The 10 best cities for running a home-based business - includes related article on how to select a good business city - Cover Story

Home Office Computing, Nov, 1993 by Kimberly Stansell

RESOURCES

* Washington State Business Assistance Center, Suite A, 919 Lakeridge Way SW, Olympia, WA 98504-2516; (206) 664-9501.

#7 St. Peters, Missouri City population: 45,779 County: St. Charles County population: 212, 907 Nearest major city: St. Louis (30 miles) Median housing price: $88,000 Average household income: $48,420 Major employers: Central Area Data Processing, Circuit City, Holiday Inn, KMart, Toys R Us, Wal Mart Climate: Area experiences four distinct seasons. Average temperatures: winter 32.4 degrees; spring 56 degrees; summer 77.7 degrees; fall 58.3 degrees Taxes: State--over $9,000 is taxed at $315 plus 6 percent and under $9,000 is a series of graduated rates; real estate--$62.5 to $71.2/$1,000 assessed valuation; sales--7.225 percent

Strengths: In expensive housing, explosive population growth, proactive home-business environment

With a population of 45,779 today as compared with a mere 486 in 1970, St. Peters is the fastest-growing city in Missouri--if not the nation. This is due in part to the outmigration from St. Louis County and city, which has lost population for two decades, and the fact that the same house costs almost $30,000 less than in St. Louis County, according to economic development coordinator Shirley Foster. She adds that the city has been quite successful at developing an infrastructure that has kept ahead of the growth--quality water system, good road system, and parks and recreation facilities. This growth made it possible for the city to finance a $16.5 million, 125,000-square-foot recreation facility, Rec-Plex, without raising property taxes. Instead, St. Peters used tax revenues from new development to build the facility, which will host numerous water events of the 1994 U.S. Olympic Festival, to be held in St. Louis.

St. Peters is in St. Charles County, a county that was affected by the midwestern summer flooding. However, as of this writing, St. Peters has been able to keep the flood waters out. Located 30 miles west of St. Louis, 80 to 100 homes and businesses in old town St. Peters were in jeopardy of being flooded in excess of four feet of water. Working with Norfolk Southern Railroad Corporation, the city raised the tracks nearly four feet to create a temporary levy, thus keeping the water out.

Of the 1,618 licensed businesses in St. Peters for 1993, about one-third are home based, according to the city's Economic Development Office. Because home businesses are becoming so prevalent, St. Peters has joined the state's Home-Based Business Task Force, which is looking at ways to empower its home businesses and is organizing a Missouri Home-Based Business Association. Locally, to promote and support home businesses, St. Peters recently sponsored a Home-Based and Small Business Fair and began producing a cable TV show, Getting Down to Business, specifically targeted at home-based and small-business owners.

Andy Jenn finds St. Peters to be an ideal place for his fledging home business, JennWare, a computer software developer that helps automate and manage small businesses. Jenn says he moved from St. Louis County to St. Peters five years ago because the housing was affordable and he wanted a nice community to raise his children. "After living here, I saw the small-business infrastructure developing to support the growing population base, which was good for my business idea," adds Jenn.