachel Munday: Regional and community connectors are 'the backbone' of Show-Me Network.

Missouri State University’s Efactory and Cape Girardeau-based technology incubator Codefi LLC are investing roughly $3 million in federal grant funds to expand a regional workforce network across the state.

Announced in August, the Show-Me Network builds on the work of the Southern Missouri Innovation Network, aka Innovate SOMO. James Stapleton, president and CEO of Codefi, which also has an office in Springfield, said the new network’s expansion replaces Innovate SOMO.

The network provides training programs, in-person and virtual classes, and one-on-one consultations for entrepreneurs statewide, including in rural areas.

“It’s essentially just expanding from the network partners that we worked with in the 47 southernmost (counties) and now working with additional partners in the sort of nonmajor metro areas in the rest of the state,” Stapleton said.

Upon its creation in 2022, Innovate SOMO’s programming included training and education programs, business-building assistance and help in creating jobs for entrepreneurs in southern Missouri, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting.

The Show-Me Network is designed to offer resources statewide using community and regional connectors. New regional connectors to the Show-Me Network are the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce and Missouri Rural Enterprise and Innovation Center. They join the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce, Ozarks Small Business Incubator and Southeast Missouri Regional Economic Development Inc. as regional connectors who also were part of Innovate SOMO.

For Show-Me Network’s expansion, the Efactory, MSU’s downtown Springfield business incubator, is partnering with Codefi to utilize over $2.9 million in funding. The funding is from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s State Small Business Credit Initiative, with financial backing from the American Rescue Plan Act.

“The Show-Me Network is the way we’re operationalizing that funding,” said Rachel Munday, executive director of the Efactory, via email. “It’s the collaborative network of community and regional connectors, along with training partners, that ensures resources, technical assistance and opportunities reach businesses in every corner of the state. In short, the funding supports the program, and the Show-Me Network is how it comes to life.”

‘The backbone’
Munday said the regional and community connectors are “the backbone of the Show-Me Network.”

Community connectors activate entrepreneurship, connect local leaders and deliver direct support to business owners, network officials say. Connectors include the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Missouri Association of Manufacturers and Show-Me Christian County. Additionally, multiple training partners are on board to provide skills and education to individuals and businesses, including MSU, Crowder College, Elevate Branson and The Great Game of Business Inc.

“They’re the organizations on the ground in their own communities who already have earned the trust and built strong relationships with local businesses,” Munday said. “Through the network, we’re equipping them with both resources and funding so they can expand their capacity to serve entrepreneurs. That might mean offering technical assistance, making referrals to statewide training opportunities or helping business owners tap into capital and other support.”

Kristen Haseltine, executive director at Show Me Christian County, said the economic development organization has worked since its 2017 inception with the Efactory. She said the network’s expansion will “bring additional resources to southwest Missouri and will help grow entrepreneurship throughout the state.”

“Most economic development organizations and chambers of commerce have limited capacity, so we need to build strong networks to support the communities we serve,” Haseltine said. “Their expansion grows our network of resources, which helps our local businesses.”

Building networks is critical to support smaller communities such as Buffalo, said Hollie Elliott, executive director of Dallas County Economic Development Group. The organization also is a community connector with Show-Me Network.

“Much of my community consists of small businesses of 10 people or less,” Elliott said of Dallas County, which had a population of 17,071 in 2020, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. “Having access to support is really important, and having streamlined access to business support is something that had not existed prior to the Show-Me Network. It has become a one-stop shop for entrepreneur and small business support.”

Eliott said through the network a business consultant comes to Buffalo monthly to meet with small businesses and entrepreneurs thinking of starting a venture. That’s in addition to the network providing access to online meetings and educational opportunities.

The Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce is continually working to support small businesses and entrepreneurs as part of its economic strategy, officials say. Jonas Arjes, senior vice president of economic development, said the Show-Me Network is a direct asset in those efforts, and participating in it allows the chamber to plug into a much larger, statewide ecosystem of innovation and entrepreneurship.

“We can leverage new connections to partners, specialized training programs and technical assistance that might otherwise be out of reach for local businesses,” he said via email. “We see this network as a complement to the work we’re already leading in talent development, business attraction and regional collaboration, and it helps us deliver greater impact by linking regional companies to statewide resources.”

Network building
Stapleton said Codefi and Efactory are seeking to build up the network, particularly in the northern portion of the state. He said they are working with officials in St. Joseph on the northwest portion of the state and in the Hannibal and Kirksville areas in the northeast. Announcements on expanding the network will be made in the coming weeks, he said.

“Almost immediately when we launched the southern network, we began getting contacted by people in the central and northern part of the state from economic development organizations or chambers of commerce, and also the legislators in that region,” Stapleton said, adding the federal grant is helping support the expansion.

Munday said the Show-Me Network has launched with a strong foundation of connectors but is just getting started.

“Over time, we want this to grow into a truly statewide movement where every entrepreneur, in every corner of Missouri, knows they have a local doorway into resources, mentorship and opportunity,” she said, adding the invitation to join the network is open across the state to chambers of commerce, economic development groups and community-based organizations.

As for future funding, Stapleton said they’ve mostly relied on competitive federal and state grants for Innovate SOMO and now Show-Me Network.

“We’ll continue to consider sources of funding like that as well as any state funding as we move forward,” he said. “That will be an ongoing issue we’ll be working on in the coming years.”