Dear Council on Competitiveness Community,
Forty years after our founding, the Council on Competitiveness’ mission has never been more important: advancing innovation-led productivity growth, inclusive prosperity, the success of U.S.-created and U.S.-developed goods and services in global markets, and resilience and security for Americans. Nor has the Council’s National Competitiveness Forum (NCF), where we work to set the national competitiveness agenda, been more consequential.
On December 16, we will gather at the Willard InterContinental in Washington, D.C., for our 40th Anniversary Gala Dinner, followed on December 17 by the 2026 NCF. Mr. David Ricks, Chair and CEO of Eli Lilly and Company and a Council National Commissioner, will deliver the morning keynote at NCF. This month, Forbes ranked Lilly No. 1 on its 2026 list of America’s Most Innovative Large Companies. At a moment of extraordinary technological and economic disruption, Mr. Ricks brings a powerful perspective on the challenges and opportunities facing U.S. competitiveness, and on what it will take to translate innovation into growth, investment, and production here at home.
At NCF, we will launch a series of strategic reports and recommendations, including work building on our proposal for a new approach to place-making innovation in the United States: our Advanced Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Zones concept. Emerging from the Council’s longstanding efforts in defining and measuring regional innovation ecosystems and our recent, successful series of “Competitiveness Conversations Across America,” AIM Zones would concentrate assets needed to move critical sectors from research and development all the way through to production -- connecting talent, technology, innovation, infrastructure, and capital to strengthen U.S. competitiveness in the defining technologies of the next economy.
Space at the NCF is limited, so please make sure to register soon. Council members receive a significant registration discount; please email Chad Evans for your code.
I also ask you to consider sponsoring the 40th Anniversary Gala and 2026 NCF. Sponsorship is critical to the success of NCF and to the work we carry forward throughout the year. As a sponsor, your organization will take its place at the center of the Council’s 40th anniversary celebration and provide greater authority to our national competitiveness agenda. Please review the sponsorship brochure and contact Chad to discuss opportunities. I want to thank those who have already committed their support to the Council this year, including Bank of America, IFF, Procter & Gamble, Resource Resolutions, Ltd., the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Texas at Dallas, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Notre Dame Research, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Triad National Security, the University of California, Davis, the University of Texas at San Antonio, the University of Georgia, and MITRE. I am very grateful for their support, and I hope many more of you will join them.
This fall, the Council will release a new wave of work emerging from our convenings across the country and our national working groups. Together, these efforts are informing the evidence, insights, and recommendations that will help underpin the 2026 Call to Action we will launch at NCF.
- Our work to advance the U.S. bioeconomy is a good example. Following bioeconomy-focused conversations in Indiana and Nebraska, last month we launched a six-session, six-week virtual working series under the auspices of our National Commission on Innovation and Competitiveness Frontiers. The first two sessions brought together Council members and subject matter experts to examine how to accelerate commercialization, build demand, strengthen manufacturing capacity, and compete in global markets. The series continues through October, and you can find session summaries here. If you would like to contribute and participate in future sessions, please reach out to Mike Nelson.
- We are also publishing the latest insights from our “Competitiveness Conversations Across America.” The Nebraska summary, “Leading the New Frontier in the Global Bioeconomy,” is now available here, with reports from Maryland and San Diego to follow in the coming weeks.
- Our Technology Leadership & Strategy Initiative (TLSI) has likewise released its summary report from Dialogue 32, hosted by Lockheed Martin in June at its F-35 Lightning II production facility in Fort Worth. The discussion focused on advanced technologies, national security, scaling innovation, and the Council’s emerging AIM Zone recommendation. TLSI will reconvene for Dialogue 33 on November 18 in Washington, D.C.
And on October 1, the Council team will open the doors to our new headquarters at 801 18th Street NW, just steps from the White House. We look forward to welcoming you to our new home.
I look forward to joining you at the Willard in December to mark this milestone together, celebrate four decades of the Council’s work, and set the course for the decades ahead. Thank you, as always, for your partnership and your commitment to advancing U.S. competitiveness.
Sincerely,
Deborah L. Wince-Smith
President & CEO
Council on Competitiveness
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Read the full edition of the September 2026 Compete Connect newsletter, including much more about the Council's upcoming engagement opportunities and initiatives led by Council Members, below:
