Aug 21, 2026
Codefi Opens AI Builders Lab and Launches Monthly AI Industry Nights at Cape Girardeau Headquarters
Missouri Technology Corporation grant of more than $269,000 funds a workspace with on-site AI computing hardware and a monthly industry series open to all of southeast Missouri at no-cost
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. — Codefi Foundation on Rural Innovation today announced two new artificial intelligence programs at its Cape Girardeau headquarters, funded by a Missouri Technology Corporation grant of more than $269,000. The AI Builders Lab is a no-cost shared workspace for people building products with AI, equipped with dedicated on-site AI computing hardware. AI Industry Nights is a sponsored monthly series featuring practitioners from a different southeast Missouri industry each month, beginning September 2.
Both programs are open to businesses, employees, students, and founders throughout southeast Missouri. Participation requires no Cape Girardeau address and no coworking membership.
The programs are the local expression of the organizational rebuild Codefi announced in February, when the nonprofit became one of the country’s first tech-based economic development organizations to restructure its entire program portfolio around AI-native methods rather than layering AI onto existing offerings.
AI Builders Lab
The AI Builders Lab is a shared workspace at Codefi’s Cape Girardeau office for people actively shipping products built with AI. Seats are provided at no cost through the Missouri Technology Corporation grant and include membership in the coworking community at the Cape Hub. Access is by application and the Lab is intentionally scoped to builders with a working project rather than to general exploration.
The grant also funded dedicated AI computing hardware, now installed and operating in the building. Lab members can conduct AI models locally, without usage limits, metered credits, or security concerns.
“The desktop super computers provide a powerful, private sandbox to build and run AI. It provides the muscle of a cloud server right under a desk, without the ongoing data fees,” said James Stapleton, President and CEO of Codefi. “We are pleased to make these shared high-value resources available in Cape Girardeau.”
AI Industry Nights
Beginning September 2, AI Industry Nights will be held the first Wednesday of every month from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Codefi’s offices at 338 Broadway in downtown Cape Girardeau. Each session features a panel of local practitioners from a single industry describing how they are using AI in their own work — what is working, what is not, and what it cost to find out. Sessions are free, and no registration is required.
The calendar is organized by industry so attendees can select the session most relevant to their business:
Date | Industry Focus |
|---|---|
Sep 2 | Kickoff & open Q&A |
Oct 7 | Real Estate |
Nov 4 | Legal |
Dec 2 | Construction & Manufacturing |
Jan 6 | Banking & Finance |
Feb 3 | Education |
Mar 3 | Medical Offices |
Apr 7 | Nonprofit |
May 5 | Insurance & Sales |
Jun 2 | Retail & Small Business |
The September 2 kickoff is an open session and general Q&A intended for attendees new to the topic.
Free AI Training for Small Businesses
Separately, Codefi’s Cape Girardeau-based AI workforce training team continues to deliver the Show-Me Network Small Business Training Series, a set of free, hour-long virtual sessions for Missouri small business owners with no technical background assumed. Three sessions remain in 2026:
Date | Session | Focus |
|---|---|---|
Sep 8 | Never Stare at a Blank Page Again | AI for your marketing |
Oct 13 | Get 5 Hours Back | AI for the tasks you hate |
Nov 19 | Holiday Hustle | Surviving your busiest season |
Registration for one session provides access to all remaining sessions. The series is delivered through the Show-Me Network, the statewide entrepreneurial support network Codefi co-founded with Missouri State University’s efactory.
The training connects to Codefi’s broader Make Missouri AI-Ready initiative and its AI Integration Specialist pathway, which trains existing, non-technical employees to redesign the workflows they already own — an approach the organization developed in response to a structural labor shortage across rural Missouri that recruitment alone cannot close.
“The most valuable person in an AI project is almost never the most technical person in the building,” Stapleton said. “It is the person who has run a process for six years and knows exactly where it breaks. We stopped trying to turn people into engineers and started giving that person better tools.”
Statewide Growth, Southeast Missouri Anchor
Codefi has expanded substantially since 2022, co-founding the statewide Show-Me Network, extending programs into central and northern Missouri, St. Louis, Columbia, and Kansas City, and beginning work with organizations outside the state. Its headquarters, the majority of its staff, and its longest-running operations have remained in Cape Girardeau throughout.
The organization has continued to develop new programs in southeast Missouri during that period. Its AgTech AI Startup Studio and the AgTech Vibeathon hosted in Cape Girardeau drew 65 participants and produced two companies now operating. Stapleton and Codefi Board Vice Chair Chris Dittmer discussed the organization’s growth, the funding disruptions of the past two years, and the decision to rebuild its programs around AI during a public conversation at the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce First Friday Coffee earlier this month.
“What I want people in this region to understand is that the newest thing we have built is opening here first,” said Chris Dittmer, Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of Codefi Foundation. “Not as an afterthought to the statewide work. As the proving ground for it. That is how it has worked for eleven years, and this grant is the latest evidence of it.”
How to Participate
Attend. AI Industry Nights are free and require no registration. First Wednesday of each month, 5:30–6:30 p.m., 338 Broadway, Suite 601, Cape Girardeau.
Apply. AI Builders Lab seats are available by application at codefiworks.com/cape-hub.
Train. Show-Me Network Small Business Training Series registration is at codefiworks.com/campaigns/show-me-network-small-business-training-series.
About the Missouri Technology Corporation
The Missouri Technology Corporation is a public-private partnership created by the Missouri General Assembly to promote entrepreneurship and foster the growth of new and emerging high-tech companies in Missouri.
About Codefi Foundation
Codefi Foundation on Rural Innovation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit building Missouri’s AI-ready workforce and innovation economy. Through AI skills training, startup studio programs, AI development services, and organizational transformation, Codefi equips businesses, founders, tech talent, and communities with the tools to compete in the digital economy. Headquartered in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, Codefi serves communities statewide and partners with organizations across the country. Learn more at codefiworks.com.
Media contact
Shana Burden · shana@codefiworks.com · codefiworks.com · 573-837-4590
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