Happy Holidays! Given that it’s a slow news week, I’m going to take this week’s newsletter to highlight some of my favorite stories we’ve published in the Heartland Tech section this year, in addition to some of the best stories we published this week.
This story on 5 U.S. cities Amazon should consider for HQ2 was our most-viewed one on the Heartland Tech channel this year. The cities were: Austin, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Columbus, and Salt Lake City. If I had to write the list over again, I probably would have added a Southern city, such as Atlanta or Dallas, to the mix. It’s worth noting as the Amazon HQ2 decision draws closer that some of the most critical resources that the ecommerce giant will be looking for in its second headquarters include: available real estate, access to plenty of tech talent, and, of course, generous tax subsidies.
I also covered an eye-opening study from the Economic Innovation Group, which found that nearly 3 in 4 jobs go to the top 40 percent of communities in the U.S. I highly suggest reading the study if you haven’t to understand how large the gap between economically prosperous and economically distressed communities in the U.S. is becoming. It’s a topic that we’ll be discussing at VentureBeat’s inaugural BLUEPRINT event, which will take place March 5-7 in Reno, Nevada. If you’re interested in joining the discussion, you can request your invite here.
One of our guest writers, Dustin McKissen, wrote about an early stage fund for rural startups launched by the state of Colorado and how it can serve as a model for the nation. As McKissen wrote, this fund “sends an important message to rural residents, who feel increasingly feel left behind by a rapidly changing economy.”
Finally, Byron Auguste and Yolanda Townsend, from a nonprofit called Opportunity at Work, discussed how Heartland startups can help ease the talent scarcity in their city by considering more applicants from non-traditional backgrounds. Their premise is simple: If you can do the job, you should get the job.
I’m looking forward to telling more stories about the Heartland in 2018. As always, please send news tips or feedback to me via email, and please remember to share these #HeartlandTech stories on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
Thanks for reading,
Anna Hensel
Heartland Tech Reporter
| Please enjoy this video from CNBC, “New tax plan could accelerate Californians leaving the state“ |
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From the Heartland Tech Channel
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Beyond VB
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This policy helped build Missouri’s innovation districts, and it might be going away
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