Cape Chamber partners with Innovate SOMO

The Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce has partnered with the Southern Missouri Innovation Network (Innovate SOMO) to create new educational and employment opportunities in the region.

"Entrepreneurship innovation is an important strategy in growing and building the community and region we want to see," Rob Gilligan, president and chief executive officer of the chamber, said in a news release. "The best path to success is for partnership and engagement with our peer communities throughout the region and we are excited to work with the Southern Missouri Innovation Network as a Community Connector for the Cape Girardeau region."

The goal of Innovate SOMO is to use entrepreneurship and innovation to help communities drive growth in the southern part of the state.

"When provided access to opportunities, support resources and skilled talent, entrepreneurs and small business owners produce a chain reaction of job creation, revenue growth and community improvement," said James Stapleton, co-founder of Codefi.

The Cape Girardeau-based Codefi organization founded Innovate SOMO alongside Missouri State University's efactory innovation hub.

"We are really excited to be able to expand the reach of our work to include more of our neighboring communities and to be able to partner with outstanding local organizations like the Cape Chamber to continue their work to make the communities they serve better places to work and live," Stapleton added.

Additional information may be found at www.InnovateSOMO.org or by contacting Gilligan at rgilligan@capechamber.com.

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