Developing the Pillars of the Mountain West’s Innovation Ecosystem

Overview

Kicking off the Mountain West Competitiveness Conversation, leaders in local business and government explored the key pillars of innovation as articulated in the Council’s “National Commission on Innovation & Competitiveness Frontiers”—highlighting both key challenges and opportunities for Idaho, particularly how to meet the demands of a rapidly growing innovation economy. Leaders also discussed how to create the physical and the human infrastructure required for the next stage of the region’s economic expansion.

Key Session Insights

Idaho is amid a period of economic growth unprecedented in the state’s history, driven by innovative industries like semiconductors, advanced nuclear, and cybersecurity. Several pillars have allowed this economic renaissance to come to fruition; Ms. Bobbi-Jo Meuleman,President & CEO of the Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce, highlighted the presence of economic “anchor tenants,” such as Micron, Idaho National Laboratory, and the universities in the area as major drivers of the expansion of research-based economic activity. Combined with a robust power system and an expanding workforce, these partners have helped to create systems of collaboration and engagement that have significantly increased the state’s innovation capacity.

The first ingredient of a prosperous and innovative economy is a skilled and engaged workforce, and that begins with education. As Ms. Wendi Secrist, Executive Director of the State of Idaho Workforce Development Council, put it: “education is a pathway; the outcome is a career.” Education in Idaho must remain focused on producing workers with the skills needed to enter the innovation economy. By closely collaborating with employers, educators can create curricula that will lead to good jobs and stable careers for graduates. Institutions with this mission in mind are already in place and working towards this goal, the Workforce Development Council is designed to act as a “translator” between employers and educators, allowing them to better understand each other’s needs and capabilities. Further, to support an innovation economy, workforce training in all sectors needs to be enhanced; industries like hospitality or forest products, while not traditionally thought of as key innovators, are necessary to support an innovation ecosystem.

Idaho State Senator Dave Lent built on the idea of education as the first component of an innovation economy, describing a visit he made to Finland and Estonia to study their educational systems. There, a focus on flexibility and allowing students to transition between vocational and professional pathways prepared students to enter the workforce. A funding model with a far more localized focus and deemphasis on standardized testing also allowed communities to tailor their systems to match local economic opportunities and employer needs. Lent suggested that our system needs to be structured to create innovators for tomorrow’s economy, and that the change needs to be immediate and disruptive, rather than gradual.

In the shorter term, there is much that can be done to assist in workforce education after students have left school. Secrist highlighted the example of the Idaho Launch program, designed to provide financial assistance to high schoolers pursuing any postsecondary education, be it college or vocational training. By making workforce training of all types accessible, more students will be able to fill critical roles beyond what requires a college degree; for example, the Launch program will pay for a Commercial Driver’s License, helping steer more students into a critical and lucrative career.

Innovation does not happen in a vacuum; it requires the combined efforts of many, if not the efforts of an entire community. That’s why Ball Ventures Ahlquist CEO Dr. Tommy Ahlquist believes that Idaho is poised for success. According to him, the state’s heritage of working together, born from its past as isolated settler communities, is going to pay dividends going forward. There is a history of major employers in the state working with the government to manage expansion and ensure communities can handle economic growth, but Ahlquist asked how government and private industry may be able to more closely cooperate and assist each other with problems neither can solve on their own. By getting away from long-standing silos, rivalries, and separations, the capabilities of the region’s key players can be massively enhanced, to the benefit of all.

This sentiment around cooperation was echoed by Autovol CEO and Co-Founder Rick Murdock, who explained how, at the company he runs, a collaborative approach to work has generated impressive results. His company instituted a hiring process that looks for a collaborative mindset in new hires, and has a structure where “bosses” are replaced by “mentors.” As a result, Autovol has become a leader in modular construction, a major disrupter in the industry of homebuilding. By facilitating a cooperative atmosphere and infusing it with advanced technology, Autovol is revolutionizing how homes are built and creating a more productive and innovative future.

A renewed focus on infrastructure – of every kind – will be needed to cope with the region’s growth. As Idaho and the broader Mountain West grows in population and economic stature, greater strain is being placed on existing infrastructure, which will limit growth without investment. Murdock voiced his concerns about affordability in the region, especially in housing, as construction has not kept up with the influx of demand. This problem is only exacerbated by the aging workforce in the construction industry. A combination of making construction a more attractive job and increasing the productivity of construction workers, like with modular manufacturing, is necessary for keeping up with demand.

The panel went on to discuss other high-level pillars of innovation for the region:

Idaho’s power infrastructure has been a historic strength for the region. Having heavily invested in hydroelectric power, the state has long boasted one of the lowest costs of electricity in the nation. However, as demand grows for electricity and hydropower becomes less reliable due to droughts, more attention has been given to the potential of nuclear, especially given the state’s long history of nuclear power research. Lent noted the incredible potential of nuclear power in Idaho and the United States but reiterated that unfounded public perceptions of hazards surrounding nuclear power need to be combatted to make that potential a reality. Education could help break down that barrier, but that needs to happen soon; China is rapidly expanding its own nuclear power capabilities, threatening to eclipse the United States if we do not begin our own comparable nuclear buildout.

For new infrastructure to be created, it first needs to be funded. Ahlquist raised noted that Idaho has a far more limited toolkit for funding infrastructure than most other states, something that could weaken efforts to expand to meet growing needs. Identifying what needs to be built is only half the battle; figuring out where funding would come from is crucial.

Infrastructure can stretch beyond just construction. Secrist raised the idea that other services, such as childcare, should be considered infrastructure, just as much as houses, roads, or power plants. Without a robust childcare system, parents will be just as unable to work as if there was no road from home to their job. By neglecting childcare, and other social services, large portions of the potential workforce would be excluded, making these services a critical priority if the goal is to bring as many people into the innovation workforce as possible.

The panel concluded on an upbeat — that despite challenges, the Mountain West is in a very strong position for economic growth. They expressed optimism for the future of the region, believing that, if any state has the capability and the will to solve the challenges facing it, it’s Idaho. This optimism allows them to encourage some risk-taking and the belief that given the strengths of the region and its residents, these risks are manageable and ought to be taken. Finally, the collaborative spirit that has carried the state forward should be reinvested in; while silos have continued to come down, more work is still needed to make full, unhampered collaboration possible.

While the national laboratory has incredible capabilities independently, by working with innovation allies in the region, research in the area can be supercharged.