Missouri notched big wins for entrepreneurs in 2026, but work remains, advocates report

Missouri is finally seeing renewed and sustained political momentum around entrepreneurship, Jason Wiens told town hall attendees gathered for an update on the Show-Me State’s recent wins around entrepreneur support.

Turning the tides took years, and the work of a broad coalition, he added.

“It has been a long road,” said Wiens, principal of Next Missouri, a statewide advocacy coalition dedicated to empowering entrepreneurs, driving economic growth, and creating jobs in Missouri. “Like a lot of policy change, unfortunately, it takes time. You have to make your case. You have to show up.”

Gathering entrepreneurs and regional leaders Wednesday for a town hall convened by Right to Start and its Missouri Starters Coalition, the inaugural “Built in Missouri: Makers, Main Street, Innovation & Missouri’s Future” event also explored how Missouri can become a better place to start and grow a business, and where the community can help shape what comes next.

The goal, Wiens said: Get elected officials — from City Hall to Jefferson City — to see founders as a core constituency and ask themselves, ‘What do the entrepreneurs in my community need?’”

Wiens celebrated a successful session at the Missouri State House for entrepreneurs alongside fellow panelists Taisia Gordon, director of the Missouri Department of Economic Development’s Office of Entrepreneurship; Sheila Baker, grants program manager for the Missouri Technology Corporation (MTC); Melissa Roberts Chapman, president of the KC BioHub and Kansas City’s regional innovation officer; and Wes Rogers, KCMO councilman and small business owner.

Taisia Gordon, director of the Missouri Department of Economic Development’s Office of Entrepreneurship, speaks alongside Sheila Baker, grants program manager for the Missouri Technology Corporation (MTC), during a town hall event at Thou Mayest’s event space; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News

“Getting three pieces of legislation over the finish line in this space is really quite an accomplishment,” said moderator Jim Malle, manager of the Missouri Starters Coalition, an initiative led by the national nonprofit entrepreneur advocacy group Right to Start. “It’s really unheard of.”

“I feel like Missouri is heading in the right direction,” he added.

The first victory at the capitol, Malle noted, was the creation of the Office of Entrepreneurship, which is a key initiative of Right to Start, a nonpartisan organization that seeks to expand entrepreneurial opportunity for all.

Since the office launched in October, Gordon said, officials have been listening to entrepreneurs, support organizations, and stakeholders throughout the state about what’s working, as well as identifying ongoing challenges.

“From there, we are getting a better understanding and saying, ‘What are the goals moving forward and how do we want to provide support for entrepreneurship?’” she added.

The second win in Jefferson City was securing $2.2 million for MTC after its funding was previously reduced from $8 million to zero, Wiens shared.

“MTC plays a critical role in supporting entrepreneur support organizations and doing early stage investing in Missouri companies,” he explained. “That work requires investment, and so we saw this year a recognition again of the role that MTC plays and additional dollars coming back into that organization. Now we can build upon that in the future.”

MTC’s relatively stable and long lasting presence in Missouri has been a great benefit to the state, said Roberts Chapman.

“That’s such an incredible resource,” she said.

Although it still needs to be signed by Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe, the panelists celebrated the General Assembly passing the creation of the Missouri angel tax credit provision. Wiens said advocates expect the governor to sign the legislation in the next couple of weeks. In 2027, $6 million in tax credits for angel investors are expected to be available.

“Like most places around the country, the market for early stage investing in companies that have growth potential does not work very well,” Wiens continued. “This is not a knock on Missouri. The knock on Missouri, I think, is that for many years the state essentially did nothing to try and incentivize those early stage investments when more than half of the other states in the country had incentives to encourage angel investors, wealthy individuals to back good companies that are started in all parts of Missouri. So finally we now have this tool in place.”

ICYMI: Missouri’s long-sought angel investor tax credit heads to governor’s desk after years of startup advocacy

Melissa Roberts Chapman, president of the KC BioHub and Kansas City’s regional innovation officer, shares insights related to state incentives like angel investor tax credits during a Right to Start town hall event; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News

Such tax incentives give entrepreneurs a bargaining chip when working with angel investors, noted Roberts Chapman, who has worked closely with Kansas’ angel tax credit program in the past.

“The power dynamic of that is really tricky,” she explained. “So to have one thing in your corner that you can say, ‘Hey, if you put money in now, I’ve got this incentive for you; if you wait, you may not get it.’ That’s a really special experience.”

Although the discussion focused mainly on victories at the state level, Roberts Chapman teased another possible win ahead.

“I think we’ve got a lot of great stuff going on in Kansas City — Kansas and in Missouri — at the local level, even at the federal level,” she noted. “I think we’ll get some good news in the next couple of weeks, and people can have something to be really proud of with the BioHub.”

The event also featured a panel discussion on the realities of entrepreneurship, what barriers still exist, and what it will take to keep local businesses thriving with several local founders and a marketplace with local businesses.

RELATED: Founders urge Midwest confidence: Stop apologizing for thinking bigger, builders say