10 Actionable Takeaways for Accelerating Regional Innovation Ecosystems

  • Raj Sharma

    • Over the past two months, we’ve had the privilege of hosting two dynamic conversations with leaders from across the country – Courtney Zaugg, Brooke Pyne, Greg Lewis, Evie Poitevent Sanders, Alejandra Y. Castillo, Hanna Scovill, and, Mike Freeman – people who are on-the-ground building regional innovation ecosystems, often with limited budgets.

    What emerged from these discussions was not just a checklist of best practices, but a set of shared truths grounded in real-world experience.

    Links to May and June Webinars on Regional Innovation:

    10 actionable takeaways from the webinars:

    1. 🏗️ Have a holistic funding strategy for the ecosystem

    Federal grants are great for getting started, but they won’t sustain an ecosystem, especially within the current environment. Regions need to build funding stacks that go well beyond federal funding to include philanthropy, corporate sponsorships, and earned revenue. The earlier you start, the more sustainable the ecosystem becomes.

    👉 Design a diversified funding strategy early.

    2. 💸 Address the capital gap – especially for non-coastal startups

    There’s a real “missing middle” between federal seed grants (like SBIR) and venture capital. It’s especially acute for hard tech companies and regions outside traditional VC markets. More needs to be done to attract capital to each region, especially smaller cities and rural areas that lack the networks and the wealth to fund investments.

    👉 Bridge the capital gap with regional co-investment funds, angel groups, or public-private investment tools. Proactively attract investors through a clear value proposition.

    3. Collaboration across regional boundaries is critical

    True collaboration across states (e.g., CO-WY, IN-MI)  is succeeding. The new model is a multi-state, multi-industry innovation ecosystem. While competition among states and regions is good to have, actors must realize that combining resources across a region can lead to a bigger pie for the region and the country as a whole.

    👉 Build relationships, partnerships, and joint actionable roadmaps with shared metrics across regions and sectors.

    4. Ecosystems are assembled, not engineered

    You don’t “build” an ecosystem. You assemble a puzzle by bringing together all the various ecosystem players.  Success depends on alignment, shared purpose, and real relationships across business, government, investors, academia, and the workforce.

    👉 Invest time in relationship-building and governance models that promote shared ownership.

    5. Talent and workforce must be at the center

    Without a workforce, there is no way to drive innovation. Regions that tie their innovation ecosystems to a workforce and talent strategy unlock the ability to attract companies, grow jobs, and accelerate growth.

    👉 Ensure workforce strategy is a core component of your ecosystem strategy.

    6. Support the ‘Valley of Scale’ companies

    Startups aren’t the only ones who need help. Companies that have commercialized and are ready to scale but don’t have the capital, operations, supply chain expertise, or market access often fail. There is a dire need to go beyond startups and help companies that have promising characteristics with the resources and expertise they need to scale.

    👉 Build targeted programs for growth-stage firms—especially those in critical, capital-intensive industries.

    7. Start small. Prove it. Then scale.

    The best regions didn’t launch five-year plans. They started with pilots—small projects in talent, capital, or R&D—that created momentum and trust. Then they expanded.

    👉 Win early. Use pilot results to layer in complexity and partners.

    8. 🔍 Measure what is working

    It’s easy to count patents or startups. It’s harder to measure trust, collaboration, engagement, and outcomes.  Most ecosystems don’t have a holistic view of performance or an approach to continuously measure ecosystem health.

    👉 Build a holistic measurement approach that tracks both leading and lagging indicators of ecosystem health.

    9. Position regional strengths within a national strategy

    Regions are strongest when they show how their assets contribute to national competitiveness—in areas like advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, clean energy, or defense tech.

    👉 Tell a national story: “Here’s how our region helps America win.”

    10. Use data as a foundational tool to accelerate growth

    Data must be at the core of each ecosystem.  Whether it is used for measuring ecosystem performance or to understand ecosystem players, data should be at the core of ecosystem management.

    👉 Identify what use cases are most critical and how data supports those use cases

    Stay tuned for more upcoming webinars.

    Here is a link to the ones from May and June.

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