Featured projects

We enhance economic development opportunities by providing high-quality research and insights to our partners — Let us Exceed your expectations. We routinely work with businesses, communities, regions, governments and nonprofits through a variety of projects. View recent projects on this page and select the contact link at the bottom to obtain more information about engaging with the Exceed team.

Image
Alan Spelling giving a presentation on using data.
Demographic, economic and workforce data training

Give your team fundamental skills in public information data collection, analysis and visualization. MU Exceed has extensive data training experience and can customize the data training curriculum for one- or two-day programs with as many as 30 attendees. The in-person training teaches attendees how to use data through hands-on exercises, demonstrations, data communications practice and other methods.

Image
Economic impact analysis chart.
Economic impact analysis

Exceed conducts economic impact analyses to help clients understand how a certain economic activity — a new industry locating in their town or a plant closure, for example — will impact the local economy. Utilizing IMPLAN, Exceed can help communities understand how a given scenario will impact key metrics like employment, household spending, local tax revenues, and more. Economic impact analyses are often crucial pieces in the pursuit of grant opportunities.

Image
BioSTL building.
Bioscience labor market analysis

In 2022, Exceed conducted a labor market analysis for BioSTL, a nonprofit focused on growing the St. Louis economy through investments in agriculture, medicine, health care and other technology. Their analysis examines job demand for commercial bioscience positions, and it projects what demand will look like in the next 10 years.

Image
Closeup of portion of alembic.
Economic impact of Missouri’s distilling industry

“Taking Farm and Forest to the Glass” was funded by the Missouri Department of Agriculture — Missouri Agricultural and Small Business Development Authority. This project measured the economic contribution of the state’s distillery industry, created 2019 baseline data using secondary sources and a distiller survey and examined the value distillers bring to the state’s economy through business linkages within the state.

Past projects

Importance of off-farm income to the agricultural economy

CoBank’s Knowledge Exchange division partnered with Exceed to analyze the role of off-farm jobs in supporting our agricultural producers and rural communities. The report highlights the growing interdependence of rural and urban economies over the past several decades and demonstrates how critical off-farm jobs are to the income of farming households.

Migration and regional assets survey

To shape the region into a more attractive place to live and strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem, northwest Missouri (NWMO) leaders wanted to understand regional assets. Leaders also wanted to know if COVID-19 could make the region a more attractive place to live. MU Exceed partnered with the Community Foundation of Northwest Missouri's Maximize NWMO Regional Vitality Initiative to conduct a survey to address these questions.

Work with us

Exceed routinely partners with businesses, communities, regions, governments and nonprofits to enhance economic and entrepreneurial opportunities in Missouri. We offer consulting for clients on projects related to:

Regional economy evaluation

  • Project evaluation and survey support
  • Industry and occupational analysis
  • Cluster analysis

Rural economy growth strategies

  • Entrepreneurial ecosystem building
  • Growth strategy research and data synthesis
  • Strength, challenge, and opportunity assessments

Economic impact analysis

  • Impact modeling for grant/funding opportunities
  • Industry contribution analysis

Contact us to discuss your project