Meet Us in the Middle

Join us for this week's episode as Blake Woolsey has a conversation with Dave Shideler, Chief Research Officer at Heartland Forward, and Justin Burch, National Director of Workforce Development at Rural LISC about the the latest report from Heartland Forward, Most Dynamic Micropolitans.

Join us for this weeks episode as Blake Woolsey, Chief Communications and Development Officer for Heartland Forward, has a conversation with Wendy Guerrero, President of the Bentonville Film Festival.

Join us on this week's episode as we have a conversation with Phil Graves, CEO of Wild Idea Buffalo, about the vision of regenerating the prairie grasslands, while improving our home planet and our food supply, by bringing back the bison.

On this week's episode join for a conversation with Julie Trivitt, Senior Economist at Heartland Forward.

Who met in the middle for this episode? Maryann Feldman, Ross DeVol and Daniel Goetzel share the stage in this podcast talking about a report Heartland Forward released at the 2022 Heartland Summit called Research to Renewal as well as discussing the National Science Foundation's announcement of a new program called Regional Innovation Engines. Maryann Feldman is at the School of Public Affairs as the Watts Endowed Professor of Public Affairs at Arizona State University and is also a senior fellow with Heartland Forward. She was the lead author of the report. Daniel Goetzel was recently announced as the entrepreneurial lead in newly-created Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships Directorate at National Science Foundation. Ross DeVol is the President and CEO of Heartland Forward. Situational Awareness: Creating new knowledge to infuse into private industry to yield an economic return on an investment is important to regions and our nation overall. Facing global competition for talent and leadership, the U.S. must expand its innovation capacity by leveraging resources, creativity and ingenuity that exists across all geographic regions of the country. What's the connection? The Research to Renewal report and the announcement of the bold, new U.S. NSF initiative both acknowledge that robust partnerships rooted in scientific and technological innovation to positively impact the economy within a geographic region are critical, especially to address societal challenges and keep us competitive nationally. Drilling down to top performers: If you are curious and want to see an index of the top performing universities at tech transfer and commercialization by research expenditure, region, private v. public institution and medical school presence, a map can be found here.

What a great conversation between Ross DeVol and Richard Florida about Richard's latest report on heartland talent. Specifically, they discuss how heartland metropolitans are changing the map of talent in the U.S. When you listen, you'll hear the friendship and respect between these two gentlemen that spans decades. Enjoy! About Richard Florida, Senior Fellow, Heartland Forward, and University Professor, University of Toronto Richard Florida is one of the world's leading urbanists. He is a researcher and professor, serving as University Professor at University of Toronto's School of Cities and Rotman School of Management and a Distinguished Fellow at NYU and Florida International University. He is a writer and journalist, having penned several global bestsellers, including the award-winning The Rise of the Creative Class and his most recent book, The New Urban Crisis published in April 2017. He serves as senior editor for The Atlantic, where he co-founded and serves as Editor-at-Large for CityLab. He is an entrepreneur, as founder of the Creative Class Group which works closely with companies and governments worldwide. www.creativeclass.com Publications: The New Urban Crisis: How Our Cities are Increasing Inequality, Deepening Segregation and Failing the Middle Class - and What We Can Do About It. (2017) The Great Reset: How New Ways of Living and Working Drive Post-Crash Prosperity, (2010) Who's Your City? (2008) The Fight of the Creative Class. The New Global Competition for Talent (2005) Cities and the Creative Class (2005) The Rise of the Creative Class. And How It's Transforming Work, Leisure and Everyday Life (2002) About the Ross DeVol, President and CEO of Heartland Forward Since joining Heartland Forward in 2019, DeVol has raised the profile of Heartland Forward through media engagement with quotes in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, the Economist and Axios and op-eds in the Dallas Morning News, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Chicago Tribune and Des Moines Register as well as TV appearances throughout the heartland. DeVol is a former chief research officer for the Milken Institute where he spent nearly 20 years, an economic think tank headquartered in California. He oversaw research on international, national and comparative regional growth performance, access to capital and its role in economic growth and job creation and health-related topics. He has been ranked among the “Superstars of Think Tank Scholars” by International Economy magazine. www.heartlandfoward.org

Join us for today's episode on innovation and entrepreneurship and why it is a key pillar for Heartland Forward.

In this episode of Meet Us in the Middle, Blake Woolsey speaks with Matt Wodiak, Founder and CEO of Cooks Venture.

In this episode of Meet Us in the Middle, Angie Cooper speaks with Heartland entrepreneurs Margaret Boyce and Jamey Gresham, co-founders of Southern-based handbag brand J. Lowery.

In this episode of Meet Us in the Middle, Angie Cooper sits down with Andre Fowlkes, President of Memphis-based venture architect firm Start Co.

On this episode of Meet Us in the Middle Angie Cooper sits down for an engaging conversation with Founder of Stitchcrew and Vest, Erika Lucas.

On this episode of Meet Us In the Middle Angie Cooper sits down for a conversation with John Palfrey, President of the MacArthur Foundation in Chicago.

In this episode of "Meet Us in the Middle" Angie Cooper sits down with Regina Campbell, President and CEO of Build Institute.

In this episode of Meet us in the Middle, Angie Cooper sits down for a conversation with Gayatri Agnew, Senior Director and Head of Accessibility Center of Excellence at Walmart.