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Ecosystem Building.
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Resiliency Is a System, Not a Moment.
A disaster preparedness platform built mid-storm in Hawaii. A dashboard with roots in a group chat in Puerto Rico. A statewide operations center shaped by Katrina and Rita. Three different approaches engaged the same four concrete steps any community can take to formalize disaster readiness—starting now. Alyssa Gossley's team was partway through launching Stay Open...
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Economic Development
Resiliency Is a System, Not a Moment
A disaster preparedness platform built mid-storm in Hawaii. A dashboard with roots in a group chat in Puerto Rico. A statewide operations center shaped by Katrina and Rita. Three different approaches engaged the same four concrete steps any community can take to formalize disaster readiness—starting now. Alyssa Gossley's team was partway through launching Stay Open...
Nov 02, 2026
Uncategorized
No Wrong Door: How Scott Asmus Is Building Nebraska’s Entrepreneurial Navigation System
Scott Asmus did not come to entrepreneurship with a traditional playbook. He came with an outsider’s eye, a deep belief in putting people first, and a determination to make Nebraska’s entrepreneurial ecosystem easier to navigate. Through SourceLink Nebraska, he is helping turn a maze of resources into a connected system built around real people, real needs, and real movement.
Sep 17, 2026
Economic Development
Be Prepared So Your Community Can Count on You
Financial disruption, cyberattacks, and infrastructure failures require the same planning as natural disasters. Water rescues on a flooded Main Street. Sandbags and boarded up storefronts on a Gulf coastline. Merchants sifting through shingles and plywood in the aftermath of 125-mile-per-hour tornadic winds. These are the media images we’re accustomed to seeing when natural disasters strike...
Aug 23, 2026
Economic Development
Building Momentum: 15 Years in the Making
Detroit’s recently launched MI Small Business Helper platform took years of persistent development to become a national model. Here’s what ecosystem builders can learn from their experience. Detroit is a city that’s shown it can take a punch. It’s also shown it can build something that lands. After years of building the foundation, pushing through...
May 28, 2026
Ecosystem Building
An Opportunity For Entrepreneurial Ecosystems
Spend enough time around entrepreneurship, and you’ll eventually see this familiar graphic: It is a simple illustration that paints a realistic picture of the entrepreneurial journey that is full of twists, turns, ups, downs, false starts, restarts, exhilarating climbs, and frustrating setbacks. Back in my economic development days, I would have said that this was a pretty accurate picture of the...
May 27, 2026
Ecosystem Building
From Commitment to Convergence: What We Saw at InBIA 2026
At the start of this year, I made a commitment. Not to a metric or a milestone, but to a direction. I said we would be measured by what we build together in 2026. Last week in Chicago, at the InBIA Annual Conference, we saw early proof that this is not just an idea. It is in motion. ...
Apr 30, 2026
Ecosystem Building
Infrastructure Is the Accomplishment: What the National Urban League Built
There are moments in a field when you can feel the strain, even if no one says it out loud. Organizations pull back. Priorities shift. Language softens. Work that once felt central starts to feel… negotiable. And then there are those who do something different. Last week, the National Urban League Entrepreneurship Centers were recognized with InBIA’s Julius Morgan Diversity and...
Apr 30, 2026
Ecosystem Building
Reflections from the IEDC Leadership Summit: Trust as Infrastructure
The most important moment of the IEDC Leadership Summit for me happened the night before. Dr. Lomax R Campbell and I sat down to refine our thinking for our presentation, Designing Relationship Infrastructure for Impactful Entrepreneurship-led Economic Development, and we found ourselves asking a simple question: why hasn’t anyone applied the PESTLE analysis directly to...
Mar 11, 2026
Economic Development
Entrepreneurship Is More Than a Buzzword in Economic Development
The words communities use to describe entrepreneurs now shape who participates, who gets support, and how local economies grow. For a long time, economic development in the U.S. followed a familiar script: communities competed to attract large employers. Success was measured in metrics such as tax revenue increases, job growth, and square footage. Entrepreneurship existed in...
Dec 23, 2025
Ecosystem Building
Let's be Measured by What We Build Together in 2026
“I prayed for twenty years but received no answer until I prayed with my legs.” -Frederick Douglass We stand at the end of a long and difficult year. There were mornings when I logged into Zoom meetings with close friends knowing their funding had been cut before they said a word. That is weight. That...
Dec 16, 2025
Economic Development
Santa Fe Small Business Navigator: Building Systems That Support Entrepreneurs at Scale
Across the field of economic development one truth stands out: supporting entrepreneurs requires more than good programs; it requires good systems. The city of Santa Fe has no shortage of entrepreneurial talent, committed partner organizations, or inspiring success stories. What’s harder is addressing the systemic side of the work. Becoming an entrepreneur depends on dozens...
Nov 25, 2025
Economic Development
Fueling Entrepreneurship in Rural America
Across small towns and wide-open regions, rural ecosystems grow faster when ecosystem partners invest in shared systems, transparent communication, and relationships that span towns and counties. Mark Burdette has spent more than two decades moving entrepreneurship forward in West Virginia, sometimes pushing, sometimes nudging. “Rural communities are kind of all I know,” he said. The deputy...
Nov 24, 2025