Agriculture Innovation Showcase opens in St. Louis

ST. LOUIS, MO (ST. LOUIS PUBLIC RADIO) - An event starting today at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center is looking to match up investors with emerging agricultural technology companies from across the globe.

The third annual Ag Innovation Showcase will draw international venture capitalists and corporate agricultural investors like Monsanto and Dupont.

Showcase organizer Mark Gorski says sixteen agricultural start-ups will be vying for their attention.

"We’re really trying to foster innovation and the funding of innovation through this conference by providing a stage for these high quality young companies to these potential investors," Gorski said. "They’re presenting their business plans, and we hope that deals and investments will result from the conference."

The young companies will present business plans for producing everything from genetically modified biofuels to high tech agricultural sensors.

"It’s all about feeding the world more effectively and utilizing renewable sources of energy, versus the fossil fuels types of energy we currently utilize primarily," Gorski said.

Gorski says the event will bring together sixteen emerging agricultural technology companies and potential investors – from venture capital firms to corporate giants like Monsanto and Syngenta.

Véronique LaCapra, St. Louis Public Radio

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Governor Nixon announces new small business funding in Jackson

JACKSON, MO (KRCU) - Governor Jay Nixon visited Main Street Flooring in Jackson on Thursday to announce 27 million dollars in new federal funding for small and mid-sized businesses.

The funding will come in the form of low interest loans.

Nixon said that the funds will help small businesses at every stage of the financial continuum, from starting, to expanding, to reaching maturity.

The governor spoke with a group of Southeast Missouri entrepreneurs representing the construction, real estate, technology, and entertainment sectors.

“I think you have some entrepreneurs here who have solid idea that if we can give them the tools to move forward with their business plans, they’re going to grow,” the governor said. “We were kind of inspired by these local businesses as we looked around the state at what these models were. And I just also want to reflect to people that small and mid-sized towns are a great place to live and I think that shopping locally and working with local businesses is a really good thing.”

The application period for the loans begins today at MO.gov.

In other news, Nixon says that the state is prepared to temporarily weather a federal shutdown. He says that federal dollars help fund many Missouri programs. Action plans have been developed just in case the government indeed shuts down.

“If that occurs, hopefully we will not have to implement those. There’s a lag time in some situations of a couple of weeks or as much as thirty days on some of the various programs. So we’ve already been meeting to prepare if that occurs. I’m hopeful that they’ll get a deal up there and continue to move forward,” Nixon said.

Nixon specifically mentioned that vital programs such as public safety should not be interrupted.

Jacob McCleland, KRCU

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Operation Jump Start receives $154K DRA grant; Governor visits Jackson High School

CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO (KRCU) - Missouri Governor Jay Nixon paid a visit to Southeast Missouri on Friday … and brought with him some good news for entrepreneurs and students.

The governor visited Southeast Missouri State University in the morning to announce a new Delta Regional Authority grant for the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship’s Operation Jump Start program. The grant totals $154,000.

Operation Jump Start is a training program for aspiring entrepreneurs. Since its inception in 2006, the program has provided training for 550 individuals and created 200 small businesses and 350 jobs, according to Southeast Missouri State University.

At the press conference, Governor Nixon lauded the program’s results and encouraged entrepreneurs to seek Operation Jump Start training.

“Operation Jump Start has provided an irreplaceable bridge to entrepreneurship and successful businesses and we’re going to continue to do what we can to continue to use this as a model not only here but in our entire region, and in the entire Delta area and in the state of Missouri,” Nixon said.

The Delta Regional Authority grant will be used to start new training programs in Marble Hill, Ironton, Sikeston, and one still-to-be-decided Bootheel region.

Dr. James Stapleton, the executive director of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, says that Operation Jump Start was created as a way to help disadvantaged, low income, and unemployed individuals develop their own businesses.

All participants prepare a business model, and through a competitive process, the best plans win up to $5000 in start-up grants.

Since its beginning, graduates have gone on to start a wide range of small business ventures.

“We recently talked to a graduate from four years ago that started a car war company that actually manufactures or builds the car washes that we see oftentimes in our neighborhoods. Now they are going statewide,” Stapleton said.” And then there are lots of very small businesses as well. Day cares, salons, and just about every retail business you could think about.”

Stacey Gallaher graduated from Operation Jump Start in 2006. She now owns MB Medical Reimbursement, providing medical billing services for physicians’ office. Gallaher’s business is housed in the small business incubator. She now has three employees now working for her.

“I knew how to do the billing, but I wasn’t aware of what all went in to payroll taxes or a business plan or what banks look at whenever you’re getting a loan for starting up a business. It gave me a lot of confidence and knowledge in that,” Gallaher said.

Asked if she could ever work for a boss again, Gallaher firmly responded, “No.”

“I don’t think I would. I don’t think I could do it. Me and the girls joke about that a lot,” Gallaher said. “I don’t think I could do it.”

The governor later went to Jackson to applaud the school for becoming an A+ school and to lay out his plan for an overhaul of A+ scholarship program.

The governor’s proposal would make A+ scholarships available to student who meet certain requirement yet do not attend A+ schools. At the onset, Nixon wants to target students from families who earn less than $55,000 per year.

“While we continue to push all the schools to get A+, we want to start especially with the students who are in very challenged environments, who have very challenged economic status, and take that sliver. If those students are able to perform at the A+ level in those schools while they are attempting to get that certification, it’s my view that they should be eligible to get that A+ program during that time frame,” Nixon said.

Nixon has already set aside $1 million in his budget for the proposal, so he claims that funding should not be an issue if it successfully navigates the General Assembly.

“That investment, our statistics show, will allow us to expand access to more than 700 high achieving students next year. And that will be a tremendous return on investment for students that couldn’t afford to move forward but for that help,” the governor said.

School requirements for the A+ program include satisfactory grades, attendance of 95 percent, excellent citizenship, and at least 50 hours of tutoring or mentoring.

Jackson was certified as an A+ school at the end of the last school year.

Jacob McCleland, Katie Long, and Rachel Weatherford - KRCU

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