Improving Economic Performance in the Heartland with Ross DeVol and Blake Woolsey
This week on the podcast, Matt sits down with Heartland Forward’s President and CEO Ross DeVol and Chief Communications and Development Officer Blake Woolsey. They begin with Ross explaining what Heartland Forward does and their goal of focusing on improving economic performance in the American Heartland. They then dive into how Ross and Blake became involved in Heartland Forward and where their passions for economic development in the Heartland comes from. They close out by discussing how Heartland Forward supports and encourages entrepreneurs to experiment and grow their ideas through their Community Growth Program.
Transcript
Having had the family as a first mover in
Blake Woolsey:investing and as at the same time, we are looking for those
Blake Woolsey:other investors because it's only going to allow us to
Blake Woolsey:continue the momentum that we have today.
Matt Waller:Excellence, professionalism, innovation and
Matt Waller:collegiality. These are the values the Sam M. Walton College
Matt Waller:of Business explores the education, business, and the
Matt Waller:lives of people we meet every day. I'm Matt Waller, Dean of
Matt Waller:the Walton College and welcome to the be epic podcast. I have
Matt Waller:with me today, Ross Devol who's president and CEO of Heartland
Matt Waller:Forward. He has been a Walton Fellow with the Walton Family
Matt Waller:Foundation. For almost 20 years he was with the Milken
Matt Waller:Institute, and served as Chief Research Officer. And he has
Matt Waller:other amazing experiences. So glad to have you here. Ross,
Matt Waller:thank you for joining us.
Ross DeVol:I'm glad to be here Matt, it's a great opportunity
Ross DeVol:to be part of your podcast.
Matt Waller:And I also have with me today, Blake Woolsey,
Matt Waller:who is Chief Communications and Development Officer for
Matt Waller:Heartland Forward. And she has extensive experience in
Matt Waller:communications. She formerly was Executive Vice President of
Matt Waller:Mitchell communications for almost 10 years. But I got to
Matt Waller:know Blake a long time ago back in the 90s, when she was
Matt Waller:director of development for the Walton College.
Blake Woolsey:Yes.
Blake Woolsey:She was arguably the most successful director of
Blake Woolsey:development we've ever had.
Blake Woolsey:Well I loved my job so and it was right time, right place for
Blake Woolsey:sure.
Matt Waller:Well, it is such a thrill to have you both here.
Matt Waller:And Ross, of course, I started following your publications,
Matt Waller:when you were at the Milken Institute, because they were so
Matt Waller:relevant to things I was interested in, like
Matt Waller:entrepreneurship and higher education and technology
Matt Waller:commercialization. So you have a long history in looking at these
Matt Waller:kinds of variables. And now that you've been with Heartland
Matt Waller:Forward, would you mind just providing a brief overview of
Matt Waller:what Heartland Forward is, and its mission?
Ross DeVol:Glad to do so, Matt. This was a remarkable
Ross DeVol:opportunity for me personally, as you know, I'm from an of the
Ross DeVol:heartland and the ability to focus my research areas in
Ross DeVol:programmatic impact areas in entrepreneurship, innovation,
Ross DeVol:University Technology Transfer, the role of industrial r&d,
Ross DeVol:building human capital, stem, on the center of the country, with
Ross DeVol:the idea, what we refer to as the Heartland, it's 20 states as
Ross DeVol:we define it, it's a large Heartland from Michigan in the
Ross DeVol:northeast, South to Alabama, west to Texas and north to North
Ross DeVol:Dakota and everything in between. So it's those 20 states
Ross DeVol:there. But to really focus on how can we improve economic
Ross DeVol:performance in those 20 states, we're based here in Northwest
Ross DeVol:Arkansas. But our footprint is across the American Heartland.
Ross DeVol:And I was approached by family members, Walton family members,
Ross DeVol:back in early 2017. And by the Summer of 2017, we'd made an
Ross DeVol:agreement that this there was a pathway forward, there was a
Ross DeVol:need for this, because there was a divergence in economic growth
Ross DeVol:between the coasts and kind of its knowledge intensity, its
Ross DeVol:technology, focus. And per capita incomes were not keeping
Ross DeVol:up in the center of the country, with what was happening on the
Ross DeVol:coasts. And so that's where this idea came from, was to try and
Ross DeVol:improve job creation in the Heartland, the quality of those
Ross DeVol:jobs that are created, and all the attributes from human
Ross DeVol:capital, innovation, entrepreneurship, health, well
Ross DeVol:being to boost things here.
Matt Waller:Well you know, one thing I've always liked about
Matt Waller:your research is, you write it in a way that is very
Matt Waller:accessible, even though you're using lots of sophisticated
Matt Waller:statistics. But it's also actionable because you your
Matt Waller:research uncovers which variables are making a big
Matt Waller:difference. And so I know that it's interesting, because I
Matt Waller:remember the first report I read of yours I can't when it was but
Matt Waller:I thought, Well, with this being known I'm surprised all regions
Matt Waller:aren't implementing these kinds of things. But
Ross DeVol:It's interesting point you make. I sometimes feel
Ross DeVol:the same way sometimes. Some of my research staff gets upset
Ross DeVol:with me because I say no, you've written that for an academic
Ross DeVol:journal. And there's a place for that, but that's not the
Ross DeVol:audience we're trying to address here. But here's an example. The
Ross DeVol:greatest kind of confidence boost and positive statement
Ross DeVol:that one can make about your work was what I experienced at
Ross DeVol:the Milken Institute global conference just a couple of
Ross DeVol:weeks ago, I was in a meeting with Lowell Milken, who is Mike
Ross DeVol:Milkin's brother, and, you know, has worked with the Milken
Ross DeVol:Family Foundation, since he was in his early 30s. And he had
Ross DeVol:been having private meetings with governors across the
Ross DeVol:country, governor of Hawaii, governor of Virginia, governor
Ross DeVol:of Arkansas was there as well, governor of Kentucky. And he had
Ross DeVol:one of our reports out on entrepreneurship he had the
Ross DeVol:pages flipped and it showed it was a chart, I'm going to try
Ross DeVol:and explain it in x and y axis, the Y axis being knowledge
Ross DeVol:intensity of young firms, firms from five years of age or less,
Ross DeVol:what percent of employees had at least a bachelor's degree or
Ross DeVol:above. And then on the on the y axis, it had the percent of
Ross DeVol:employment at private firms, the five years of age or less of
Ross DeVol:total employment. So what that share was, so it kind of gives
Ross DeVol:you a sense of the knowledge intensity as well as the overall
Ross DeVol:kind of mainstreet entrepreneurship. And Lowell was
Ross DeVol:telling each of these governors who subsequently informed me, he
Ross DeVol:told them, this is the most important thing you should be
Ross DeVol:looking at. If I were, you know, valuating, your performance,
Ross DeVol:this is what I would look to. So that's what you're trying to do
Ross DeVol:when you're conducting the research. You can't a priori
Ross DeVol:know where it's going to end up, you have a hypothesis, you have
Ross DeVol:to test it. But not everyone wants to see your statistical
Ross DeVol:bells and whistles and you put them in the appendix. Now that
Ross DeVol:drives some of my staff crazy, but that's okay.
Blake Woolsey:Yeah. But I think as from a comms perspective,
Blake Woolsey:since communications is really where my focus is, and we think
Blake Woolsey:ourselves as a think and do tank. And really, for us, that's
Blake Woolsey:a differentiator, because a lot of people are think tanks. But
Blake Woolsey:really, we're looking at the think, as applied research, to
Blake Woolsey:then be able to then inform the programmatic, the do work of
Blake Woolsey:ours. And when I'm from a communications perspective, you
Blake Woolsey:Well you know Blake, you also have a lot of experience in this
Blake Woolsey:know, for anybody who's done communications, the very first
Blake Woolsey:thing you think about is who are who's our audience and who are
Blake Woolsey:we communicating to? And the reality is, we can't make it so
Blake Woolsey:complicated, Matt, that people who are say, say, I'm a checker
Blake Woolsey:at a grocery store, but I serve on my city council in my local
Blake Woolsey:community, that I don't understand what Heartland
Blake Woolsey:Forward is sharing with me to where I actually could
Blake Woolsey:understand it, and help drive a policy decision sitting from the
Blake Woolsey:city council, you know, from that seat that I'm sitting in.
Blake Woolsey:So we have to make it to where everybody can understand it, not
Blake Woolsey:just some people understand it, because we're trying to educate
Blake Woolsey:people in the process as to what can make their economy
Blake Woolsey:successful. So that's a lot of different eyes and ears that we
Blake Woolsey:need to be communicating to.
Blake Woolsey:region. And in the heartland, what made you interested in
Blake Woolsey:joining heartland?
Blake Woolsey:I guess one, because I've always considered myself a builder. I
Blake Woolsey:love drafting behind great leaders. You know that because
Blake Woolsey:we both worked for Doyle Williams, he was here as the
Blake Woolsey:dean. And that was why that time here was so incredible, because
Blake Woolsey:it was such a building moment. And when Ross and then also
Blake Woolsey:Buddy Philpot of the Walton family, he had been the
Blake Woolsey:executive director for some time there approached me about this,
Blake Woolsey:it was the idea of starting something that really could have
Blake Woolsey:an impact. And every time I wake up in the morning and think
Blake Woolsey:about putting my feet on the side of the bed to do something
Blake Woolsey:in life, I really want to know that it has a deep purpose. Is
Blake Woolsey:it serving other people? So how could somebody not be passionate
Blake Woolsey:about such a mission? I've always been in the heartland, I
Blake Woolsey:grew up in Texas. I've spent more time here in the state of
Blake Woolsey:Arkansas, and I see the need, I see the need. So how can I help
Blake Woolsey:contribute to that? Probably the primary reason, of course.
Matt Waller:You know, Ross, one thing that's really neat about
Matt Waller:you is you're a strong researcher, you've spent a lot
Matt Waller:of your career doing research. But you're also a leader, you're
Matt Waller:leading Heartland Forward now as CEO. And I know when you were at
Matt Waller:the Milken Institute, you were head of research. So you were
Matt Waller:you had your hands in many different pots. And I remember
Matt Waller:the first time before you were with Heartland Forward, but when
Matt Waller:I spent some time with you, when you were with the Milken
Matt Waller:Institute, I could tell after a day or two that you had a
Matt Waller:million different projects going on. I I don't know how you kept
Matt Waller:it straight. What made you excited about coming and
Matt Waller:starting this initiative here?
Ross DeVol:Well, it's a great question, Matt. You know, I was
Ross DeVol:born and raised outside of Columbus, Ohio, in a small town
Ross DeVol:called Lancaster, Ohio. And I'd spent most spent my entire adult
Ross DeVol:career other than one stint in Omaha, Nebraska and my first job
Ross DeVol:out of graduate school with Union Pacific Railroad as an
Ross DeVol:economic forecaster there, but on the East Coast, principally
Ross DeVol:Philadelphia, where I worked at Wharton Econometrics and Chase
Ross DeVol:Manhattan Bank. And I'd worked for CSX, both in Baltimore and
Ross DeVol:Jacksonville, Florida. But then I'd spent, you know, 20 years at
Ross DeVol:the Milken Institute in LA, you know, embedded in in the West
Ross DeVol:Coast entrepreneurial ecosystem, Silicon Valley, and all that I'd
Ross DeVol:been studying this. And I'd always, in the studies I had
Ross DeVol:done over the years, one was in Arkansas back in the early
Ross DeVol:2000s. We've done work in Nebraska, Minnesota,
Ross DeVol:Minneapolis, in particular. And I always wanted to see what
Ross DeVol:could happen if we applied some of the principles that we've
Ross DeVol:learned from what was happening on the coast, to convince
Ross DeVol:political leaders, business leaders, and other key
Ross DeVol:stakeholders, the changes they needed to make, to be able to
Ross DeVol:grow per capita incomes, create high quality jobs. And you can
Ross DeVol:just see the disjointedness, of course, there were external
Ross DeVol:factors at play. When China entered the World Trade
Ross DeVol:Organization, you saw the import penetration in communities
Ross DeVol:across the country, coming from China, in a direct association
Ross DeVol:with what that share was in the imports. And so there had been a
Ross DeVol:great deal of dislocation in the heartland. And I just thought it
Ross DeVol:was such a great opportunity that members of the Walton
Ross DeVol:family were so passionate and dedicated to it that they were
Ross DeVol:willing to provide us with the seed capital to form Heartland
Ross DeVol:Forward.
Matt Waller:Blake, of course, you've been engaged in
Matt Waller:development work, you've been engaged in working for a
Matt Waller:marketing firm, Mitchell.
Blake Woolsey:Yes. Yes.
Matt Waller:I would think those are complementary.
Blake Woolsey:I would hope so, it's been my career, Matt. I've
Blake Woolsey:liked it.
Matt Waller:How are you bringing those experiences to
Matt Waller:Heartland Forward?
Blake Woolsey:Again, starting and building, it's been great to
Blake Woolsey:be able to have such a runway, and to be able to think that
Blake Woolsey:every single time we come in contact with somebody they need
Blake Woolsey:to know about us. And so, first and foremost, it's about
Blake Woolsey:amplifying our brand. And so that's so important, but at the
Blake Woolsey:same time, it's telling the story that we are a public
Blake Woolsey:charity, we are a 501c3, and explaining that even though the
Blake Woolsey:Walton family as we know them are first mover's, we know how
Blake Woolsey:generous they are. And they will see that there is a need, and
Blake Woolsey:they will move to help figure out what's the solution for
Blake Woolsey:that. But at the same time, they know for our credibility, which
Blake Woolsey:is part of the story, right, which is, that's when you begin
Blake Woolsey:to intersect that calm side of yes, but it cannot just be us
Blake Woolsey:alone for the credibility of the work of trying to help
Blake Woolsey:accelerate the economic performance in the middle of a
Blake Woolsey:country. That is all that's going to be requiring everybody
Blake Woolsey:to put their hand in and say, This is how I can help. And this
Blake Woolsey:is how we'd like to partner. So I'm hoping that my experience is
Blake Woolsey:helping amplify, educate, inform, so that people do
Blake Woolsey:understand what the need is, and how we truly are in just the
Blake Woolsey:three years that we have been in existence, that we are have so
Blake Woolsey:much momentum and making such inroads that we're a good bet to
Blake Woolsey:invest in, because we are seeing already some of our metrics
Blake Woolsey:being achieved, which is exciting, which was really
Blake Woolsey:exciting.
Matt Waller:Ross, in your research and initiatives, what
Matt Waller:have you identified as the key strengths and opportunities for
Matt Waller:growth within the heartland region?
Ross DeVol:and some private ones as well. And on the East
Ross DeVol:and West Coast, those universities we think about MIT,
Ross DeVol:you think about Stanford on the West Coast, they've been heavily
Ross DeVol:involved in building their entrepreneurial ecosystems
Ross DeVol:through commercialization of research, technology transfer,
Ross DeVol:having new firms started based on intellectual property that
Ross DeVol:was created at those institutions. And I just think
Ross DeVol:there's so many more opportunities to engage in those
Ross DeVol:activities in the Heartland. And it's partly because some
Ross DeVol:governors over the years have not been as involved in
Ross DeVol:understanding the importance of it. leadership amongst
Ross DeVol:universities, in many areas of the Heartland, I don't think
Ross DeVol:have been attuned to how important their role is in the
Ross DeVol:modern knowledge based economy. And so partly, it's about
Ross DeVol:explaining these facts to leaders at the university level,
Ross DeVol:at the business level, and at the policy leader level at the
Ross DeVol:government's level. So that's, that's a major area, I think,
Ross DeVol:also is reforming, adjusting the curriculums that are offered in
Ross DeVol:many programs. So in many cases, businesses speak a different
Ross DeVol:language than the Academy does and they don't know how to
Ross DeVol:interact. I think also another area is career technical
Ross DeVol:education, which we my dad was involved in vocational education
Ross DeVol:in the state of Ohio for many years. And I remember him
Ross DeVol:telling me when I was in undergraduate school, son, we
Ross DeVol:made vocational education a dirty word, and I pointed out
Ross DeVol:dad, that's two words. But I didn't, you had to know my dad.
Ross DeVol:But anyhow, his point was well taken. And what he meant is we
Ross DeVol:told people, if your kids do not go into a college ready program,
Ross DeVol:to go to a four year degree, there's no future for them,
Ross DeVol:basically. And so we told them, you're kind of lost. Well, we
Ross DeVol:have seen today that you can actually achieve a middle class
Ross DeVol:income, through career technical education, whether it's a two
Ross DeVol:year associate degree, whether that's certifications, but the
Ross DeVol:curriculum seemed to be adjusted on a regular basis to fit the
Ross DeVol:needs of employers. And so there's been this large
Ross DeVol:disconnect. I would say those are some of the the major areas,
Ross DeVol:both building human capital, the involvement of universities, and
Ross DeVol:overall, just engagement in entrepreneurship. A lot of my
Ross DeVol:studies have shown that and others have as well.
Matt Waller:And remember, one of your studies really showed
Matt Waller:the importance of new business starts. I can't remember what
Matt Waller:you titled
Ross DeVol:Young Firms.
Matt Waller:Yeah, young firms, it was a key driver in some of
Matt Waller:those studies.
Ross DeVol:Yes, so we've done a lot of this gets a little bit to
Ross DeVol:the more academic side. But the federal government has a number
Ross DeVol:of databases that are never linked together. And so there
Ross DeVol:hasn't been much research done on kind of business dynamics,
Ross DeVol:looking at the age of firms, their employment levels, and
Ross DeVol:some characteristics of them. And so I've long argued, in
Ross DeVol:analyzing the data, yes, startups are great. But it's
Ross DeVol:what you do with a startups that really matter. So you need to be
Ross DeVol:able to start new companies, but also be able to scale them up.
Ross DeVol:And that gets into access early stage risk capital, which is
Ross DeVol:another issue for the Heartland states compared to the coasts.
Ross DeVol:And when you're creating companies that create jobs,
Ross DeVol:you're going to have more firms that achieve kind of middle
Ross DeVol:market status, where they scale up rapidly and go from employing
Ross DeVol:250 people to 2,500 people. And it's those communities that have
Ross DeVol:the highest proportion of those companies that are scaling up
Ross DeVol:that are ones that are creating those high quality jobs and
Ross DeVol:opportunities for people. And so that is so essential that it
Ross DeVol:happens in the Heartland, but it's just not as frequent of
Ross DeVol:occurrence here. And so a lot of our efforts are geared towards
Ross DeVol:building entrepreneurship at the earliest stages.
Matt Waller:You know, Blake, there's all kinds of great
Matt Waller:research that comes out of Heartland Forward, like what
Matt Waller:what Ross was talking about. Who is your target market for those,
Matt Waller:those research reports? And how do you market it?
Blake Woolsey:Right. Well, so as you can imagine, I am always
Blake Woolsey:trying to cultivate relationships with our national
Blake Woolsey:business, economic, you know, those folks that have that beat.
Blake Woolsey:And so oftentimes, we're not looking for them necessarily to
Blake Woolsey:say, oh, they just released this report and this is what it says,
Blake Woolsey:it's really talking and knowing what they're writing about, and
Blake Woolsey:how can the reports that we're producing inform their story so
Blake Woolsey:that we are a resource for them. And they can say and Heartland
Blake Woolsey:Forward, says X, Y, and Z when it comes to this point that
Blake Woolsey:they're trying to make in their story. So that's been one huge
Blake Woolsey:lift for me, is to make sure we have really strong
Blake Woolsey:relationships. And you know, how small newsrooms are right now.
Blake Woolsey:And it's hard sometimes to get their attention. But I always
Blake Woolsey:say we want to be your Heartland economic resource, we want you
Blake Woolsey:to be thinking about us whenever you have a question whether we
Blake Woolsey:can answer it or not. Because if we can't answer it, we will
Blake Woolsey:refer you to another think tank who's got that area of focus.
Blake Woolsey:But for the for the most part, that's where we begin. But then
Blake Woolsey:we start even moving further down into who are the
Blake Woolsey:policymakers that need to be aware of this, whether I'm
Blake Woolsey:reaching out to a chief of staff or a comms director to a
Blake Woolsey:governor, or we're moving into even a layer of counties or
Blake Woolsey:cities, to where everybody is, in chambers being aware, because
Blake Woolsey:we're trying to the point about entrepreneurship is for people
Blake Woolsey:to understand that they don't need to just be chasing
Blake Woolsey:smokestacks, because that is a 1 in a million shot like an Elon
Blake Woolsey:Musk going to the Austin Pflugerville area. What you
Blake Woolsey:could be doing is really supporting your startups in a
Blake Woolsey:way and those existing businesses to keep driving them
Blake Woolsey:forward to get access to the capital that they need and the
Blake Woolsey:support that they need to really help your economy and so we
Blake Woolsey:really do look at it as a myriad of stakeholders, which requires
Blake Woolsey:all different people making phone calls and emails. I mean,
Blake Woolsey:we've got two interns who are helping us even in reaching out
Blake Woolsey:just so that it gets the traction, some of these reports
Blake Woolsey:get the traction that they need.
Ross DeVol:And so if Blake or a communications director does
Ross DeVol:their job, you know, Blake just attended the Milken Institute
Ross DeVol:Global Conference with me and met Skip Reimer the former head
Ross DeVol:of communications there. And she learned that it's true that I
Ross DeVol:used to evaluate our
Blake Woolsey:Oh, yeah, oh I know what he's gonna say.
Ross DeVol:So one of the things I used to do was when we
Ross DeVol:released the report that morning, if the website went
Ross DeVol:down, it was a success.
Blake Woolsey:He wants the website to crash, so that's my
Blake Woolsey:aspirational goal is like, we're gonna have our website crashed.
Ross DeVol:Because there's so many people accessing it.
Matt Waller:Well using some of the new AI tools, we could
Matt Waller:probably be able to do that.
Blake Woolsey:We might be able to do that. Matt, you need to
Blake Woolsey:help me. Let's figure that out.
Ross DeVol:Then she'll put it in her objectives and I'll have
Ross DeVol:to pay her for it.
Matt Waller:So you were talking about the opportunities. One
Matt Waller:thing I thought of too, is small businesses, we've had a number.
Matt Waller:I mean, I've been a professor here for 29 years. And I've seen
Matt Waller:a lot of our alumni start their own businesses, everything from,
Matt Waller:you know, restaurants to technology companies that are
Matt Waller:not scalable, but they're small businesses, and many, many other
Matt Waller:kinds of small businesses, construction, and I've seen some
Matt Waller:of them do quite well. I mean, way more successful than I would
Matt Waller:have ever imagined 30 years ago when I was first meeting some of
Matt Waller:these people. I it seems like that's also an important
Matt Waller:variable in this, is that right?
Ross DeVol:Oh, no, it, it clearly is. So in addition to
Ross DeVol:starting software companies, other tech companies, whether
Ross DeVol:it's social media, whatever it might be, the digital economy,
Ross DeVol:there is a main street, as well. So that means it's not
Ross DeVol:necessarily a business that's going to reach kind of middle
Ross DeVol:market status, but could employ you know family members, maybe
Ross DeVol:it employs 50 people. But the more of those you have, there's
Ross DeVol:a high multiplier effect as well across the economy. So you can't
Ross DeVol:just think about technology driven entrepreneurship,
Ross DeVol:although it clearly has about a two to one, relationship,
Ross DeVol:technology entrepreneurship is twice as important as other
Ross DeVol:forms of, of entrepreneurship in terms of their longer term job
Ross DeVol:creation impacts, but they are critical to the diversity.
Ross DeVol:Because if you're left one of the economy with two or three
Ross DeVol:large employers without entrepreneurship occurring,
Ross DeVol:being seated that ecosystem around it, if some negative
Ross DeVol:shock occurs in those industries of those employers, there's
Ross DeVol:large ones, you can take down a whole area, just look to upstate
Ross DeVol:New York, what happened to Kodak.
Matt Waller:Good point,
Ross DeVol:You look around, these were technology leaders in
Ross DeVol:their fields. And, you know, they didn't stay at the leading
Ross DeVol:edge of technology, and somebody else came along and arbitraged
Ross DeVol:them away.
Matt Waller:It's a good point,
Blake Woolsey:I want to share at one of the programs, so we've
Blake Woolsey:talked about applied research and young firms is a report,
Blake Woolsey:which continues to resonate with so many different people. And it
Blake Woolsey:was one of the first one of the one of the first of few reports
Blake Woolsey:that Heartland Forward has done. But on that applied research and
Blake Woolsey:informing our programmatic work, we really look when we are think
Blake Woolsey:and do tank at the bootstraps on the ground. And so we partner
Blake Woolsey:with an organization right now called Builders and Backers, led
Blake Woolsey:by Donna Harris, she was in the Obama administration, she
Blake Woolsey:founded 1776. And she had done a bunch of research to over what I
Blake Woolsey:think she thought was going to be a short period of time, it
Blake Woolsey:ended up being three years of research to say, why do we not
Blake Woolsey:have as many entrepreneurs, what is going on, to learn that it's
Blake Woolsey:everybody's got an idea. But it's getting that idea off the
Blake Woolsey:sidelines because some people aren't banked to be able to go
Blake Woolsey:get a loan. They they don't have family members who can loan them
Blake Woolsey:money. They don't want to quit their job, they may be in
Blake Woolsey:school. And so we have started a program called community growth
Blake Woolsey:program, where we go into communities within the
Blake Woolsey:Heartland, we usually work with cohorts, somewhere between 10
Blake Woolsey:and 20. The community has a vested interest financially as
Blake Woolsey:well as us by providing the expertise and we take 90 days
Blake Woolsey:with the applicants who we have chosen to take their ideas,
Blake Woolsey:teach them how to put those ideas into practice to become a
Blake Woolsey:business. We give them a $5,000 non dilutive grant so there's no
Blake Woolsey:strings attached for them to experiment on that idea to see
Blake Woolsey:if it's going to stick and is this a business that I can
Blake Woolsey:actually take and scale or not.
Matt Waller:So this is a really good this part of the
Matt Waller:conversation really demonstrates the think and do.
Blake Woolsey:Yes,
Matt Waller:Part. And that's that's a really neat innovation.
Matt Waller:Because you're right, so many think tanks, they think, think
Matt Waller:think think. But they don't have any do piece. Here's an example
Matt Waller:of how you're actually doing something with the results of
Matt Waller:the research.
Blake Woolsey:We want the policymakers and other leaders
Blake Woolsey:to be looking at saying what's happening on the ground. I mean,
Blake Woolsey:you get it from this level, but you also get it from this level
Blake Woolsey:for us to be that resource as well. What's happening? What are
Blake Woolsey:you seeing? What are you? What are you hearing right now,
Blake Woolsey:because that's the kind of resource that we see ourselves
Blake Woolsey:as.
Ross DeVol:It's right. And a great example, this was Jim
Ross DeVol:Walton was in Birmingham, Alabama, working on some K
Ross DeVol:through 12 education reforms and meeting with the mayor of
Ross DeVol:Birmingham. And we have a community growth program cohort
Ross DeVol:in Birmingham currently. And so he was there meeting with the
Ross DeVol:mayor. And the mayor was telling him what great things they have
Ross DeVol:achieved through our community growth program, training some of
Ross DeVol:their younger people, and even middle aged individuals, the
Ross DeVol:basics of entrepreneurship, how to think like an entrepreneur,
Ross DeVol:and pointing out that their labor force participation rate
Ross DeVol:of those that did not graduate from high school was so much
Ross DeVol:lower than the rest of the country. And why was that? Well,
Ross DeVol:part of the answer was, levels of entrepreneurship are much
Ross DeVol:lower. They had not been trained to see that as an option for
Ross DeVol:them if they couldn't necessarily find a job or want a
Ross DeVol:job in an area that they were qualified for. And so we've been
Ross DeVol:working with the mayor's office there to help train some of
Ross DeVol:these people to think more entrepreneurially. And how to
Ross DeVol:ideate. And envision is this a scalable idea into a business?
Matt Waller:What great stories, and to think, Heartland Forward
Matt Waller:is so young, and you're already making it.
Ross DeVol:Here's my favorite one, though, Matt. Bear with me
Ross DeVol:for this one. So I for many years prior to COVID, and, you
Matt Waller:Yes.
Matt Waller:know, the whole supply chain interruptions that resulted from
Matt Waller:that was pointed out to people that the advantages of locating
Matt Waller:advanced manufacturing in China were diminishing to the extent
Matt Waller:because of the wage differentials were narrowing.
Matt Waller:And the productivity gaps were still large, productivity in
Matt Waller:America, in most cases, still substantially higher than it is
Matt Waller:in China. And so it didn't make sense to keep putting all these
Matt Waller:semiconductor plants and chip plants and other, you know, high
Matt Waller:end technology manufacturing there. And it took COVID to
Matt Waller:really see that we've become overly reliant on China in our
Matt Waller:supply chain. So Intel was then thinking about, maybe we need to
Matt Waller:diversify our base as well. They'd never located a plant
Matt Waller:east of the Mississippi River in the United States. And we did a
Ross DeVol:And this was one of those cases where because of
Ross DeVol:report on reshoring manufacturing, can the heartland
Ross DeVol:lead the way, that was partially supported by Jobs Ohio, which is
Ross DeVol:their economic development arm. That was utilized to inform
Ross DeVol:Intel's leadership and their CEO Pat Gelsinger that they should
Ross DeVol:be taking a look at the American Heartland. And in fact, when it
Ross DeVol:was announced at the White House, Pat Gelsinger, the CEO of
Ross DeVol:Intel said we put silicon in Silicon Valley and now we're
Ross DeVol:putting silicon in the Heartland. That computer chip
Ross DeVol:plant, two initially, is being located 25, 25 miles north of
Ross DeVol:where I grew up in Lancaster, Ohio. That was the middle of a
Ross DeVol:cornfield. It had a butchering shop out in the front. It's a
Ross DeVol:huge facility going in there. And I had the chance to tour it
Ross DeVol:just as they were breaking ground. So it was a remarkable
Ross DeVol:kind of once in a career opportunity, where many times
Ross DeVol:you feel you've done work to help set the stage for something
Ross DeVol:serendipity things got done quickly and there it was
Ross DeVol:but wasn't there to see it through.
Matt Waller:Wow, that is what a story.
Matt Waller:It happened.
Matt Waller:Well, Ross and Blake, congratulations on the amazing
Matt Waller:success you already have and for the vision going forward. And
Matt Waller:thank you for what you're doing for the heartland.
Ross DeVol:Well, thank you Matt for the opportunity to share the
Ross DeVol:work that the organization is doing.
Blake Woolsey:Yeah. Thank you.
Matt Waller:On behalf of the Sam M. Walton College of
Matt Waller:Business, I want to thank everyone for spending time with
Matt Waller:us for another engaging conversation. You can subscribe
Matt Waller:by going to your favorite podcast service and searching Be
