Missouri Small Business and Technology Development Centers Blog

A client approached us the other day with what sounded like a truly winning idea for a start-up service firm.

The idea had been successful in other states, he claimed, in communities similar to ours.

“I’m ready to get my loan and unlock the door,” he said. “I just know the customers are out there.”

Without dampening his enthusiasm, we had to pull back on the reins just a bit and discuss the importance of some market research before he signed on the bottom line at the bank. From casual observation, it did appear that a business such as this would likely be successful. But missing was the data and market understanding the lender would want to see before making the deal.

So, we started to work. (more…)

Here are the numbers.

In 2006, there were nearly 210,000 women-owned businesses in Missouri – 42 percent of all Missouri firms. Nearly 142,000 of those were majority woman-owned – 29 percent of all Missouri firms.

The 210,000 woman-owned firms generated $42 billion in sales and employed nearly 298,000 people.

Missouri ranks 18th among the 50 states and Washington, D.C., in the number of women-owned firms.

What’s behind the impressive statistics? (more…)

When Michele Stauffer was very young, someone gave her a small scooter for her birthday.

That was nearly 50 years ago – long before helmets and elbow pads. Unencumbered, Michele loved the feel of the wind as she flew down the hills near her rural Kansas home. The neighbors looked on in concern.

When asked about her daughter’s safety, Michele’s mother calmly replied, “Let the girl be. She’s having a good time.”

A few years later, when Michele earned her pilot’s license and entered the male-dominated fields of aviation and aircraft sales, those same neighbors looked on in disbelief.

“Let the girl be,” Michele’s mother said. “She’s having a good time.”

A few decades and more than 5,000 flight hours later, Michele Stauffer is still having a good time as president and CEO of Kansas Aircraft Corporation, a company that sells turboprop, single and twin-engine piston airplanes and jets to a market that spans the globe. The company takes aircraft on consignment, provides consulting services and brokers aircraft purchases for clients. Michele and her team of four handle millions of dollars in transactions each year from their location just minutes from downtown Kansas City. (more…)