Economic Development
Supporting Missouri Partnership and its mission to attract new businesses to our state.
Partnering with the Department of Economic Development and its mission of helping Missourians prosper
Assisting local and regional economic and workforce development organizations
Missouri Partnership was created to serve as the state’s leading business recruitment and marketing organization. Since its inception, Hawthorn Foundation has been proud to provide both private and public funding to Missouri Partnership; as we like to say, their success is our success! Missouri Partnership is governed by an independent Board of Directors, whose leadership comes from Hawthorn members.
Today, the Partnership is widely acknowledged as one of the nation’s premier statewide private sector business recruitment organizations. Missouri Partnership’s services, all of which are provided free of charge to businesses interested in opening new operations in Missouri, include locating sites and buildings, compiling workforce data, facilitating government and regulatory meetings, determining incentive eligibility, coordinating labor training and identifying utility availability and cost.
Recent project announcements include:
Google Announces $1 Billion Data Center In Kansas City, Missouri
Americold Announces Plans for First Cold Storage Facility on CPKC Rail Network In Missouri
URBN Opens $60 Million Fulfillment Center In Missouri For Rental Brand Nuuly
Industrial Battery Manufacturer to Open U.S. Headquarters and Assembly Operation in Missouri
German Security Company Opens First North American Facility in Missouri
Promoting Missouri
Telling Missouri’s story to global markets by supporting international trade missions and investment opportunities
Highlighting the importance of Missouri’s defense sector and military installations
Hawthorn Foundation investors support trade mission travel and diplomatic expenses. These trade missions allow the Governor to promote Missouri and Missouri businesses overseas as part of the overall economic development efforts of the administration. Hawthorn investors also have the opportunity to join a trade mission to witness firsthand the vital role these trips play in building relationships and helping grow our state.
Curious about Missouri’s trade partners? Click here for information on Missouri businesses with a presence in another country, foreign companies located here, and more.
Missouri Partnership and the Missouri Department of Economic Development work together to represent the state and our businesses with International Trade & Investment Offices around the world – check out the full list here.
Recent trade mission successes include:
In 2013, Hawthorn Foundation began working with DED to preserve the $16 billion defense industry in Missouri. The effort is designed to keep Missouri jobs in defense and to protect our military installations, their surrounding communities, and the jobs they provide. Today, we are proud to work hand-in-hand with the Missouri Military Advocate on this important effort. Recent efforts coordinated between the state and our congressional delegations led to securing the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency with 3,000+ jobs on a $1.7 billion campus in North St. Louis.
Fostering Connections
Offering investors unique engagement opportunities to connect with key public and private sector leaders who share the common goal of building a stronger economy
Presenting the Governor’s Conference On Economic Development and other events highlighting Missouri’s top economic issues
Our true value lies in our investors themselves, not in the financial contributions they bring to the table. Hawthorn Foundation offers opportunities for people to come together with others who might have different perspectives but share a common goal of economic growth for the state.
Building the Future
Promoting and supporting efforts to improve Missouri’s workforce and infrastructure as the top priorities to grow our state’s economy
Growing Hawthorn Foundation’s membership and enhance the organization’s ability to further support our mission
Connecting private sector expertise with public sector leaders to help improve state government’s operations
Hawthorn Foundation works in partnership with the state of Missouri and the Governor’s office to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of our state government. Hawthorn brings together private, nonprofit, and public sector leaders from across the state in a variety of strategic initiatives to improve Missouri’s competitiveness. The Governor’s Innovation Task Force was the first of these efforts.