Welcome to Trendsights: Missouri Economic News…trends and insights to use! Each month, MERIC brings you the latest research on Missouri's industries, workforce, regions and economic conditions, along with observations on the state's business climate. In today's fast-paced global business environment, good information for sound decision-making is a strategic advantage.
We hope that you find Trendsights an important information resource for your work.
Marty Romitti, Ph.D.
Director of MERIC
April 2005 Top Stories
Missouri's Innovative
Strengths
More
than 27,000 use patents have been awarded in Missouri in the last 40
years. Of these, nearly 25% have been in categories associated with
life sciences, with a particular aptitude in the state for
biochemical, food, and drug invention.
Occupational Projections
Highlights
MERIC's latest occupational projections for Missouri show that Food
Preparation and Service Workers are expected to have the largest
number of job growth openings in Missouri by 2012, while Personal
Financial Advisors are projected to grow at the fastest rate.
Missouri Fortune 500
Eleven Missouri-based companies made this year's
Fortune 500 list of companies with the greatest revenues, with
Emerson Electric leading the state's list at 134th. These companies
are important to the state, employing over 25,000 people and paying
wages totaling over $1.7 billion.
Latino
Entrepreneurs
The
number of Latino owned businesses in Missouri is growing. These
businesses help to strengthen the Missouri economy through the
contributions they make to the overall growth in jobs and gross
state product. Understanding who Latino entrepreneurs are and what
can be done to help them be more successful benefits the Latino
community and the state as a whole.
Population Estimates 2004
St. Louis County is Missouri's largest county with
more than one million residents. From 2000 to 2004, eleven Missouri
counties gained 5,000 or more residents, with two Missouri counties
making the top 100 list of fastest growing counties in the U.S.
