Ameren powers significant economic growth in the Midwest

Through competitive rates and robust partnerships, more than 2,700 jobs were created in Missouri and Illinois in 2024

ST. LOUIS, Jan. 16, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Ameren announced that the technical assistance it provided to expanding and relocating businesses created 2,700 new jobs in the company's two-state service territory throughout 2024. In total, 68 projects generated more than $3.6 billion in capital investment by those businesses.

Ameren partners with several state and local economic development agencies and businesses to encourage growth and investment. This may include building new facilities or expanding operations that add jobs and support communities statewide.

"Energy reliability and affordability are among the top attributes businesses consider when they are looking to grow or expand," said Rob Dixon, senior director, economic, community and business development for Ameren Missouri. "At Ameren, we are proud to serve as the energy partner in economic development to all our communities across Missouri and Illinois. Our teams help facilitate new projects throughout the entire development process – including community assessments, site selection, infrastructure planning and incentive review."

In 2024, businesses across Ameren Missouri's service territory created 1,574 new jobs and invested $3.1 billion. A few of those businesses include:

• Boeing, a leading global aerospace company, is building multiple advanced manufacturing facilities as part of its $1.8 billion expansion at its north St. Louis County operations. Boeing's partnership with Ameren Missouri enables the company's St. Louis operations to be run on 100% renewable electricity.
• Western Smokehouse Partners, a leading co-manufacturer of meat snacks, will open a facility in Mexico, Missouri next summer, investing more than $67 million and creating 280 new jobs.
• Capital Sand, a supplier of frac sand, invested $6 million to open Missouri's first compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling station in Cape Girardeau, Missouri in October 2024.

"Boeing is bringing the world's most advanced aerospace manufacturing facilities to the St. Louis region, and thanks to our partners at Ameren Missouri, we will create new production capacity and capability using energy-efficient and sustainable strategies," said Dan Gillian, vice president and general manager of Boeing's Air Dominance division. "We appreciate the partnership with Ameren Missouri for their expanded offerings that support our journey toward 100% renewable electricity across the enterprise, decarbonize the local electricity grid and support of the local workforce."

In 2024, businesses across Ameren Illinois' service territory created 1,200 new jobs and invested $500 million.

"Today's corporate decision makers have a wealth of comparative data at their disposal," said Eric Whitfield, director of economic development for Ameren Illinois. "Our job is to package up our region's assets and make a strong case that we can meet the power needs of the project more reliably and affordably than any other. It's the solution-oriented attitude of the team that helped deliver some big wins in 2024 for the communities we serve."

A few of those wins include:

• Tillamook County Creamery Association, a west coast farmer-owned dairy cooperative opened its first manufacturing facility outside of Oregon. Tillamook invested more than $50 million in updating a former ice cream manufacturing facility in Decatur, creating 45 new jobs. The Decatur facility will be dedicated solely to the production of ice cream.
• Manner Polymers, a manufacturer of plastic compounds, broke ground on their new manufacturing facility in Mt. Vernon. The facility will be powered by a 15-acre solar field located on-site. Manner Polymers plans to invest $54 million and create more than 60 jobs for the Southern Illinois region.
• Sul4R-Plus broke ground on their new fertilizer production facility in Marissa at a former ready mix concrete plant, investing $40 million and creating 25 jobs. SUL4R-PLUS® is a patented calcium sulfate based dry fertilizer engineered to enhance yield for a variety of crops.

"Manner Polymers selected the City of Mount Vernon and the State of Illinois for our expansion for several reasons including logistics, geography and economics," said Sean Walker, vice president of sales for Manner Polymers. "The biggest factor that made Illinois and Mount Vernon stand out was the people we worked with. From the local Economic Development Corporation to the state government officials and our energy representatives at Ameren, we were given a resource team that helped us resolve any issues not only during the site selection process but also during the construction and startup phases of our expansion. We are very pleased with the support given to us and are excited to be opening our second facility in the State of Illinois."

Ameren was also recently selected as one of Business Facilities Magazine's 2025 Top Utilities for Economic Development.

About Ameren Corporation
St. Louis-based Ameren Corporation powers the quality of life for 2.4 million electric customers and more than 900,000 natural gas customers in a 64,000-square-mile area through its Ameren Missouri and Ameren Illinois rate-regulated utility subsidiaries. Ameren Illinois provides electric transmission and distribution service and natural gas distribution service. Ameren Missouri provides electric generation, transmission and distribution services, as well as natural gas distribution service. Ameren Transmission Company of Illinois develops, owns and operates rate-regulated regional electric transmission projects in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc. For more information, visit Ameren.com, or follow us at @AmerenCorp, Facebook.com/AmerenCorp, or LinkedIn.com/company/Ameren. 

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SOURCE Ameren Corporation