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Economic Development defends $8.5M for Missouri Technology Corporation, pushes reshoring grants for chips and APIs
Summary
Missouri Department of Economic Development and the Missouri Technology Corporation (MTC) asked the budget committee to continue funding state venture and ecosystem grants, to support CHIPS semiconductor reshoring and active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) reshoring programs, and to maintain federal SSBCI spending authority.
Missouri Department of Economic Development officials told the House Budget Committee they recommend continued state-level investments to grow high‑tech entrepreneurship, reshore semiconductor and pharmaceutical manufacturing, and maintain federal spending authority for state venture programs.
Jack Scottizzi, executive director of the Missouri Technology Corporation, said MTC operates two program tracks: competitive grants to entrepreneurial support organizations and state‑sponsored venture capital co‑investments. “We launch grants on a nearly quarterly basis,” Scottizzi said, adding that MTC has invested roughly $53 million into more than 60 Missouri companies that later attracted about $2.1 billion in private follow‑on capital and created “over 8,000 jobs.”
The committee reviewed an $8.5 million state transfer to MTC’s technology investment fund (unchanged from FY25). Staff and legislators discussed SSBCI authority (federal ARPA funds administered by MTC), and DED said the state must spend down federal SSBCI allocations over an 8–10 year horizon; roughly $95 million of federal SSBCI authority is in the budget book and the state has drawn tranches tied to spending thresholds.
DED also described two ongoing reshoring programs moved into the DED budget: a $5.4 million appropriation to support semiconductor reshoring work linked to CHIPS, and a $9.6 million appropriation for active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) reshoring and an APIC innovation center partnership with the University of Missouri–St. Louis. DED said federal CHIPS awards go to private companies directly; Missouri’s state support is contingent on companies receiving those federal grants.
Committee members noted slow federal rollouts and asked why prior appropriations showed low or zero expenditures at the Jan. 28 accounting snapshot. DED said timing and the phase‑in of awards explains the appearance of unspent authority; some tranches and contractual payments occurred after the snapshot date.
Ending: The committee asked MTC and DED for clearer spending and milestone schedules for the CHIPS and API projects, specifics on SSBCI drawdown targets and timelines, and for MTC to share application cycles and success metrics for its grant and investment programs. MTC agreed to provide newsletters and annual reports to members describing grant cycles, investment activity and regional coverage.
