Leading Industries

Two Missouri companies—more specifically, a pair of investor-owned Kansas City companies—made national financial headlines last year by acquiring new owners: Cerner Corp., the largest employer in that market, and Kansas City Southern Railroad, the nation’s smallest Class I rail system, but the only one serving Mexico and both the Gulf and the Pacific ocean.

And what did the loss of bragging rights for the city and state do to reduce Missouri’s profile in two key industry sectors? Precisely bupkis, to use a technical term.

In fact, the acquisition of Cerner and its population-health IT platforms, and KCS, with its integration into Canadian Pacific to become a cross-continental system serving the Northern Hemisphere, have actually elevated the state’s role in those vital pillars of the regional economy. 

The best part about strengthening the positions of two such prominent players is the assurance that they’ll be here to reinforce one of the stellar attributes of business in Missouri: It’s surprisingly diversity. When you factor vehicle makers, their suppliers, transportation and logistics, life sciences, a booming IT sector, advanced manufacturing, financial services, and defense spending, you come up with a state economy that ranks No. 4 nationally in its diversification, according to the Missouri Department of Economic Development.

Economic indicators hint at recession this year or into 2023, but unless it’s a deep one, this state’s diversity will allow residents and companies to continue benefitting from lower costs of living, unmatched centrality of location, and a skilled workforce.

Among those key business sectors:

Biosciences: St. Louis and Kansas City are well-known for being key nodes in global and national life sciences research and commercialization, and the 250-mile Animal-Health Corridor starts in Columbia and runs west into Kansas. St. Joseph, less than an hour north of Kansas City, is a major force in animal-health research, manufacturing and distribution. Combined, that corridor is home to operations from companies that account for 60 percent of global animal health revenues. And the Kansas City area recently moved into the ranks of communities boasting a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive-care center. 

Advanced Manufacturing: Does it get any more advanced than the F/A-18 Super Hornet or the F-15EX fighter jets for the nation’s military? That question answers itself. Boeing’s presence with the plane’s production line is a powerful testament to the affordability and workforce quality that is part of the state’s business DNA. 

Financial/Professional Services: Only one state is home to TWO of the nation’s 12 Federal Reserve Banks. You guessed it: It’s Missouri. The banks in St. Louis and Kansas City complement other financial-services giants that have a footprint here, including Bank of America, U.S. Bank, and Regions Bank. Locally headquartered banks, including Commerce Bank, Central Bank, and UMB Bank, have been spreading their wings to become regional players well outside the state’s borders. And the banks are solid: Only nine states have earned AAA rankings from all three rating agencies, and Missouri is one of them. 

Health Care Services and IT: Cerner, now rebranded as Oracle Cerner, is still one of the nation’s biggest names in electronic health-care management and IT—that’s what made it so appealing to the Texas-based Oracle, and it continues to operate two major campuses in the Kansas City area. Major health systems provide services to 6.12 million residents of the state and millions more from bordering states—BJC HealthCare, Ascension Health, Mercy Health, Cox Health, HCA Midwest Health, and Saint Luke’s Health System, among others.

Military/Defense: In addition to the defense contracting for weaponry, the state is home to thousands of servicemen and women based at the Army’s Fort Leonard Wood in the south-central part of the state and Whiteman Air Force Base near Sedalia, home to the B-2 stealth bomber squadron. When it comes to name-dropping for significant organizations, it’s tough to come up with any that are bigger than the Department of Defense.

Transportation/Logistics: An explosion in industrial-space demand and growth over the past decade has thrust Kansas City and St. Louis into national conversations with big-time logistics and distribution centers like Chicago and Dallas. We’re not quite there yet, but with dozens of fast-growth companies in the trucking and warehousing space and the merger to create Canadian Pacific Kansas City, the state becomes a bigger player in national distribution circles by the day. It boasts the sixth-most extensive highway system, largest waterway system, 99 airports, and two of the largest rail terminals in the U.S., providing access from coast to coast.