The Missouri Technology Corp. could get a massive budget boost next year, funding the organization says would help it implement a strategic plan released in February.
The Missouri General Assembly, which on Friday wrapped up its annual session, has appropriated $31 million in fiscal 2023 funding for MTC, up from $3 million that was allocated in the current fiscal year. Gov. Mike Parson still needs to approve the increased funding. A spokeswoman said the governor will review all budget bills and that it’s too early to comment on them. Parson’s budget blueprint released in January called for $4 million for MTC in fiscal 2023.
Created by the Missouri General Assembly, MTC is a public-private partnership designed to promote entrepreneurship and provide investment to startups and entrepreneur support organizations.
If approved, the $31 million budget in fiscal 2023 would mark the second consecutive year in which MTC will have had its funding significantly expanded. The $3 million appropriated for the current fiscal year tripled MTC’s budget year over year. The recent allocations from the Missouri General Assembly are a reversal from steep budget cuts the organization experienced in prior years. For example, it saw its funding drop 90% from about $24 million in fiscal 2017 to $2.5 million in fiscal 2018.
“MTC is excited by the opportunity afforded in the fiscal year 2023 budget passed by the Missouri General Assembly,” Jack Scatizzi, executive director of MTC, said in a statement. “The organization looks forward to leveraging the funding to launch initiatives aligned with the recommendations outlined in the Catalyzing Innovation Strategies for Missouri to Drive Innovation and Entrepreneurship Report released by MTC in February. These initiatives will serve as foundational elements as MTC seeks to generate the maximum economic development impact from Missouri’s entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem.”
The strategic report released earlier this year by MTC and compiled by Columbus, Ohio-based research firm TEConomy Partners LLC identifies five main areas where the state’s innovation and entrepreneurship economy is currently lagging and offers 16 recommendations to combat those challenges. The items outlined include plans for piloting creative startup financing methods, establishing new programs to help startups more easily find employees and better connecting entrepreneurship organizations across Missouri.
The budget passed by the Missouri General Assembly authorizes MTC in fiscal 2023 to spend $8.5 million for its traditional operations and also allocates $15 million for a program that involves providing grants to “state based organizations creating infrastructure for industries that are fundamental to the national security of the United States where the manufacturing of essential products have become reliant on production outside of the United States.” The legislation says the grant program seeks to make Missouri a hub for manufacturing for goods like pharmaceutical ingredients and semiconductors.
In addition to MTC’s budget increase, the General Assembly’s fiscal 2023 budget also includes $94.9 million in State Small Business Credit Initiative dollars that were awarded through federal Covid-19 relief legislation. Those funds are designed to help provide capital to small businesses and startups.
One of the groups that lobbied on behalf of MTC during the legislative session was economic development group Greater St. Louis Inc., which heralded the budget boost for MTC.
“An historic, $125 million injection of funds into the state’s innovation sector will be a game changer for entrepreneurs and certainly shows the rest of the country that our startup ecosystem is alive and thriving,” Tracy Henke, chief policy officer of Greater St. Louis Inc., said of the combined total budgeted for MTC and the small-business initiative.
