Kauffman Foundation awards fifth year of support to Missouri Business Alert

The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation grant to Missouri Business Alert, a digital business journalism newsroom, will allow for an increase in coverage of news and entrepreneurship in Missouri.

The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation grant to Missouri Business Alert, a digital business journalism newsroom, will allow for an increase in coverage of news and entrepreneurship in Missouri.

Grant will increase entrepreneurship reporting, event offerings and programming for students

Columbia, Mo. (Aug. 5, 2020) — The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation has extended another year of grant support to Missouri Business Alert, a digital business journalism newsroom housed in the University of Missouri School of Journalism.

The grant will allow for an increase in coverage of news and entrepreneurship in Missouri. It will also improve educational programming for University of Missouri students, who are focused on strategic communication and business journalism.

The $250,000 grant is the fifth awarded by the Kauffman Foundation to Missouri Business Alert, with awards totaling over $900,000.

“The Kauffman Foundation has been foundational to Missouri Business Alert’s growth and success,” said Professor Randall D. Smith, the Donald W. Reynolds Chair of Business Journalism and founder of Missouri Business Alert. “Our thanks to the Kauffman Foundation for believing in us.”

Missouri Business Alert was started in 2012 by Smith and his students. The grant will increase coverage of COVID-19’s effect on small business and the economy, enhance entrepreneurship coverage around the state, provide resources and events for businesses and expand its current fellowship programs for School of Journalism alumni.

“Missouri Business Alert continues to focus on underestimated entrepreneurs in its content,” said Larry Jacob, vice president of public affairs at the Kauffman Foundation. “Whether that’s in its Outstate Entrepreneurship Project or focusing on founders who are starting out of necessity, MBA is ready to tell compelling stories of people trying to break through the barriers to achieve success.”

About Missouri Business Alert

Missouri Business Alert is run by professionals and staffed by students from the University of Missouri. The newsroom has helped students launch careers at Bloomberg, CNBC, the Associated Press and other news organizations. Missouri Business Alert is one of seven professional news outlets – that includes an NBC affiliate, an NPR affiliate and a community newspaper – and two strategic communication agencies at the School of Journalism where students practice what they’ve learned in the classroom.

Updated: November 13, 2020

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