Kansas City and St. Louis Rank High for Businesses
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), September 30, 2007 - Gov. Matt Blunt has announced that the online financial-news publisher MarketWatch has ranked two Missouri cities in the Top 20 of its recently released Top 50 centers for business in the nation. Kansas City was tied for 16th with Raleigh, North Carolina and St. Louis was ranked 19th.
"This is well-deserved recognition for Missouri's workers and our efforts to enhance opportunities for all Missourians," Gov. Blunt said. "I am pleased that we have been able to assist Missouri's entrepreneurs with pro-jobs, pro-growth initiatives that have helped create an economic climate where our businesses can thrive."
In the special report, MarketWatch spoke with academics and business people to look at metropolitan areas that have started, grown and retained businesses and issues associated with how and why businesses thrive in those cities. MarketWatch examined areas such as per-capita lists, job picture, and job growth against population growth.
Gov. Blunt has made helping employers and entrepreneurs create good, family-supporting jobs a top priority under his administration. Since January 2005, Missourians have created more than 92,000 new jobs. The state's economic outlook has improved with the passage of aggressive litigation reform, workers' compensation reform and proactive recruiting tools like the Missouri Quality Jobs Act, which has helped create more than 17,000 new jobs with health care benefits in just two years. The expanded Enhanced Enterprise Zone program will help spur development and job creation in economically challenged areas.
In 2007, Missouri is again on track to set a record for exports, reflecting the positive impact the governor's policies are having on jobs and the economy. The state's exports were up by 14 percent compared to the same period in record-breaking 2006, according to the World Institute for Economic Research.
Attorneys General Look to Improve Product Safety
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), September 30, 2007 - Attorney General Jay Nixon is working with his counterparts from across the nation to address the recent problem of massive recalls of toys due to lead content.
Nixon and other Attorneys General are looking into the safety practices, regulations and other factors that may have allowed unsafe levels of lead to be undetected and sold in millions of children's toys. Many of those products were sold by American companies but manufactured in China.
"Many American parents are now thinking twice about the toys they buy for their children, and casting a worried eye at toys they already own," Nixon said. "Lead and other safety hazards are issues we thought were long behind us, but all these recent recalls show there is much more work to be done."
The formation of the national partnership comes during a week when nine new recalls of children's product have been announced:>
- Twelve different Kolcraft play yards, or portable play pens, due to strangulation hazard.
- TOBY & ME jewelry sets, due to high levels of lead in the jewelry. This is an expansion of a recall announced in late August.
- Children's Spinning-Wheel Metal Necklaces, made by Rhode Island Novelties, due to high levels of lead in the clasp.
- Floor Puppet Theaters, made by Guidecraft Inc., due to high levels of lead paint.
- Children's Toy Rakes, sold exclusively at Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft stores, due to high levels of lead paint.
- Britain's "Knights of the Sword" Series Toys, due to high levels of lead paint.
- Happy Giddy Gardening Tools and Children's Sunny Patch Chairs, sold at Target stores, due to high levels of lead paint.
- Various Thomas and Friends Wooden Railway Toys, due to high levels of lead paint. This is an expansion of a recall announced in mid-June.
- Single Post Swing Sets, made by BCI Burke Company LLC, due to construction hazard involve a top beam that could fall.
For more information on these and other recent recalls, visit Nixon's Web site, ago.mo.gov. The online recall clearinghouse covers items recalled by several different federal agencies, including toys, medicine, cars, food and other categories. The site has received nearly 15,000 visitors since its launch in mid-August
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