Is your community looking to grow and jumpstart its economic development potential? A good place to start is community planning – developing a portfolio of goals, objectives, and available resources or funds to solve local problems and create more convenient, healthful, efficient, equitable, and attractive places for current and future generations.
Community planning enables public/private partnerships of civic leaders, businesses, and local citizens to play a meaningful role in harnessing development activities in order to support defined goals and envision a more vibrant future. Together, communities can find the perfect balance of new development, essential services, and innovative change to meet the challenges of growth and transition in today’s economy. Print our Community Development Program Guide.
Resources:
Certified Work Ready Communities
A voluntary initiative led by community leaders that seeks to strengthen and grow local businesses by aligning the economic development needs of communities.
Economic Development Partners
A list of local and regional economic development agencies, city councils, and chambers of commerce
Location One
A searchable economic development database featuring detailed information on sites, buildings, and locations for businesses looking to grow.
Certified Sites Program
Provides consistent standards regarding the availability and development potential of commercial or industrial development sites through a standard pre-qualification process.
Missouri Innovation Centers
A statewide network of facilities created to provide assistance to individuals and business organizations during the early stages of technology-based business ventures.
Missouri Arts Council Grants
Provides funding to nonprofit organizations to increase participation in Missouri arts, strengthen arts education, and grow the economy through the arts by financing costs to pay local artists or bring in outside talent.
Division of Tourism Marketing Webinars
Free eLearningUniversity online marketing webinars presented by leading experts in tourism marketing to help communities and tourism-related businesses promote their events and activities to tourists.
Community Development Block Grants
Offers grants to small communities to improve local facilities, address critical health and safety concerns, and develop a greater capacity for growth.
Energy Loan Program
Provides loans to public schools (K-12), public/private colleges and universities, city/county governments, public water and wastewater treatment facilities, and public/private not-for-profit hospitals to reduce energy costs through the implementation of energy-saving projects and investments.
Missouri Main Street Connection
Seeks to enhance the economic, social, cultural, and environmental well-being of downtown business districts through historic preservation.
Business Development:
Business Specialists
Missouri’s business incentive programs can help communities attract new business as well as retain their current companies that are crucial to sustaining the local economy. From retention programs to expansions and attraction, our business specialists can help your community utilize state tools in the overall proposal when negotiating business projects.
Community Development Block Grants: Business Development
From helping an important local business access short-term cash flow relief, to promote small business development, to constructing or revitalization public infrastructure that would make way for new industry development or attraction, our programs are designed to support business growth in your community.
Missouri Building Entrepreneurial Capacity
The Missouri Technology Corporation makes strategic investments in public and private non-profit research institutions (including higher-ed) and non-profit entrepreneurial support organizations to expand the state’s innovation ecosystem that help entrepreneurs commercialize new technologies and create next-generation jobs.
Missouri Certified Sites Program
Help lure new business to your community by having your commercial or industrial development sites pre-qualified by an established Review Team. By having your site certified, information can be readily available to potential buyers and businesses.
Family Development Account Tax Credit Program
Community-based organizations can access financing to administer a family Development Account project to help low-income residents participate in matched savings programs. These savings programs will help families in your community pay for school, purchase a new house, make home improvements, or start up a small business.
Small Business Incubator Tax Credit Program
This program helps small business incubators leverage funds to use for working capital and other non-operating expenditures that support new business creation in communities.
Additional Resources for Communities:
- Office of Administration (OA)
- Dept. of Agriculture (MDA
- Dept. of Conservation (MDC)
- Dept. of Insurance, Financial Institutions & Professional Registration (DIFP)
- Dept. of Labor & Industrial Relations
- Dept. of Natural Resources (DNR)
- Dept. of Revenue (DOR)
- Secretary of State
- Department of Transportation (MoDOT)
- University of Missouri Extension- Community Development
- Missouri Associate of Councils of Government
- Missouri Community Betterment
- U.S. Department of Agriculture
- U.S. Economic Development Administration
