Governor’s plan to make Missouri a center of innovation reflects growing Midwest trend

In June Missouri Governor Eric Greitens implemented a task force to encourage startup activity. Since the launch of the Innovation Task Force, a number of workshops have taken place throughout the state. “Our mission is to make Missouri the leader in innovation and entrepreneurship between the east and west coasts,” announced Greitens during a workshop in Springfield this month. The task force is now asking Missourians for their thoughts regarding the state’s innovation efforts by carrying out an online focus group and survey. They are also using the hashtag #MOInnovation to engage constituents on social media. Missouri may not be the center of startup activity or even close to the likes of Silicon Valley, however, a large movement in the Midwest is beginning to take place. This rise in activity has seen many cities in their area attracting an increasing amount of attention from the startup community. One example of this is Madison, Wisconsin. The city was recently named one of the top up and coming cities for startups in an article named Forget Silicon Valley. Move Your Startup Any of These 3 Places from Inc.com. Moreover, the USA’s second richest woman recently announced that she wanted to turn a small Wisconsin town into a mecca for startups. Other surrounding cities such as Detroit are also showing promising results as prime locations for innovation. Missouri already has links with a number of startups such as Sickweather, a company that uses social media to generate real-time weather maps and long term forecasts of illnesses. Despite being based in Baltimore, the company also has a presence in Kansas City, Missouri and has received investment from local investors such as the Missouri Technology Corporation. With this in mind, compared to neighboring states, Missouri still has a lot of catching up to do. Hopefully with the help of the new task force and the governor’s efforts, Missouri can catch up and possibly surpass other more prominent areas within the Midwest, leading the way in with innovative ideas.