We went to York, PA to attend Blueprint York, a conference hosted be VentureBeat, intended to bring together Silicon Valley type investors with ecosystem builders intent on creating new forms of economic opportunity in York. This was a follow on to the highly successful conference held in Reno in 2018. The York, PA event had all the ingredients one might want in a conference. A welcoming local community which understood…
WeWork – which seems to be rebranding itself as the ever-so precious “We” – has expanded from its roots as a coworking space provider to an innovative presence in various market sectors, including housing, fitness, early childhood education, and — through its acquisitions of Meetup and Flatiron School — social gatherings and tech training. Now the global company, whose newly framed mission is “to elevate the world’s consciousness,” has launched…
When you think of Fresno, the first word that comes to mind probably isn’t “innovation.” Jake Soberal and Irma Olguin Jr. are part of a wave of Central Valley entrepreneurs hoping to change that. In 2013, they founded Bitwise Industries, and over the next 5 years went on to create a transformational 250,000 sq. ft. space: part school, part incubator, part auditorium, and 100% tech ecosystem. Speaking with Peter Hirshberg…
In the past four years, we’ve been inspired by how localism – the movement in cities and towns to drive civic engagement and inclusive economic development – has ignored the national climate of dysfunction and pessimism, and made real, tangible progress across America. At first, the national discourse in turn ignored localism; it was little more than a glimmer of hope on the horizon, at time when hope was hardly…
At a time of immense economic and technological change, how can a local newspaper do more than report on the region’s future — how can it become a protagonist in shaping that future? It’s a question The Kansas City Star has been asking itself, and in partnership with Maker City, we’re announcing an exciting approach. Together, we’ve just launched a new platform that not only reports on, but also engages…
