St. Louis SourceLink Blog

On September 27, 2010, President Obama signed into law the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010. The Act created the State Small Business Credit Initiative, which was funded with $1.5 billion to strengthen state programs that support lending to small businesses and small manufacturers. With a 10-1 leverage required, the Initiative is expected to build $15 billion in funds for small business growth.

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon shared the following message for MOBIO members this morning: "Missouri has established strengths in high-tech research, particularly in life sciences. One of those strengths is the optimism and determination of biotech entrepreneurs to overcome market challenges to turn their research into products. The Missouri IDEA Funds program is one way the state can smartly assist entrepreneurs in meeting those challenges at each stage of the process. The Treasury Department realized the benefits of this concept, and is holding up our Missouri program as a model for other states."

Especially check out the stats on the rise of women and Hispanic business owners, their success rates (or lack thereof), and the higher education levels of entrepreneurs. We still have some work to do.

The U.S. Small Business Administration offers these eight reasons to export.

Recently, Ingram’s from Kansas City asked me to write an article on women in the business world. It was fun to see where women stand today. Looks like the up-and-coming generation of women are making their mark.

The numbers are just in and Missouri was a winner with $12.9 billion in exports for 2010. This is a 35% increase from 2009, with exports up in nearly every category. Check out MERIC's 2010 Missouri Exports report.

Even though, you may have to fulfill a few more requirements depending on your industry, every business needs to make sure to complete these three steps.

StLSourceLink welcomes Pat Brown-Dixon as Regional Adminstrator for Region VII of the SBA. Her district will encompass Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska.