Well said, Mr. Becker!

-B

Change will need to occur with entrepreneurs walking this talk of “we” and influencing the business leadership institutions of our region.

I think at a policy level it is easy to say: “Let’s attract big tech companies”, the harder think is to define HOW we will nurture this CSR business climate for mutual benefit and regional branding.

It can be done, but defining the how I think is the next step.

You are absolutely correct in stating that the region has to build on its unique strengths. Your GoogleAvl example points to some of the great strengths of the region- and some of our most underutilized assets- Asheville’s people, their ideas and their community commitment. I was blown away by the quantity and quality of ideas at the Town Hall Meeting. We can’t argue for our limitations- our deficits- and we can’t ignore them. But we can focus on weaving the networks of our fragmented regional innovation system. We can address the gaps in our entrepreneurial pipeline. How about beginning to focus on entrepreneur development instead of industrial recruitment? How can we bring this discussion to a broader civic dialogue, because this is crucial.

Thank you for this post. Thought-provoking and so necessary.