St. Joseph Rises In “Best Cities” List

the Milken institute recently
reported that St. Joseph ranks 29th
among the country’s best performing
small cities in 2012.
St. Joseph ranked 51st on the list
in 2011. the 2012 Milken institute
Best-performing Cities index ranks
U.S. metropolitan areas by how well
they are creating and sustaining jobs
and economic growth. the components
include job, wage and salary,
and technology growth. in most
years, these give a good indication of
the underlying structural performance
of regional economics.
“in 2012, we saw expansions in
many of our local companies so
2012 was a very strong year for us,”
said Steve hamilton, interim president
and Ceo of the St. Joseph
Metro Chamber. “We’re pleased to
see that the Milken institute recognizes
these accomplishments on the
economic development front.”
the St. Joseph Metro Chamber
economic Development staff worked
on about 40 attraction and expansion
projects in 2012, all with the purpose
of adding quality jobs and capital
investment to the St. Joseph business
community. Some of these projects
are still underway, but several were
announced throughout the year.
Some of those include expansions
at: St. Joseph plastics, al J. Mueller
Construction, i&M Machine &
Fabrication Corp., triumph Foods,
llC, ag processing, inc., Dupont
nutrition and health and Boehringer
ingelheim Vetmedica, inc.
according to the Milken index, St.
Joseph ranks ninth on a list of 179
cities for its five-year growth rate in
employment.
“Because of St. Joseph’s diversified
employment base, we didn’t suffer
any major corporate closings during
the recession,” Mr. hamilton said.
“St. Joseph’s unemployment rate
remained far below state and national
averages during the recession and
remain that way today. Much of St.
Joseph’s success can be attributed to
the collaboration between public and
private contributors.”
St. Joseph is one of only two towns
in the state of Missouri to make the
top 30. Columbia came in at the number ten spot.