Reasons for hope in the wake of a series of business news stories affecting our state, region and city:

Bombardier Aerospace Inc., a major Canadian jet plane manufacturer with no presence in America’s Midwest, may yet see virtue in bringing jobs to Missouri.

The state, the Kansas City region and 34th District state Sen. Charlie Shields, R-St. Joseph, partnered on a valiant effort, put $240 million in incentives on the table and still came up short when Bombardier decided to expand its manufacturing operations close to home, outside Montreal.

The news Sunday was a big disappointment. But make no mistake: Missouri showed it was serious in pursuing this major economic development project. It was the only state in the country considered for the new jet plant, and the teamwork that key officials displayed could be critical the next time.

Bombardier, according to Gov. Matt Blunt, has “expressed a desire to consider future partnerships” knowing the state’s strong commitment to collaborations with the aerospace industry.

Kansas City Power & Light Co., by every indication, will be a stronger partner for St. Joseph and Northwest Missouri than the faltering Aquila Inc. was in its post-bust years.

There are regrets in some quarters because St. Joseph was unsuccessful in gaining municipal control of the electric utility’s local operations some years ago. We will never know how that might have turned out. But certainly one view worth considering is that there may be just as much risk owning a utility in this day and age as in not owning one. In particular, consider managing a non-diversified local utility with no money for research and development, no stake in wind or solar power, and no buffer against bad economic times that might come our way.

InBev NV, based in Belgium, just might be right when it says it can market the King of Beers overseas better than St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch.

Bud, for all its status in this country, is seen as an underdeveloped brand in foreign markets. That is why other beer makers like InBev, its successful suitor, see it as so desirable – they believe they can make a great brand even more successful.

Will St. Louis and Missouri see a net gain in jobs even as they experience a loss of a significant corporate headquarters? Few would bet on that right now. But can Bud be marketed better beyond our shores? Many in the industry believe this to be true, and that should mean a boost to St. Louis’ flagship brewer.