Local and National Organizations Help Create Opportunity For Small Businesses in Missouri

There are more than 520,000 small businesses in Missouri. Out of six million residents, about 1.1 million are employed by them. Organizations like Northwest Missouri’s Small Business Development Center (SBDC), based at Northwest Missouri State University, help create jobs and support investments. Between 1999 and 2017, SBDC has assisted with an average of nearly nine million dollars in annual investments. The SBDC covers Atchison, Nodaway, Worth, Gentry, Holt, DeKalb, Clinton, Andrew, and Buchanan counties, and the main office is in St. Joseph, Missouri.

In Northwest Missouri and beyond, small businesses play a significant role in local economies. Agriculture, retail, manufacturing, and healthcare are prominent sectors, and microbusinesses and small family-run farms are common. The Small Business Majority, like the SBDC, exists to serve small businesses. It is a national organization, active in many states like Missouri. Through a network of small business owners, they help educate new entrepreneurs and offer a representative voice to policymakers and the media.

Their website states, “We do this by connecting small business owners with the education and resources they need to start, grow, and sustain their business. We focus our efforts at the federal level via our 10 offices across the country and in 15 targeted states covering two-thirds of the U.S. population. We serve all entrepreneurs but focus on reaching under-resourced entrepreneurs, including women, people of color, immigrants, and those in rural communities.”

In addition to these, new and existing business owners can always reach out to local chambers of commerce in cities like Kearney, Missouri, or St. Joseph, Missouri.