A Message from Ben Johnson, NEXT Missouri President

Dear Colleagues,

First and foremost, I wish you and your loved ones safety and health during this difficult time. Like you, I and my BioSTL colleagues have adjusted, alongside our entrepreneurs and their startups, to turn attention and resources toward addressing the COVID-19 crisis across our state.

Recent history has proven that new companies drive job growth across Missouri.  Our current crisis has shown that entrepreneurs and their business are central to the state’s pandemic response. Drexel-based InnovaPrep is helping public agencies monitor for viruses in liquids and the air. Kansas City-based TripleBlind has been engaged with the White House in developing contact tracing systems to monitor the spread of COVID-19. And, Jordan Valley Innovation Center in Springfield has partnered with CoxHealth to create and distribute Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers. These are just 3 of the many stories of entrepreneurs and those who support them pivoting in response to the health and economic crisis of the pandemic. 

We need you to share your impact story with us. It is imperative that you help provide our coalition with stories that prove the value of MTC and investing in entrepreneur support organizations. 

Email us (info@nextmissouri.org) your story and use this template and we will add it to our blog and share via NEXT Missouri social media.

ENGAGE YOUR POLICYMAKERS

Last week, NEXT Missouri launched its first Call to Action to bring stakeholder voices directly to policymakers and reinforce the importance of entrepreneurs and new businesses, especially during these challenging times.  While the ‘siren sound’ for the call to action responded to a continued downward trend in funding for the Missouri Technology Corporation (MTC), the campaign, and NEXT Missouri’s position generally, is broader -- it is about having policymakers recognize that entrepreneurs and new, viable businesses have led our economic growth; are on the front lines of our pandemic response; and will lead the economic recovery to come.

We are mindful and sympathetic of the unprecedented nature of the times and realistic about the challenges facing Missouri, yet we do not believe a continued pattern of decreased resources to MTC will help solve the challenges we face.  Quite the contrary. 

MTC funding is THE signal for how Missouri is building an environment for new businesses.  Cuts to MTC’s budget is what entrepreneurs see and experience as they consider starting and building new companies in the state.

We’ve had a strong start to this initial campaign with nearly 150 messages sent to the Governor and members of the House and Senate. Together, these messages are catching the attention of policymakers.  Please add your voice and help your networks take meaningful action THIS WEEK.

NEXT Missouri has invested in advocacy software, making it easy for you to get in contact with your elected officials. We have created prepopulated talking points and email templates, which you can easily edit to tell your story of MTC funding and why the program is essential to economic development in your region and the state. Simply click on the link below and then share that link with your networks.

SHAPE THE AGENDA

As our initial Call to Action campaign wraps, we recognize that funding to programs like MTC is only a piece of the puzzle in building a fertile field for new businesses across the state and recovering from our current health and economic crisis.  Missouri will need a coordinated suite of policies and programs to build a resilient economy.

NEXT Missouri is working with partners to define a list of policy interventions that can make Missouri a leader in economic recovery. We need your help in identifying possible solutions and bringing entrepreneur voices to the forefront as policy decisions are made.  Missouri must recognize that, as they have in the past, new businesses and entrepreneurs will drive economic recovery and future economic growth.

Please watch your inboxes early next week for a stakeholder survey designed to prioritize pro-entrepreneur policy interventions. This survey will be followed shortly by a webinar to refine a ‘straw model’ policy platform built around prior research and your guidance from the survey.

Thank you for your efforts to help Missouri and its citizens respond to and recover from this unprecedented crisis.  And, thank you for being a voice alongside NEXT Missouri in shaping the future of Missouri’s economy.

Thank you,

Ben Johnson 
President, NEXT Missouri
Vice President, Programs, BioSTL