< Previous16 M I S S OU RI : M A K I NG . G R O W I NG . MO V I NG .worker training — it’s about helping the private sector create jobs. In a nutshell, what we’re doing is working.” at may be the understatement of the year. “We’re very proud to see the results of this hard work come to fruition,” says Dixon, “but I don’t want anyone to think that we’re going to give up. We’re going to keep pushing for more reforms and more initiatives to build an even stronger business climate.”Missouri also applied lessons learned from a project lost, says Dixon. Amazon bypassed the state when the global ecommerce giant released its list of 20 nalist locations for its $5-billion, 50,000-job HQ2 project earlier this year. Even though Missouri presented Je Bezos with three separate proposals — one each for St. Louis, Kansas City and the entire state — the Show Me State was nowhere to be found when the Seattle-based juggernaut unveiled its short list.If state leaders in Je erson City were disappointed, they didn’t stay that way for long. “ e number one thing we learned during the HQ2 bid process is that we all needed to work together. It allowed the state to put forward all of our assets,” says Dixon. “We were able to tout our educational assets, our innovation culture, our quality-of-life amenities, our technology advances, worker training programs, etc. By bringing groups together from all over the state, we showed that we are trying to get rid of arbitrary lines on the map. at is Missouri’s story.”Amazon bought it. ough the $178-billion company could have picked anywhere in the Midwest for its newest ful llment center with an annual payroll of $42 million, it chose St. Peters in St. Charles County in eastern Missouri just west of St. Louis.“We’re excited to continue growing our team with our rst, state-of-the-art ful llment center in Missouri,” said Sanjay Shah, Amazon’s vice Amazon Prime truck making deliveriesPhoto courtesy of Amazonpresident of North America customer ful llment. “Our ability to expand in Missouri is the result of two things: incredible customers and an outstanding workforce. Amazon is committed to providing great opportunities for employment and creating a positive economic impact for the region.”Dixon adds that “Amazon’s choice to locate in Missouri speaks to our strength as North America’s logistics center. Our central location, international airports and extensive highway, rail and river networks position Missouri as an ideal location for this new facility.”Grove Collaborative announced its own ful llment center investment in St. Peters just two days later. e urry of business expansions in March continued a sustained trend of job growth statewide. Since January of 201 7, Missouri employers have added more than 30,000 jobs to their payrolls, increasing total nonfarm payroll employment by 1.0 percent. e largest growth came in the professional and business services sectors, which combined to add more than 13,000 new jobs. Health care and social assistance employment added 8,800 jobs, while manufacturing added another 5,500 and hospitality added 3,700.Missouri’s overall unemployment rate remained at 3.7 percent, compared to the U.S. adjusted rate of 4.1 percent in January. Missouri’s seasonally adjusted jobless rate has been lower than the comparable national rate for 33 consecutive months. T A X RE F ORM & T A X POL I C YSHOW MEtheTAX CUTS18 M I S S OU RI : M A K I NG . G R O W I NG . MO V I NG .M I S S OU RI : M A K I NG . G R O W I NG . MO V I NG .19hen the Governor of Missouri issued his call for tax reform last year, he said it was no time to be timid.Challenging his new Department of Revenue Director Joel Walters to craft a “best-in-class tax policy” for the state, Walters proceeded to do just that. By the time his pencil left the paper, he had fashioned a revamped tax code that, when signed, promises to make Missouri one of the most competitive states for business in the nation. e proposed tax plan, passed by both houses of the Missouri General Assembly and awaiting the governor’s signature, lowers the corporate income tax rate in Missouri from 6.25 percent to 4 percent, which would be second only to North Carolina among states that levy such a tax. e 4 percent tax rate would go into e ect January 2020.Secondly, the plan reduces the individual income tax rate in Missouri from 5.9 percent to 5.1 percent over time.“With a majority of the U.S. economy now being pass-through entities being taxed at the individual rate, this Missouri slashes business tax rates to improve its competitive position.by R O N S TA R N E RW20 M I S S OU RI : M A K I NG . G R O W I NG . MO V I NG .would be a beneficial tax cut for a lot of businesses,” says Walters.Additionally, Missouri has a single factor market-based apportionment income tax model based only on sales. “Taken collectively, these tax reforms will put us on more short lists for companies,” says Walters.Walters should know. Prior to taking over leadership of DOR, he spent the previous 35 years in the private sector working on tax structures for companies around the world, including 20 years in senior corporate finance positions.In short, he knows what companies need financially in order to grow and create jobs. His mission now, he says, is to deliver that kind of environment to state government in Missouri.“We are fundamentally transforming the DOR to help businesses meet their obligations,” Walters says. That includes reducing their overall tax burden, as well as “Taken collectively, these tax reforms will put us on more short lists for companies.”— Joel Walters, Director, Missouri Department of RevenueMissouri state capitol building in Jefferson CityPhoto courtesy of Missouri Partnershiphelping them understand what they need to do to collect all incentives for which they qualify.“The DOR does not work with the Department of Economic Development in other states,” he notes. “We do. We are in lock-step with Economic Development Director Rob Dixon and his team. Our goal is to make sure that businesses get all the rewards they qualify for. In my view, economic development is a team sport. You must go to market as a team to be effective.”Walters says the goal is to make an already competitive state a national leader. “We do well on tax policy. We can do better,” he says. “The Tax Foundation ranks us 15th in overall business taxation and fifth in corporate taxation. But as we lower our business tax rates, we also want to be good stewards. That is why we have put together a package that is revenue-neutral.”Walters says the plan “is designed to get that tax policy in the right place. We are not proposing dramatic tax cuts that are paid for with economic growth. We are being fiscally responsible, and we think this is the right thing to do for Missouri at this time.”He added that “we considered the recent federal corporate income tax reductions. We followed that closely. For purposes of the Missouri budget, we took into account the overall budgetary implications of that. We believe our changes will jump on the back of that and turbocharge the benefits of the federal tax reduction to put even more money into the pockets of people working and doing business in Missouri.”The ultimate goal, he notes, “is all about improving the business climate of Missouri.”By all indications, he and the Governor are doing just that. 22 M I S S OU RI : M A K I NG . G R O W I NG . MO V I NG .S T A TI S TI C A L P R O F I L EMISSOURI by the NumbersMISSOURIIndustry GSP % of Total GSP Private Industries $233,313 88.4% Agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting $3,443 1.3% Mining $684 0.3% Utilities $5,378 2.0% Construction $9,056 3.4% Manufacturing $33,743 12.8% Durable goods manufacturing $17,874 6.8% Nondurable goods manufacturing $16,059 6.1% Wholesale trade $17,923 6.8% Transportation and warehousing $8,716 3.3% Information $11,388 4.3% Finance and Insurance $17,121 6.5% Real estate, rental, and leasing $31,175 11.8% Professional, scientific, and technical services $17,793 6.7% Management of companies and enterprises $9,070 3.4% Administrative and waste management services $8,425 3.2% Educational Services $2,788 1.1% Health care and social assistance $22,950 8.7% Arts, entertainment, and recreation $3,554 1.3% Accommodation and food services $6,905 2.6% Other services, except government $6,043 2.3% Government $30,684 11.6%Missouri Gross State Product 2016 (in millions of 2009 chained $) Cost of Doing BusinessBelow the National Average4.1%4.1%MissouriPopulationGross State Product18th largest in the countryas of Nov. 20176,093,0006,093,000$293B$293BEducation AttainmentHigh School88.9%College Attainment27.8%Graduate Degrees10.8%Source: Missouri Economic Research and Information Center M I S S OU RI : M A K I NG . G R O W I NG . MO V I NG . 2372.5%Energy Efficiency38,146 Jobs17.7% Adv. Transportation / 9,806 Jobs6.7% Renewable Energy/ 3,707 Jobs2.9% Advanced Grid / 1,579 Jobs.3% Clean Fuels / 112 JobsClean EnergyTop Ten Exports in 2017 (US $ Million)Top 10 Construction Projects 2016-2017 by Capital Investment (US $ Million)Transportation Equip.ChemicalsFood & Kindred ProductsMachinery, Except ElectricalElectrical Equipment, Appliances & ComponentComputer & Electronic ProductsFabricated Metal Products, NesoiAgricultural ProductsPrimary Metal ManufacturingPlastics & Rubber Products$0 $500 $1,000 $1,500 $2,000 $2,500 $3,000 $3,500 $4,000$3,913$2,583$1,337$1,314$695$632$558$500$409$352Average Earnings Per Week are 27% Higher for Export Jobs Missouri has55,251clean energy jobsCompany City Type New/ Expansion Sector InvestmentCentene Corp. Clayton OF E Construction $700MNucor Sedalia MF N Manufacturing, Machinery, Equipment $250MKraft Heinz Kirksville MF E Food & Beverages $250MMac Properties & Antheus Capital St. Louis OF N Construction, Real Estates $130MDollar Tree Warrensburg DW N Consumer Products $110MAlterra Worldwide St. Louis OF E Construction, Real Estates $104MAurora Organic Dairy Columbia MF E Food & Beverage $100MAmerican Outdoor Brands Corp. Columbia DW N Transportation, Logistics $55MStonemont Financial Group LLC St. Louis OF N Business & Financial Services $50.3MK2 Commercial Group St. Louis OF N Construction, Real Estates $42.4M24 M I S S OU RI : M A K I NG . G R O W I NG . MO V I NG .hen the tax man cometh in Missouri, he takes a smaller bite out of your business wallet.Keeping taxes low has been a hallmark of Missouri state government for the last three decades. Missouri’s corporate income tax rate of 6.25 percent ranks fth lowest in the nation, according to the Tax Foundation, and its overall state and local tax burden of 9.3 percent is below the national average of 9.9 percent. e proposed tax plan, would lower the corporate income tax in Missouri from 6.25 percent today to 4 percent in January by R O N S TA R N E RWI N C ENT IV E SCompetitive programs, low taxes, give the Show Me State an edge.INCENTIVESINCENTIVESCompetitive programs, low taxes, give the Show Me State an edge.INCENTIVESINCENTIVESINCENTIVESINCENTIVESINCENTIVESINCENTIVESINCENTIVESINCENTIVESINCENTIVESMAKE EXPANDING IN MISSOURI EASIERM I S S OU RI : M A K I NG . G R O W I NG . MO V I NG . 252020, which would be second only to North Carolina among states that levy such a tax.Additionally, Missouri has a single factor market-based apportionment income tax model based only on sales.In addition, Missouri has not adopted worldwide or nationwide unitary tax assessment in computing multinational corporate income tax liability.Business personal property tax in Missouri is collected on existing machinery and equipment, furniture and fixtures. Inventory is not taxable.A sales tax is imposed at the state and local level for the purchase of tangible property or taxable services. The state sales tax rate is 4.225 percent, while local jurisdictions can impose an additional local sales tax.Missouri recently signed into law an incentive that could provide exemptions from various state and local sales and use taxes for some new, expanding and replacement data center facilities. This new incentive became effective on August 28, 2015.Missouri also recently phased out the corporate franchise tax over a five-year period. As of January 1, 2016, Missouri no longer collects any corporate franchise taxes.In addition to offering highly competitive business tax rates, Missouri offers an array of incentive programs to expanding businesses that meet certain qualifications:Chapter 353 Tax AbatementThe Chapter 353 abatement is an incentive that can be utilized by cities to encourage the redevelopment of blighted areas by providing real property tax abatements.Sales Tax Exemption for ManufacturersThis benefit provides state sales tax exemptions to qualifying manufacturing companies. These exemptions are possible on items such as machinery, energy, water, materials and more.Data Center Sales Tax Exemption ProgramData centers may be eligible to receive exemptions from state and local sales taxes associated with a variety of activities necessary to build a new facility or expand an existing facility in Missouri. These sales tax exemptions could include utilities, machinery, equipment, computers and construction equipment and could last for up to 15 years for new facilities and up to 10 years for expanding facilities.Business Use Incentives for Large Scale Development (BUILD)The BUILD program provides financial incentives for the location or expansion of large business projects in Missouri. The incentives are designed to reduce necessary infrastructure and equipment expenses.Skilled Workforce MissouriMissouri is committed to supporting business by leveraging its extensive suite of recruitment and training resources. With Skilled Workforce Missouri, the state will identify, screen, and evaluate the right talent to meet your business needs. Skilled Workforce Missouri will provide pre-employment training so your new hires will be ready when your business opens its doors. Skilled Workforce Missouri Next >