The Facts: Onshore's Economic Contribution to Macon County, Missouri
Answers to the claims, with the documents behind them
Shane Mayes | October 28, 2026 · Last updated
For 21 years, Onshore Outsourcing has had one goal: to help revitalize rural America by bringing technology careers to people in small towns who never had access to them. It started in Macon, Missouri, in 2005, with an idea most people thought wouldn't work.
Since then, Onshore has provided employment to over 1,500 people, most of whom were previously underemployed or dislocated workers. Our direct payroll has been over $140 million dollars not including benefits such as healthcare, matching 401k, or SUTA/FUTA taxes. Add these benefits and that payroll number increases by an additional 22%.
Recent local coverage in Macon, and claims repeated online, have raised questions about the number of jobs Onshore has created, its former building in Macon, its PPP loan, its Missouri Quality Jobs incentives and its current headcount.
When a lengthy article riddled with insinuations appears in a local publication, some readers assume that it’s accurate and true. I encourage people to read such click-bait articles with skepticism, especially when the article masks its claims as "questions".
I have been the subject of enough gossip to know the drill. It takes a tremendous amount of time to respond to every anonymous accusation or creative interpretation of events, particularly when you know that your response will ultimately be presented through someone else’s filter and wind up in an article few will ever read.
So instead of answering each claim in a comment thread, I'm putting the answers in one place, with the documents behind them. Each section below states the claim, then what the record shows. Where a document can be posted, it's linked. Where it can't, I tell you where to request it.
I've also provided the opportunity for readers to comment or ask questions regarding the information provided. As time allows, I'll update this page if new thoughtful questions come up. I won't respond to noise or posts in other blogs. If you want facts, you can find them here. I you want to play gossip, you can go to the local "news" site that likes to gossip. The date at the top shows when it last changed.
Shane
1. What did Onshore contribute to Macon County and Missouri?
From 2005 to 2026, Onshore Outsourcing hired 1,592 people and paid $148.3 million in wages, including $82.9 million to Missouri residents and $69.6 million in the Macon area.
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These figures count only Onshore's own payroll: the wages it actually paid and the full-time-equivalent job-years people worked. They leave out the additional ~22% Onshore pays in benefits and the additional jobs that payroll supported at suppliers and local businesses.
I encourage people to do their own research about the ancillary impact that IT jobs have on a local economy because it is substantial. The "5,000+ lives impacted" figure on our website is very conservative.
2. How did Onshore come to own 902 N. Missouri, and what did it pay?
Onshore Outsourcing paid Macon County $1.7 million for the campus at 902 N. Missouri in 2014, for a campus the County acquired from the Missouri Department of Transportation at no cost to Macon County because of jobs Onshore created.
Were it not for Onshore, Macon County would never have gained ownership of the campus because there were no jobs being created by anyone other than Onshore.
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Let that set in for a second...
Onshore paid Macon County $1.7 million for a campus that the County was only able to gain ownership of due to the jobs that Onshore created.
The implication in the local article is that Onshore received some sort of windfall from the State of Missouri or from Macon County.
But in reality the opposite is true...the only windfall in this case was from the $1.7 million dollars that Onshore paid to Macon County for a campus that Onshore caused Macon County to get for FREE.
Claim
Government money helped Onshore get its Macon building.
What the record shows
The building at 902 N. Missouri used to be a Missouri Department of Transportation facility. When state budget cuts closed it, 81 state jobs in Macon were at risk. Macon County Economic Development and the City of Macon worked out an agreement with the state: the building would become a business incubator, and ownership would pass to Macon County if new jobs and payroll created inside it made up for what was lost. Those jobs took the place of a $1.7 million purchase price.
The incubator wasn't producing those jobs, so community leaders asked Onshore to move in. We did in 2012, and we paid for the improvements needed to run our business there. Every new job created in the building was an Onshore job; no other company created a single one. In December 2013 the state deeded the building to Macon County.
In October 2014 Onshore bought the building from the County for $1,700,000, and the County abated county property taxes on it for 2014 through 2021. The last $1.1 million was paid to the County out of the 2022 sale to the school district. Macon County received the full $1.7 million.
3. Did Onshore sell its Macon building and leave?
In 2022 Onshore Outsourcing sold its campus at 902 N. Missouri in Macon, Missouri, to the Macon County R-I School District for $1.26 million and gave the $860,000 difference from its $2.12 million appraisal as a charitable gift.
Following this sale, Onshore kept working there under a lease until August 2024.
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Again, let that set in for a second...
Onshore donated $860,000 to Macon County R-1 School District. What other business has contributed as much to Macon R-1? The thing is, we didn't pound our chest or boast about it like others do.
But now you know, Onshore's ownership of 902 North Missouri was a windfall of over $2.5 million to the Macon area...$1.7 million went to Macon County and $860,000 went to Macon County R-1 School District.
All of it was paid by Onshore.
Claim
Onshore sold its Macon building and walked away.
What the record shows
The building at 902 N. Missouri appraised at $2,120,000. The Macon County R-I School District bought it for $1,260,000, and Onshore gave the $860,000 difference to the district as a charitable gift, written into the purchase agreement. Today the building is the Onshore Macon R-I Learning Center.
In March 2020, when the pandemic hit, we moved our Macon team to working from home. We meant it to be temporary, and it cost us something real: working side by side in our delivery center was how our people learned from each other, and it was central to our model. We were working on ways to bring the team back when the school district asked to buy the building. I agreed because I believed it was good for Macon. Letting remote work become permanent is a decision I regret. Helping the Macon County R-I School District further the education of Macon's young people is something I'm proud of.
4. Was Onshore's PPP loan a windfall?
Onshore Outsourcing's $2.71 million PPP loan covered less than half of the $5.76 million it paid in employee payroll during the covered period. It was used only for payroll, Onshore kept 97% of its workforce on payroll, and the SBA forgave it under its standard rules.
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Claim
Onshore's $2.71 million PPP loan was a windfall.
What the record shows
The loan was $2,710,410.68, made through MA Bank under the federal Paycheck Protection Program and approved on April 7, 2020. During the loan's covered period Onshore paid $5,758,125.55 in employee payroll, more than twice the loan amount. We used it only for payroll: nothing went to rent, utilities or other costs, and no owner pay was claimed. We kept 97% of our workforce on payroll through the covered period. The SBA forgave the loan under its standard rules in June 2021; MA Bank, as the lender, didn't forgive anything. Onshore took one PPP loan and didn't apply for a second one in 2021.
5. How much Missouri Quality Jobs money did Onshore receive?
In total, Onshore received $224,842.29 in benefits from the Missouri Quality Jobs Program. These benefits were all paid as part of NOI #1 (2008-2013). Onshore never claimed benefits for NOI #2 or #3.
Onshore did apply for and was approved for benefits under NOI #3. Onshore's Missouri workforce grew from about 121 to 236 full-time equivalents during that period (2008-2013) and ~115 of those jobs would have been eligible for benefits, but Onshore chose not to participate in the program because we felt it was a distraction.
**From 2005 to 2026, Onshore paid Missouri residents $82.9 million in wages over 2,205 full-time-equivalent job-years, including $69.6 million and 1,935 job-years in the Macon area. That is about $369 in Missouri wages for every $1 of Quality Jobs benefits.
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Onshore filed three Notices of Intent (NOIs) for the State of Missouri's Quality Jobs Program:
NOI #1 (2008-2013)
- Projected Jobs | 453
- Benefit Ceiling | ~$1.5 Million (Unconfirmed)
- Number of Jobs Reported by Onshore under this program | 65
- Quality Jobs benefits issued to Onshore | $224,842.29
- Amount Onshore paid in direct payroll to Missourians during this timeframe | ~$12.9 Million
- Amount Onshore paid in direct payroll nationwide during this timeframe: | ~$14.4 Million.
NOI #2 (2013-2018)
- Was never formalized. Nothing was paid.
NOI #3 (2013-2018)
- Projected Jobs | 600
- Benefit Ceiling | $1,578,450
- Number of Jobs Reported by Onshore under this program | 0
- Number of Missouri Jobs actually created by Onshore during this timeframe | ~115
- Quality Jobs benefits issued to Onshore | $0
- Amount Onshore paid in direct payroll to Missourians during this timeframe ~33.2 Million
- Amount Onshore paid in direct payroll nationwide during this timeframe: ~53 Million.
6. What happened to Onshore's jobs?
The decline in Onshore's employment is real, and I won't pretend otherwise. Company-wide, 78 people work for Onshore today, 31 of them in the Macon area, not including 11 of our employees who work at Pinnacle Fitness in Macon, which is also owned by Onshore.
AI and remote work changed IT services, and today AI now does much of the work our developers and support teams used to do, and remote work has changed how IT services are delivered. That is why I am building LightHouse Foundry.
Over 21 years Onshore paid $148.3 million in wages and logged 3,763 full-time-equivalent job-years nationwide, $82.9 million in Missouri, and $69.6 million and 1,935 job-years in the Macon area.
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Job displacement due to AI is something that communities should be aware of and prepared for. Following is just a handful of layoff announcements made this year:
- Microsoft: announced ~4,800 job cuts in July 2026
- Amazon: cut 14,000 corporate jobs in 2025 and another 16,000 in 2026
- Salesforce: shrank its support organization from 9,000 to 5,000 people
- Block: cutting 4,000 jobs
- Oracle: 21,000 fewer employees
- Barclays: cutting 5,000 jobs
- HP, Inc: planned reduction of 4,000 - 6,000 jobs by 2028
- Meta: cutting 8,000 jobs
- Kroger: cutting 3,000 corporate jobs over three years
I could go on with this list, but I think I've made my point. AI can help humans solve a lot of problems, but it is bringing change to the nature of how people work. Like many firms, this has impacted the number of people that Onshore is able to employ.
AI now does much of the work Onshore's developers and support teams used to do. I won't pretend otherwise. The question I kept asking was what comes next for people in towns like Macon and Glennville.
LightHouse Foundry is my answer: a business coach backed by a team of AI agents that helps people build a business of their own, not just hold a job. I'm working extremely hard on this project and expect it to launch this year.
7. Where is Onshore today, and why did listings show its old Macon address?
Onshore Outsourcing worked at 902 N. Missouri under a lease through August 2024, so filings through 2024 were accurate. Listings that still showed that address after we moved out were out of date, and we are correcting them. Onshore's office is now at 211 S. Tillman St., Glennville, Georgia, and its 31 Macon-area employees work remotely.
Read moreShow less(2 claims and what the record shows)
Claim
Onshore kept listing 902 N. Missouri as its address after selling the building in August 2022.
What the record shows
The sale closed on August 31, 2022, together with a lease back to Onshore. Under that lease Onshore kept main-floor space and the west parking lot at 902 N. Missouri through August 31, 2024, and our staff worked there until the lease ended. Filings in 2023 and 2024 that listed 902 N. Missouri were accurate. Some filings and listings from 2025 still showed that address after we had moved out. That was our mistake, and we are correcting them.
Claim
Onshore's Glennville, Georgia "headquarters" is a museum, and its phones are dead.
What the record shows
Our Glennville office is space we rent at 211 S. Tillman St., on a former college campus. We used to occupy three buildings in Glennville; in 2022, as more of our team moved to remote work, we gave up two of the smaller buildings. The article's implication that our Georgia campus is a museum is simply in accurate. Two old Glennville phone numbers had been disconnected. We've taken them off our listings, and our website shows our working numbers: (660) 395-4242 (main) and (660) 395-7019 (sales).
Why I'm building LightHouse Foundry
AI now does much of the work Onshore's developers and support teams used to do. I won't pretend otherwise. The question I kept asking was what comes next for people in towns like Macon and Glennville.
LightHouse Foundry is my answer: a business coach backed by a team of AI agents that helps people build a business of their own, not just hold a job. It starts with an honest, evidence-based verdict on your idea, and that verdict is free.
What business do you want to build?
Sources & Supporting Documents
- 1.
Settlement Statement, 2022
The closing statement showing the price, the payoff of the county's original financing and the seller's proceeds.
Available on request from Macon County R-1 School District. Ask the district office for the 2022 settlement statement for 902 N. Missouri.
Referenced in section 2: How did Onshore come to own 902 N. Missouri, and what did it pay?, section 3: Did Onshore sell its Macon building and leave? and section 7: Where is Onshore today, and why did listings show its old Macon address?.
- 2.
Contract for Sale of Real Estate, 2014
Macon County's sale of 902 N. Missouri to Onshore for $1.7 million, including the 2014–2021 county property-tax abatement.
Available on request from Macon County Commission. Ask the Macon County Clerk for the October 2014 contract selling 902 N. Missouri to Onshore Technology Services.
Referenced in section 2: How did Onshore come to own 902 N. Missouri, and what did it pay?.
- 3.
Quitclaim Deed, 2013
The state's transfer of the former MoDOT facility to Macon County.
Available on request from Macon County Recorder of Deeds. Ask the Recorder of Deeds for the December 27, 2013 quitclaim deed from the Missouri Department of Transportation to Macon County for 902 N. Missouri.
Referenced in section 2: How did Onshore come to own 902 N. Missouri, and what did it pay?.
- 4.
Real Estate Purchase Agreement, 2022
The agreement selling 902 N. Missouri to the Macon R-I School District, including the shareholders' gift of the difference from appraised value.
Available on request from Macon County R-1 School District. Ask the district office for the 2022 purchase documents for 902 N. Missouri.
Referenced in section 3: Did Onshore sell its Macon building and leave?.
- 5.
PPP Loan Forgiveness Application (SBA Form 3508)
Onshore's forgiveness application, showing payroll costs and employee counts for the covered period. Tax ID redacted.
View the document (opens in a new tab)
Referenced in section 4: Was Onshore's PPP loan a windfall?.
- 6.
Lease Agreement, 2022
The lease that kept Onshore in part of the building through August 31, 2024.
Available on request from Macon County R-1 School District. Ask the district office for the 2022 lease of 902 N. Missouri.
Referenced in section 7: Where is Onshore today, and why did listings show its old Macon address?.
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