Missouri

During Fiscal Year 2013, EDA invested $30,951,164 in 29 projects in the State of Missouri.   These projects are expected to create or retain 335 jobs and leverage $141,970,000 in private investment, according to grantee estimates.  EDA’s investments help Missouri communities achieve bottom-up, locally-defined economic development goals and strategies.

EDA offers a complementary, balanced portfolio of grant programs designed to help rural and urban communities grow their private sectors and create jobs.

Investment Spotlight: Bringing New, High-Growth Industry to Missouri

Small modular reactors (SMRs) are a key component to the future of energy production.   A reliable and affordable energy source, SMRs represent the next-generation of nuclear technology, and Missouri is positioning itself at the leading edge of this new frontier.

In 2012, the University of Missouri announced a partnership between the university and two companies—Ameren Missouri and Westinghouse Electric Co. — to conduct research on the manufacture of SMRs. The initiative’s goal is to create a new industry in Missouri focused on clean energy to respond to expected market demand in both the United States and abroad. Manufacturing SMRs in Missouri would position the state as a world leader in the industry, bringing a new, high-growth industry to central Missouri, one of the state’s most rural regions.

Toward this goal, in 2013, EDA announced the University of Missouri as a winner of its Make It in America Challenge. With EDA’s $465,000 investment, the initiative will evaluate the supply chain, logistics, and infrastructure necessary to manufacture SMRs in Missouri for the nuclear power industry. The project, however, will do more than simply study hypothetical scenarios. It will also provide technical assistance to companies across the region looking to enter the supply chain for SMR manufacturing, helping existing Missouri businesses proactively prepare for the future.