This presidential bellwether status turns into a huge advantage for expanding businesses as well.

If you want large cities with big labor bases that are transportation hubs, consider Kansas City and St. Louis.

If you want a rural area -- somewhere to stretch out -- but you want to remain close to a medium-sized city, there's Joplin, Sedalia, Jefferson City, Springfield and Columbia, just to name a few.

If you need to be situated near a major waterway, there's the granddaddy of all U.S. rivers, the Mississippi, which forms Missouri's eastern border. Not to mention the Missouri River, which cuts the state in half, running east and west (along with Interstate 70).

These factors -- and Missouri's central location -- may have contributed to making 1998 a banner year for the state's economy.

Business expansions in the state jumped 55 percent, and a total of 348 companies in industries targeted by the state expanded or opened new facilities, up from 225 in 1997.

This growth helped to create 34,000 jobs, with personal income growth of 5.1 percent and a 3.9 percent unemployment rate.

Labor, Business Climate Keeps Zacson Growing
The availability of dependable workers has kept Zacson Corp. in Joplin and is a big reason why the company expanded its current facility.

Zacson, a telemarketer for Fortune 500 companies, has added 150 employees at its southwest Missouri facility and plans additional growth.

"We were impressed that this was an area that was friendly to business," said Christine Duncan, operations manager and center director.

Zacson has been in Joplin since 1990, and Duncan said little thought was given to moving elsewhere when it came time to expand.

"In our TSR's (telephone service representatives) we look for persons with a high school diploma who can think and make decisions," said Duncan. "We've been able to get a good supply here. Actually, we've had more good applicants than we can put to work at one time."

"People from the Midwest tend to not have any kind of accent," said Duncan. "That helps to not throw out any biases over the phone."

In Springfield, also in southwestern Missouri, a credit card processing center that opened just a year ago is already expanding.

First Card, a subsidiary of Banc One Corp., is expanding by 135,000 square feet to a total of 280,000 square feet. The expansion will bring First Card's total employment at the site to 1,500.

"We anticipated there would be a great work force here, and I am constantly reassured that the work force here is, in fact, excellent," said Patricia Laxton, First Card vice president.

St. Louis area Takes MasterCard
MasterCard International has been located in the St. Louis area for 25 years. The company's global technology operations were housed in four different sites in the area until the company announced that it will move them all into a new building in 2001. Construction will begin in late 1999.

The 500,000 foot facility in O'Fallon, which is west of St. Louis, will cost almost $100 million.

"We looked at 10 different sites around the country for this project," said Linda Locke, vice president of communications for MasterCard. "But the state of Missouri and the local economic development people offered us what we thought was a very good deal. It made no sense to move away."

State and local officials offered MasterCard an incentive package worth $41 million. As part of the deal, the company will receive tax breaks from O'Fallon totaling $3.8 million over a period of 20 years.

Aquila Energy chooses Kansas City
The west side of the state is also witnessing numerous expansions.

In March, Aquila Energy Corp., a subsidiary of UtiliCorp United, announced it will move its headquarters to downtown Kansas City. Aquila is one of the largest energy marketers in the country.

About 300 positions from the company's former site and 130 jobs from its Raytown, Mo., facility will be moved to the Town Pavilion in downtown Kansas City.

The company received an incentive package of about $11 million, including tax credits from the Build Missouri program and the Enterprise Zone and Development Tax Credit programs. In addition, the project is eligible for an $11.4 million loan from the Missouri First program.

Warranty Firm Headquarters in Lee's Summit
In Lee's Summit, a suburb on the southeast side of Kansas City, expansions are also rolling in.

Mechanical Breakdown Protection, Inc., which sells warranties to more than 250 dealerships nationwide, broke ground in March for its national headquarters in the Rollins Meadow Office Park.

Manufacturing and Distribution
Economic growth in Missouri isn't limited to its metropolitan centers. Manufacturers in rural portions of the state are tasting success.

In Bowling Green, in eastern Missouri, a maker of commercial refrigeration equipment is constructing a new 100,000 square foot facility.

True Manufacturing will build upright freezers and coolers at the site. The $2 million investment by the company will result in 80 new jobs in two years.

The state awarded a grant of $647,000 for industrial infrastructure for the project.

In Sedalia, in central Missouri, the Rival Co. has constructed a 216,000 square foot distribution center, employing 60 people. In addition, Waterloo Industries announced a $7 million expansion to its plant in October of 1998. A new assembly line will add 30 new jobs at the site.

A new distribution facility has set up shop in Springfield. Reckitt and Colman, Inc., a maker of food and household items such as French's mustard and Lysol, recently finished building a 620,000 square foot Midwest Regional Logistics Center next to its food manufacturing plant.

Slowdown not Likely
To companies looking to expand or relocate, Missouri brings a belt full of tools to the project.

There's a skilled work force, large metropolitan areas with high-quality transportation, rural areas with a slower pace of life, and local governments in a hurry to attract business. So grab a hammer and join in.

Lance Yoder is a senior writer for Expansion Management Magazine.