Missouri advantages for the
data center industry
Safe and secure: that’s how Missouri keeps the data of companies
around the world. Not to mention it’s affordable. Missouri’s new
data center legislation provides state and local sales and use tax
exemptions to new and expanding data centers. Missouri companies
also pay less for electricity, less for taxes and less for labor than
they would in most other states. Furthermore, they benefit from
the presence of a strong cluster of IT firms, suppliers and educators
throughout the state. From solar-powered data centers to unique
underground facilities, Missouri is finding new ways to store the
world’s data.
Above: SubTropolis Technology Center in Kansas City, Missouri—a data center in one of
Missouri’s underground facilities. Go to page 3 to find out more.
FIVE REASONS TO LOCATE YOUR DATA CENTER IN MISSOURI
Five reasons to locate your data center
in Missouri:
1. Safe and secure: Missouri’s physical environment provides low risk with high
value. (page 3)
Missouri’s four-season climate gives data centers free cooling opportunities, and numerous underground facilities offer natural climate control and enhanced security.
2. Reliable and affordable: Missouri has incentives and low-cost, dependable
energy. (page 4)
Missouri has implemented new data center incentives, and Missouri’s utilities are among
the most reliable in the nation with industrial electricity costs 13 percent lower than the
national average.
3. Solid network: Missouri’s Internet network infrastructure is dependable,
redundant and diverse. (page 5)
Multiple Tier 1 providers have a strong presence throughout Missouri with more than
2,000 miles combined. Providers include AT&T, CenturyLink, Cogent, Level 3, Sprint,
Verizon and XO.
4. Demonstrated success: Missouri has a proven track record as a prime
location for data centers and IT companies. (page 10)
Many IT-based companies and companies with major local data centers already have
major operations or headquarters in Missouri, including AT&T, Centene, MasterCard,
Emerson, Enterprise, Monsanto and World Wide Technology.
5. Quality workforce: Missouri’s talented workers are ready for IT and Data
Centers. (page 16)
Missouri’s tech industry employed more than 100,000 people in 2015, and 50 postsecondary institutions offer Bachelor’s degrees or higher in computer science or the
equivalent.
▪2
MISSOURI’S PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT MEANS LOWER RISK AND HIGHER VALUE
▪3
Missouri’s physical environment
means lower risk and higher value for data
center operations.
REASON #1:
SubTropolis*: 6 million sq ft
Subtera Underground Warehousing: 1.2 million sq ft
Parkville Underground: 385,000 sq ft
Bussen Underground Warehouse: 850,000 sq ft
Smart Warehousing: 2 million sq ft
Springfield Underground*: 2.2 million sq ft
Space Center Kansas City: 6.5 million sq ft
Bluebird Underground*: 56,500 sq ft
Carefree Industrial Park: 4.2 million sq ft
Mountain Complex*: 3 million sq ft
Americold Underground: 2.8 million sq ft
Ozark Terminal: 2.1 million sq ft
Missouri’s underground facilities
Click to open a larger version
*data center-ready sites
▪▪Missouri’s underground facilities, located in former limestone mines, total more than
30 million square-feet and offer natural climate control (60–70 degrees year-round) and
enhanced security. Limestone, which is three times stronger than concrete, also reduces
tenants vulnerability to natural disasters.
▪▪Missouri is a low-risk state for acts of terrorism, hurricanes and earthquakes, having
experienced no major disasters of these kind since record keeping began in 1957 (FEMA).
▪▪Missouri’s weather, with a four-season climate and an average annual temperature of
57 degrees Fahrenheit, enables free cooling for data centers for up to half of the year
(NOAA, Comparative Climactic Data through 2010).
▪▪About 58 percent of Missouri’s days are sunny. That’s more than 200 days a year, which
SubTropolis Technology Center
is ideal for solar-powered data centers.
▪▪In addition to vast groundwater resources, Missouri has more than 1,000 miles of inland
waterways, ranking 10th in the U.S.
▪▪Missouri averages 44 inches of rainfall a year and has not experienced a single droughtrelated Presidential Disaster Declaration since record keeping began in 1957 (FEMA).
▪▪Missouri offers pre-certified sites across the state that make the site selection process
easier, reducing the time and risk associated with development. For example, the Ewing
Industrial site in Columbia offers redundancy of electric and broadband, along with
looped water supply, making it especially attractive for data center projects.
Springfield Underground
“Missouri offers an ideal location for an underground data center. The Bluebird Underground facility is
housed in a cave carved out of natural limestone, which provides a safe and secure environment. Being in
Missouri allows close accessibility to data center customers while enjoying low business and power costs.
Combined, these attributes allow Bluebird Underground the opportunity to grow our business while providing a cost-effective data center experience for our customers.”
MICHAEL MOREY, PRESIDENT AND CEO, BLUEBIRD NETWORK
MISSOURI’S INCENTIVES AND LOW-COST, RELIABLE ENERGY HELPS COMPANIES PROSPER
Missouri’s incentives and lowcost, reliable energy helps data center
companies prosper.
REASON #2:
Click on the orange text for more information.
▪▪Missouri’s new data center incentives include state and local sales and use tax
exemptions for qualified equipment, machinery, and utilities.
▪▪Incentives also include exemptions from state and local sales and use taxes on purchases
of tangible personal property and materials for data center construction.
▪▪New data centers are required to invest at least $25 million and create 10+ new jobs
paying at least 150 percent of the county average wage.
▪▪Missouri utility company KCP&L offers additional incentives to make their service area
attractive to new and expanding businesses, including their Economic Development
Rider (EDR) discount, which provides a discounted rate over five years, from 30 percent
in the first year to 10 percent during the last.
35
Missouri
Other states highly ranked for data centers
30
25
Wyoming
20 20
15 15
South Dakota
Arizona
Missouri
New York
Virgina
California
Colorado
10 10
5 5
0 0
Industrial electricity costs by state (cents/kWh)
Source: EIA, 2014
f
▪▪Missouri’s industrial electricity costs averaged 6.19 cents/kWh in 2014—13 percent lower
than the U.S. average.
▪▪Missouri has steadily been adding renewable energy to its electricity generation port-
folio since adopting its Renewable Portfolio Standard by an overwhelming voter margin
in 2008. By 2021, investor-owned utilities in Missouri will get 15 percent of their power
from renewable resources, with two percent coming from solar.
▪▪Missouri’s utilities are among the most reliable in the nation.
▪▪KCP&L in the Kansas City region has invested heavily in system efficiency and reliability.
In 2014, for the eighth year in a row, the PA Consulting Group recognized KCP&L as the
recipient of the ReliabilityOne Award in the Plains Region.
▪▪Ameren Missouri is committed to making investments in electric reliability to provide its
customers with safe, dependable and cleaner energy. System upgrades will reduce outages and prepare the power grid to meet future energy needs. Ameren Missouri’s focus on
reliability has placed the company in the top 25 percent among utilities in the U.S. based
on benchmarks established by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers index.
▪4
MISSOURI HAS DEPENDABLE, REDUNDANT, DIVERSE INTERNET NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE
Missouri has a dependable,
redundant and diverse Internet network
infrastructure for data centers.
REASON #3:
Iowa
2,369
Neb.
1,598
Kan.
2,429
Okla.
3,308
Mo.
5,172
Ark.
2,338
Ill.
11,952
Ky.
3,631
Tenn.
5,455
High speed connections by state
(more than 200 kbps in at least one direction as of December 31, 2013)
FCC, 2014
Click on the orange text for more information.
▪▪Numerous Tier 1 providers have a strong presence throughout Missouri with more than
2,000 miles of fiber combined. Providers include AT&T, CenturyLink, Cogent, Level 3,
Sprint, Verizon and XO.
▪▪In 2014, Kansas City became the first market to test the new Google Fiber small business
service. Google Fiber is a broadband Internet network infrastructure using fiber-optic
communication that provides symmetrical connectivity at around 1 gigabit per second,
which is about 100 times faster access than what most Americans have.
▪▪AT&T recently announced plans to bring its Internet GigaPower service to St. Louis. The
service is currently available in Kansas City.
▪▪Missouri has more high speed connections than most Midwestern states. High
speed connections include fiber, ADSL, SDSL, cable modem, satellite, and fixed and
mobile wireless.
▪▪Missouri benefits from the presence of the National LambdaRail (NLR) and Internet2,
high-speed national networks connecting research institutions to one another to enable
a faster exchange of data. The National LambdaRail is a 12,000 mile, high-speed national
network infrastructure that runs over fiber-optic lines. Internet2 is an advanced network
consortia connecting more than 60,000 educational, research, government and community institutions over their advanced fiber-optic network.
▪▪As part of its Charter Spectrum upgrade in the St. Louis area, Charter Communications
has raised its entry-level broadband from 30 megabits per second (Mbps) to 100 Mbps.
▪▪In 2014, Windstream began work on its 100 gigabit per second long-haul network
that will ultimately strengthen and/or establish networks from St. Louis to Chicago,
Indianapolis, Lexington, Knoxville, Atlanta, Memphis and Dallas.
▪5
MISSOURI HAS DEPENDABLE, REDUNDANT, DIVERSE INTERNET NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE
▪6
Network maps
AT&T
Core deployed:
Completion 2007–2008
Core deployed:
Completed
Click to open
Bluebird Network
Network
Click to open
CenturyLink
Fiber route
Click to open
MISSOURI HAS DEPENDABLE, REDUNDANT, DIVERSE INTERNET NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE
▪7
Cogent Communications
comcast business
the comcast network
built for business.
Comcast was founded in 1963 as a single-system cable operator and now is the nation’s largest with over $62 billion
in revenue in 2012. We are one of the nation’s leading providers of information, communications and entertainment
products and services with over 19 million Internet customers, 9.8 million digital voice customers, 22 million video
customers and hundreds of thousands of business customers.
On-net and off-net
market
On-net and off-net
market with Cogent data
center(s)
Off-net market
Network route
Scheduled network route
With over 135,000 employees, we currently serve 20 of the top Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) in the U.S.
and provide service to customers in 39 states and the District of Columbia.
Our high-speed, high-capacity broadband and Ethernet services operate across our private, diverse enhanced fiber
network. With over 141,000 national route miles of fiber, our network is the largest facilities-based last mile
alternative to the phone company.
Cox N
Cox N
Cox N
With the first and largest fully 40G backbone, and the deployment of the first 100G router interface, Comcast’s
advanced network delivers reliable and scalable services for businesses of any size.
Click to open
COMCAST’S EXTENSIVE
NATIONWIDE FIBER
OPTIC NETWORK
Comcast
Network
Infrastructure
ThE lARgEST FACIlITIES-BASED, lAST MIlE AlTERNATIVE TO ThE PhONE
Comcast
& Metro Ethernet Markets
COMPANy IN ThE UNITED STATES.
Fiber optic network
Seattle
Spokane
Portland
Sun Valley
Minneapolis
St. Paul
Sacramento
Oakland
San
Francisco
San
Jose
Detroit
Chicago
Salt Lake City
Pittsburgh
Indianapolis
Denver
Boston
Sun Valley
Hartford
Jersey City
Philadelphia
Baltimore
Washington D.C.
Sun Valley
100G
80G
San Jose
Angeles
SantaLos
Barbara
30G
400G
Jacksonville
39 states + DC
COVERAGE
West Palm Beach
Houston
PLANT ROUTE MILES
628,000
Ft. Lauderdale
FIBER ROUTE MILES
141,000
Miami
OPTICAL NODES
125,000
Click to open
Cox Communications
Las Vegas
400G
200G
400G
500G
20G
Angeles
SantaLos
Barbara
400G
Orange
County
500G
400G
240G 20G
Los Angeles
Orange
County
500G
400G
240G
20G
San Diego
Orange County
240G
San Diego
600G
600G
40G
600G
110G
Las
Vegas
80G
110G
80G
80G
40G
40G
Cox National IP Backbone
Cox
Data Center
CoxRegional
regional
data(RDC)
center
Sun Valley
10G
Chicago
100G
Omaha
80G
San Jose
110G
20G
80G
100G
Kansas City
30G
60G
Las Vegas
Los Angeles
400G
500G
20G
600G
San Diego
300G
40G
60G
150G
Bentonville / Fayetteville
150G
20G
70G
80G
Fort Smith
Atlan
Atlanta
30G
Macon
30G
70G
30G
Hampton Roads
Roanoke
20G
Tulsa
60G
30G
30G
Dallas
Baton Rouge
140G
60G
Lafayette
New Orleans
60G
Pensacola
Ft. Walton
30G
Internet
Cox
LocalPeering
Market
Node
bone
node
National
NOC
andBackbone
Internet Peering
Internet
Peering
National
NOC peering
and Internet Peering
Internet
National
NOC
andPeering
interNational
NOC and
Internet
net peering
NOVA
20G
100G
40G
Providence
New York
200G
20G
10G
Tucson
Cox Regional Data Center (RDC)
80G
300G
20G
200G
Oklahoma City
Phoenix
250G
80G
300G
Ashburn
20G
160G
110G
80G
240G
Wichita
20G
Cleveland
160G
200G
Manchester
200G
60G
Orange County
60G
Phoenix
110G
Phoenix
Phoenix
Tucson
Tucson
40G
30G
30G
Cox
Regional
DataBackbone
Center (RDC)
Local Market
Node
(RDC)
Cox
Data
Center (RDC)
Local
Market
Backbone
Node
Internet
Peering
CoxRegional
local
market
back-
400G
60G
Las Vegas
Tucson
Q4 2013
Santa Barbara
80G
60G
200G
San Diego
95% commercial
or customer of a
direct peer
TRAFFIC TYPE
100G
80G
200G
San
Jose30G
Santa
Barbara
Atlanta
10
100G
10
San Jose30G
Nashville
10
Gainesville
Ocala
30G
Cox Local Market Backbone Node
Internet Peering
National NOC and Internet Peering
Click to open
Cox Confidential and Proprietary
30G
40G
40G
MISSOURI HAS DEPENDABLE, REDUNDANT, DIVERSE INTERNET NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE
▪8
Level 3 Communications
On-net market
On-net market w/metro
network
Owned network
Leased network
Click to open
Sprint
Sprint peerless IP node
Sprint peerless IP access
PoP
Sprint peerless IP
network
Click to open
Verizon
Network
Node
Click to open
MISSOURI HAS DEPENDABLE, REDUNDANT, DIVERSE INTERNET NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE
▪9
XO Communications
Click to open
Core IP node
Metro IP node
Core IP node w/peering
Media gateway
Long haul termination
(all bandwidths)
Long haul termination
(OC-48 & above only)
MPLS IP-VPN POP
Nx10 gigabit ethernet
Inter-city long haul
network
Local voice footprint
Broadband wireless
spectrum
XO markets
Zayo
Metro lit fiber
Long haul lit fiber
Undersea cable
Fiber - under
construction
zColo sites
Click to open
Windstream
Fiber network
IP network
Major markets
Click to open
MISSOURI HAS A PROVEN TRACK RECORD AS A PRIME LOCATION FOR DATA CENTERS AND IT
▪ 10
Missouri has a proven track
record as a prime location for data centers
and IT companies.
REASON #4:
▪▪Major companies with data centers in Missouri include: American Century; AT&T;
BJC HealthCare; Bank of America; Carfax; Centene; CitiMortgage; Commerce Bancshares;
DST Systems; Edward Jones; Emerson; Enterprise; Express Scripts; Liberty Mutual;
MasterCard; Mercy Health; Monsanto; Scottrade; Thomson Reuters; and Walmart.
▪▪Major IT and telecommunications companies headquartered in Missouri include: Cass
Information Systems; Cerner Corporation; DST Systems; Emerson; Graybar; Jack Henry &
Associates; and World Wide Technology.
▪▪Recent data center projects include: Ascent Corp.; Contegix; Digital Realty in St. Louis;
and LightEdge Solution in Kansas City.
“St. Louis is an important part of Square’s history. It’s an incredible city and my hometown, and we’re
excited to further invest in the community. Go Cards!”
JACK DORSEY, CEO, SQUARE
Notable IT, data center and communications companies in Missouri
Click on the orange text for more information.
new denotes a recent location or expansion in Missouri
▪▪Ascent (HQ St. Louis), a developer and operator of data centers, announced plans to
build a new $85 million data center in St. Louis in 2014.
▪▪Bick Group (HQ St. Louis) provides design, access floor, fire protection and building controls solutions for data centers.
new Bluebird Network (HQ Columbia) purchased SpringNet Underground from City
Utilities in Springfield in 2014 and announced plans to expand the data center in 2015.
The expansion will more than double the center’s data storage space, adding 16,000
square feet.
new BIME Analytics (Kansas City), a France-based business intelligence technology com-
pany, opened its new North American headquarters in Kansas City in 2014. The company
invested $390,200 to locate in Kansas City’s Crossroads District and announced plans to
hire 44 new employees within the next five years.
▪▪Cass Information Systems (HQ St. Louis) provides payment and information services for
financial, accounts payable, transportation, logistics, utility and telecommunications
applications.
▪▪CenturyLink (St. Louis) provides cloud, managed hosting, managed security, colocation
and professional and network services to businesses and government agencies worldwide. Colocation services include data center space and power for server and networking
equipment, as well as managed hosting services for IT infrastructure and network needs.
▪▪Cerner Corporation (HQ North Kansas City) is a Fortune 500 company that has focused
on developing health care information technology solutions for more than 25 years. In
2013, Cerner announced plans to add between 12,000 and 15,000 jobs and expand its
Kansas City campus.
MISSOURI HAS A PROVEN TRACK RECORD AS A PRIME LOCATION FOR DATA CENTERS AND IT
▪▪Charter Communications (St. Louis) is the fourth largest cable provider in the U.S., pro-
viding advanced video, high-speed Internet and telephone service for 5.5 million customers in 27 states. The company has significant operations and a data center in St. Louis.
▪▪Commenco (HQ Kansas City) is the authorized Motorola service facility in the Kansas
City metropolitan area specializing in the sales, installation and maintenance of wireless
communications and 9-1-1 equipment. A certified service center, Commenco employs
17 certified, factory-trained technicians specializing in portable radios, mobile radios,
pagers, closed-circuit camera equipment, computer networks and broadband wireless
applications.
new Contegix (HQ St. Louis) is a cloud-computing and colocation company that recently
relocated its headquarters and opened a data center in St. Louis’ Digital Realty facility.
The company neared capacity within three months of the move, prompting a second
expansion.
▪▪Cosentry (Kansas City and St. Louis) is one of the largest data center companies in
Kansas City and recently acquired St. Louis-based XIOLINK, a web hosting and colocation
provider.
▪▪Digital Realty (St. Louis) recently completed work on a $30 million expansion of its data
center, adding more than 10,000 square feet. The company, which plans to add another 45,000 square feet of data center space, says this is phase one of a $100 million
expansion.
new DSl (HQ Kansas City), a mobile supply-chain company, announced plans to expand in
2014, adding 50 employees for a total of 220.
▪▪DST Systems (HQ Kansas City) was founded in 1969 as a division of Kansas City Southern
Industries to develop an automated recordkeeping system for the mutual fund industry. Today the company is the largest provider of third-party shareholder recordkeeping
services in the United States.
new ECCO Select (HQ Kansas City) announced plans to invest more than $1 million to
expand its headquarters in 2014, creating 96 new IT jobs. ECCO Select is an information
technology and management consulting firm that provides a wide range of IT support
services to both private and public-sector clients. The Kansas City expansion will help the
company access an international client base and bolster Missouri’s position as a growing
hub for high-tech jobs.
▪▪Emerson (HQ St. Louis) is a Fortune 500 global manufacturing and technology company
offering a wide range of products and services in the areas of process management,
climate technologies, network power, storage solutions, professional tools, appliance
solutions, motor technologies and industrial automation. In 2009, the company opened
a St. Louis data center powered by 550 solar panels.
new GadellNet Consulting Services (HQ St. Louis), an information technology consulting
firm, completed a $1.35 million expansion in 2014, adding 30 new employees. GadellNet
offers clients personalized solutions including desk support, network engineering, business and technology management consulting, application development and hosted
cloud services.
new Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City announced plans in 2015 to add up to 200 technology professionals in the next three years to assist with its services and operations.
▪ 11
MISSOURI HAS A PROVEN TRACK RECORD AS A PRIME LOCATION FOR DATA CENTERS AND IT
▪▪Graybar (HQ St. Louis) is a Fortune 500 company and a leader in the distribution of highquality electrical, telecommunications and networking products.
new HealthcareFirst (HQ Springfield) announced plans to hire an additional 20 local
employees at its new Springfield headquarters in 2014. HealthcareFirst produces software for the home health care and hospice care industries.
▪▪IBM Service Delivery Center (Columbia) primarily supports IBM’s U.S. information
technology services clients, providing server systems operations, project management
and security services, including maintenance and monitoring of computer hardware and
software systems.
▪▪Jack Henry & Associates Inc. (HQ Monett) was founded in 1976 as a provider of core
information processing solutions for community banks. Today, the company processes
transactions, automates business processes and manages mission-critical information for
more than 8,700 financial institutions and corporate entities throughout the U.S.
new LightEdge Solutions (Kansas City) is a colocation and information technology com-
pany that opened a new managed hosting facility for data center clients in Kansas City in
2014, making a $58.3 million capital investment and creating 21 new jobs.
▪▪Lockerdome (St. Louis) is a social media startup that recently doubled its traffic, passing
the 40 million monthly unique visitors mark.
new miicard (St. Louis), a Scotland-based online identity-verification firm, announced
plans to establish a permanent presence in St. Louis in 2014 after participating in the
SixThirty accelerator program.
new Mindmixer (Kansas City), an online hosted engagement software company, selected
Kansas City to be its new home base in 2014, investing more than $1.5 million and creating 80 new jobs.
▪▪Moblico Solutions (HQ Kansas City) develops mobile applications using a combination
of web, messaging and e-commerce capabilities to help companies focus on revenue
generation.
▪▪NEC Energy Solutions (St. Louis) designs and manufactures high performance, efficient,
safe and reliable advanced battery systems for electric grid, backup power and lead acid
replacement applications.
new The Nerdery (Kansas City) announced a $4.3 million capital investment in 2014 to expand in downtown Kansas City, adding 100 jobs. The company develops custom interactive technology.
new Netelligent (HQ St. Louis), a leading provider of technology solutions, recently an-
nounced plans to open a new Kansas City office and hire 30 employees. In 2014, the
company expanded its Chesterfield headquarters to support its global operations, making a $1.8 million investment.
new Onshore Outsourcing (HQ Macon) announced plans to expand and add more than
100 new jobs in IT services in 2014.
▪▪Rarewire (HQ Kansas City) is a software and services company providing technology,
design and support capabilities for native apps on iOS and other mobile devices. The
company relocated from Kansas to Missouri in 2012.
new SpiderOak (HQ Kansas City) announced plans to move its headquarters from Chicago
to Kansas City in 2015. The company employs 30 and plans to add 10 employees.
▪ 12
MISSOURI HAS A PROVEN TRACK RECORD AS A PRIME LOCATION FOR DATA CENTERS AND IT
▪ 13
new Square (St. Louis), a startup founded in 2009 by St. Louis natives Jack Dorsey and Jim
McKelvey, announced plans to open a permanent office in St. Louis’ Cortex Innovation
Community in 2015, creating 200 new jobs.
new Suitable Technologies (Kansas City), a ‘remote presence’ provider, recently opened
an office in Kansas City.
▪▪TierPoint (HQ St. Louis) is a leading national provider of information technology and data
center services, including colocation, cloud computing and managed IT services.
new World Wide Technology (HQ St. Louis) is one of America’s largest private companies
and one of the leading systems integrators in the world. The company announced plans
to expand its presence in St. Louis through the acquisition of mobile app and software
company Asynchrony Labs in 2015, creating 100 new high-paying jobs to further
support its operations. The announcement was the company’s second expansion in just
two years, in addition to investing more than $100 million to complete the construction
and equipping of its Advanced Technology Center, enhance and expand other facilities
and create approximately 200 jobs new jobs in St. Louis. As a provider of technology and
supply chain solutions, Worldwide uses its e-commerce applications to manage planning,
procurement and deployment processes for its clients. The company also provides asset
recovery, pre-sales technical support, and integration and staging services.
“Locating in Kansas City, we’re afforded a lot of opportunities that aren’t available in other parts of the
country. Kansas City is a growing technology hub where we have access to a lot of great tech talent, but
Missouri also has a friendly corporate tax structure that allows us to keep our cost of business low. It’s a
winning combination that you won’t find anywhere but here.”
RACHEL DELACOUR, CEO AND CO-FOUNDER OF BIME
Other colocation and multi-tenant data center facilities:
365 Data Centers (St. Louis)
1102 Grand, a Netrality Property (HQ Kansas City)
Appia Communications (St. Louis)
Bluebird Underground (HQ Springfield)
Connectria (HQ St. Louis)
Cybercon Data Center (HQ St. Louis)
Datotel (HQ St. Louis)
Globe Building Company (HQ St. Louis)
Holly Data Center (HQ Kansas City)
Hostirian (HQ St. Louis)
Joe’s Datacenter (HQ Kansas City)
Layered Tech (Kansas City)
Level 3 Communications (Kansas City and St. Louis)
Mountain Complex (HQ Branson)
Netsolus (HQ Kansas City)
Sungard Availability Services (St. Louis)
T5 Technology Center (HQ Kansas City)
OneNeck IT Solutions (Kansas City)
XO Communications (St. Louis)
MISSOURI HAS A PROVEN TRACK RECORD AS A PRIME LOCATION FOR DATA CENTERS AND IT
▪ 14
Construction and engineering firms for data centers:
Brinkmann Constructors (HQ St. Louis)
Clayco (St. Louis)
Gibbens Drake Scott (HQ Kansas City)
Henderson Engineers (Kansas City)
Mark One Electric Company, Inc. (HQ Kansas City)
McCarthy (HQ St. Louis)
McCown Gordon Construction (HQ Kansas City)
Murphy Construction (HQ St. Louis)
Level 8 Group (HQ St. Louis)
JE Dunn (HQ Kansas City)
S.M. Wilson & Co. (HQ St. Louis)
Turner Construction Company (Kansas City)
U.S. Engineering Company (HQ Kansas City)
“When we launched Netelligent in 2003, we recognized Missouri as a place where we could really grow
and succeed. And today, Missouri continues to build upon that business-friendly reputation, offering the
type of environment that allows high-tech companies like ours to thrive.”
AARON STONE, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF NETELLIGENT
IT staffing firms:
Advantage Consulting (HQ St. Louis)
Apex Systems (St. Louis)
BalancePoint (HQ Kansas City)
Bradford & Galt (HQ St. Louis)
Byrne Software Technologies (HQ St. Louis)
Ciber (St. Louis)
Daugherty Business Solutions (HQ St. Louis)
Human Resource Staffing (HQ St. Louis)
Kelly Services (Cape Girardeau, Columbia, Kansas City, Kirksville, Perryville, Springfield, St. Louis, St. Joseph)
Kforce (St. Louis)
Levi, Ray & Shoup (St. Louis)
Modis (St. Louis)
Net Effects (HQ St. Louis)
PDS Technical Services Inc. (St. Louis)
Professional Employment Group (HQ St. Louis)
Rose International (HQ St. Louis)
St. Louis Staffing (HQ St. Louis)
Star Recruit (HQ Kansas City)
Strategic Staffing Solutions (St. Louis)
SyllogisTeks (HQ St. Louis)
Technology Partners (HQ St. Louis)
TechnoSmarts Inc. (HQ St. Louis)
TEKsystems (St. Louis)
Volt Workforce Solutions (St. Louis)
Westport One (HQ St. Louis)
Whitton Staffing (HQ St. Louis)
Yoh Services (St. Louis)
MISSOURI HAS A PROVEN TRACK RECORD AS A PRIME LOCATION FOR DATA CENTERS AND IT
▪ 15
Missouri’s data centers and IT companies
Major IT and data center companies
Collocation data centers
Construction and engineering
IT staffing firms
Major airport
§
¦
¨
29
£
¤
£
¤
136
169
§
¦ £
¨
¤
£
¤
35
59
Kirksville
(
!
(
!
65
o
St. Joseph
£
¤
63
£
¤
£
¤
(
!
(
!
!
(
(
!
(!
(!
!
(
!
(
!
(!
!
(
(
(
!
(
!
(
!
(
!
o
Kansas City
36
(
!
24
(
!
Hannibal
§
¦
¨
(
!
72
Moberly
£
¤
61
§
¦
¨
70
(
!
Warrensburg!(
Sedalia
Columbia!(
(
!
!!
(
(
£
¤
40
St. Louis
( !(
!
! !
(
o
(
( 64
!
(
!
(
!
(
!
(
!
(
!
(
!
(!
!
(
(!
!
(
(!
!
(!
!
(
(
(
(!
(!
!
(
!
(!
!
(
(
!
o
£
¤
50
§
¦
¨
(
!
Jefferson City
§
¦
¨
49
£
¤
65
£
¤
Rolla
54
(
!
§
¦
¨
44
£
¤
£
¤
160
o
Farmington
(
!
§
¦
¨
55
£
¤
63
Springfield
67
(
!
(
!
Branson
(
!
o
£
¤
£
¤
£
¤
61
§
¦
¨
Sikeston!( 57
60
160
Cape Girardeau
(
!
o
(
!
!!
(
(
(
!
Joplin
o
(
!
(
!
o
(
!
Poplar Bluff
£
¤
62
MISSOURI HAS A HIGHLY-TRAINED WORKFORCE FOR INFORMATION AND DATA CENTERS
▪ 16
Missouri has a highly-trained
workforce for IT and data centers.
REASON #5:
Neb.
1,022,152
Iowa
1,704,575
Kan.
1,500,353
Okla.
1,784,035
Neb.
32,337
Ill.
5,524,579
Mo.
3,058,118
Ark.
1,300,608
Kan.
55,468
Ky.
2,005,252
Tenn.
3,011,495
Workforce, all industries
Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2014
Iowa
45,393
Ill.
227,675
Mo.
103,284
Okla.
35,652
Ark.
26,409
Ky.
49,799
Tenn.
76,783
Tech employment
TechAmerica Cyberstates, 2015
Click on the orange text for more information.
▪▪Missouri’s tech industry employed more than 103,000 people in 2014, accounting for 4.6
percent of its private sector workforce (TechAmerica Foundation, 2015).
▪▪50 Missouri post-secondary institutions offer Bachelor’s degrees or higher in computer
science or the equivalent.
▪▪Missouri’s labor force of more than three million exceeds the entire populations of 20
states, including neighboring Kansas, Arkansas and Nebraska (Census Bureau, 2014).
▪▪Southeast Missouri State University’s online Bachelor of Science in Technology
Management was recently ranked among the nation’s top 20 best online Bachelor of
Information Technology degree programs (TheBestSchools.org).
▪▪Kansas City recently received a $500,000 grant through the Missouri Division of
Workforce Development and U.S. Department of Labor to develop a “coding bootcamp”
to provide IT job training.
▪▪A recent survey in PC Magazine ranked Kansas City and St. Louis as top cities for launching tech careers.
▪▪Kansas City and St. Louis both made Nerdwallet’s list of best places for tech jobs in 2015.
▪▪LaunchCode is a nonprofit organization, founded in St. Louis, that creates pathways to
economic opportunity and upward mobility through apprenticeships and job placement
in technology. In 2015, the program expanded to Kansas City and was recognized by
President Obama as a national model.
“It doesn’t matter where you learned code, it just matters how good you are in writing code. If you can
do the job, you should get the job … LaunchCode, which is a not-for-profit that finds talented people
across St. Louis and gives them the training and credibility for the tech jobs employers are desperately
needing to fill … Ninety percent of its graduates were hired full time, with an average starting salary of
$50,000 a year.”
PRESIDENT OBAMA
MISSOURI HAS A HIGHLY-TRAINED WORKFORCE FOR INFORMATION AND DATA CENTERS
▪ 17
Occupation information for the IT workforce
Code
Occupation title
Missouri
employment
Missouri median
hourly wage
United States median
hourly wage
74,590
$34.93
$38.18
130
$43.43
$52.09
11,010
$37.83
$39.76
15-0000
Computer and Mathematical Occupations
15-1111
Computer and Information Research Scientists
15-1121
Computer Systems Analysts
15-1122
Information Security Analysts
2,130
$37.46
$42.74
15-1131
Computer Programmers
7,900
$35.73
$37.28
15-1132
Software Developers, Applications
11,980
$42.78
$45.92
15-1133
Software Developers, Systems Software
3,010
$47.26
$49.46
15-1134
Web Developers
1,530
$24.88
$30.52
15-1142
Network and Computer Systems Administrators
8,010
$33.83
$36.44
15-1143
Computer Network Architects
3,290
$46.43
$47.32
15-1151
Computer User Support Specialists
13,650
$22.25
$22.89
15-1199
Computer Occupations, All Other
3,450
$39.74
$40.10
15-2031
Operations Research Analysts
940
$26.91
$36.86
Missouri median hourly wage
U.S. median hourly wage
60
$60
$50
50
$40
40
$30
30
$20
20
$10
10
$0
0
15-0000
15-1111
15-1121
15-1122
15-1131
15-1132
15-1133
15-1134
15-1142
15-1143
15-1151
15-1199
15-2031
Median hourly wage
All other Computer and
Mathematical Occupations
15-2031
15-1199
15-1111
Source for all: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational
Employment and Wage Estimates, May 2014
15-1121
15-1122
15-1131
15-1151
15-1132
15-1143
15-1142
Missouri employment
15-1134 15-1133
MISSOURI HAS A HIGHLY-TRAINED WORKFORCE FOR INFORMATION AND DATA CENTERS
▪ 18
Educational resources for data centers
!
(
!
(
!
(
!
(!
(
!
(
!
(
!
(
!
(
!
(!
!
(
(
(
!
(!
!
( !
(
!
(
!
(
!
(
!!
(
(
!
(
!
(
!
(
!
(
!
(
!
(
!
(
!
(
!
(! !
!
(
!
(
!
( !(
!
(((
!
(!
(!
(!
(!
(
!
(
(
!
(!
!
(
!
(
!
(
!
(
!
(
(
!!
(
!
!
(
(
!
(
!
(
!
(
!
(
!
(
Schools offering computer science degrees
Computer Science degree programs
▪▪50+ Missouri post-secondary institutions offer Bachelor’s
degrees or higher in Computer Science or equivalent:
Color indicates degree programs offered
Associate’s: n
Bachelor’s: n
Master’s: n
PhD: n
American Business and Technology University: nn
Avila University: n
Brown Mackie: n
Bryan University: n
Central Methodist University: nn
College of the Ozarks: n
Columbia College: nn
Crowder College: n
DeVry University: nn
Drury University: n
East Central College: n
Evangel University: n
Fontbonne University: n
Grantham University: nnn
Hannibal-Lagrange College: n
Harris-Stowe: n
Hickey College: n
ITT Technical Institute-Arnold: nn
ITT Technical Institute-Earth City: nn
ITT Technical Institute-Kansas City: nn
ITT Technical Institute-Springfield: nn
Lincoln University: nn
Lindenwood University: nn
Jefferson College: n
Linn State Technical College: n
Maryville University of St. Louis: n
Metropolitan Community College: n
Mineral Area College: n
Missouri Baptist University: n
Missouri Southern State University: nn
Missouri State University: n
Missouri State University-West Plains: n
Missouri Tech: nn
Missouri University of Science and Technology: nnn
Missouri Valley College: n
Missouri Western State University: n
Moberly Area Community College: n
National American University-Independence: nn
National American University-Kansas City: nn
National American University-Lee’s Summit: nn
National American University-Weldon Spring: nn
Northwest Missouri State University: nn
Ozarks Technical Community College: n
Park University: nn
Pinnacle Career Institute: n
St. Louis Community College: n
Saint Louis University: nn
Southeast Missouri State University: n
Southwest Baptist University: n
St. Charles Community College: n
MISSOURI HAS A HIGHLY-TRAINED WORKFORCE FOR INFORMATION AND DATA CENTERS
State Fair Community College: n
Three Rivers Community College: n
Truman State University: n
University of Central Missouri: nn
University of Missouri-Columbia: nnn
University of Missouri-Kansas City: nn
University of Missouri-St. Louis: nn
Vatterott College-Joplin: n
Vatterott College-Kansas City: n
▪ 19
Vatterott College-Springfield: n
Vatterott College-St. Charles: n
Vatterott College-St. Joseph: n
Vatterott College-St. Louis (Sunset Hills): nn
Vatterott College-St. Louis (Berkeley): n
Washington University in St. Louis: nnn
Webster University: nn
Westminster College: n
William Woods University: n
“We’re real excited about the Kansas City market from a talent perspective. We’ve been really encouraged
by the great tech talent we’ve found in the city so far, pretty much through word of mouth, from hiring
a couple of developers and having them refer their friends. It just made a heck of a lot of sense to invest
there, especially with the support that Missouri and Kansas City have given us.”
TOM O’NEILL, PRESIDENT, THE NERDERY
!
(
!
(
!
(
(
!
(!
!
(
!
(
!
(
!
(
!
(
!
(
!
(!
(!
!
((
(!
!
(!
(
!
(
!
(
!
(
!
(
!
(
!
(
!
(
Schools offering engineering degrees
Engineering degree programs
17 Missouri post-secondary institutions offer Bachelor’s or
higher degrees in electrical or computer engineering:
Devry University: nn
East Central College: n
Grantham University: nn
ITT Institute-Arnold: nn
ITT Institute-Earth City: nn
ITT Institute-Kansas City: nn
ITT Institute-Springfield: nn
Jefferson College: n
Metropolitan Community College: n
Mineral Area College: n
Missouri Tech: nn
Missouri University of Science and Technology: nnn
Missouri Western State University: n
Ozarks Technical Community College: n
Pinnacle Career Institute: n
Ranken Technical College: n
Saint Louis University: n
St. Louis Community College: n
Southeast Missouri State University: n
University of Central Missouri: n
University of Missouri: nnn
University of Missouri-Kansas City: nn
University of Missouri-St. Louis: n
Vatterott College-Berkeley: n
Vatterott College-Sunset Hills: n
Washington University in St. Louis: nnn
MISSOURI HAS A HIGHLY-TRAINED WORKFORCE FOR INFORMATION AND DATA CENTERS
▪ 20
Other resources
Click on the orange text for more information.
▪▪Accelerate St. Louis is a one-stop-shop to connect entrepreneurs to resources and inves-
tors who can help them in launching and growing their businesses in the St. Louis region.
▪▪Launch KC is a strategic initiative designed to attract and develop IT entrepreneurs and
professionals to the thriving information technology community in the Crossroads Arts
District and throughout greater Downtown Kansas City.
▪▪SixThirty (St. Louis) provides fintech startups with $100k in funding, mentors and con-
nections to the top financial services companies in the country. Backed by the St. Louis
Regional Chamber and venture capital firm Cultivation Capital, SixThirty selects eight
financial-based technology startup companies each year, four in the fall and four in the
spring. The selected companies receive hands-on training, mentoring and networking
opportunities with the top financial services companies in the region.
▪▪St. Louis Information Technology Entrepreneur Network (ITEN) accelerates scalable tech
startups with programs for rapid product development, connections to talent, essential
networking and access to funding. ITEN’s offerings are designed by entrepreneurs for
entrepreneurs and require neither payment nor equity.
▪▪T-REX (St. Louis) is a world class venue providing startups with low cost and flexible en-
terprise space. T-REX is home to 100+ startups and many other entrepreneurial activities
including Startup Weekend and StartLouis.
“ECCO Select is pursuing an aggressive growth strategy and with our headquarters here in Missouri, we’re
in a great position to launch into new global markets. With strong technology infrastructure, a skilled
talent pool, and a supportive business environment, Kansas City provides all the necessary ingredients to
grow our business internationally.”
ECCO SELECT PRESIDENT AND CEO JEANET TE PRENGER
Did you know?
▪▪St. Louis was identified as an Emerging Major Data Center Market by Tier1 in 2011.
▪▪Rolla and Kansas City were listed as two of the most affordable markets for data center
operations by the Boyd Company in 2012. Kansas City ranked among the top 10 most
promising tech hubs of 2014, according to the Web magazine Techie.com.
▪▪In 2015, Kansas City signed a strategic collaboration agreement with Cisco Systems, Inc.
to develop the most comprehensive smart city network in North America along the
streetcar starter line in downtown.
▪▪Popular Mechanics named St. Louis the No. 1 Startup City in America in 2015.
The Missouri Partnership focuses on recruiting new
business to the state, and is a non-profit organization
supported by the Missouri Department of Economic
Development and the Hawthorn Foundation.
To find out how the Missouri Partnership can assist at any
stage of your project, please contact us by:
▪ mail: 120 South Central Avenue, Suite 1535
St. Louis, Missouri 63105
▪ 12200 NW Ambassador Drive, Suite 205
Kansas City, Missouri 64163
phone: 314.725.0949
e-mail:info@missouripartnership.com
website: www.missouripartnership.com
social media: