Kyle Kellams: We’re approaching the end of a calendar year, but Bentonville-based Heartland Forward is more interested in beginnings. This fall, the nonprofit policy institute announced it will launch the Center for Investment Readiness, geared toward micropolitan regions in the middle of the country. Also coming: a Heartland AI Caucus.
Angie Cooper, the president of Heartland Forward, says that caucus will include leaders from six different states — Arkansas, Illinois, Louisiana, Ohio, Oklahoma and Tennessee. She says there will be legislators, policymakers and chief information officers from the state level–
Angie Cooper: Who are focusing on how they implement AI in government and how AI can accelerate economic growth. And then what’s also unique about the AI caucus is we’re including mayors. So at Heartland Forward, we have been doing a listening tour across the heartland, working, talking to a lot of state leaders and local leaders, discussing what are the things that are needed to ensure that the heartland has the opportunity to harness the power of AI to accelerate economic growth. And through the listening tours, the caucus has been born, and we think bringing together state leaders with local leaders will really advance not only AI policy and opportunity, but also the needs for AI education for places like Main Street to help support AI initiatives for small businesses, entrepreneurs and nonprofits.
So we’re excited to have Senator Bart Hester from Arkansas helping to lead the caucus. And we’re still in the recruiting phase as we look to work initially across Arkansas, Illinois, Louisiana, Ohio, Oklahoma and Tennessee.
Kellams: So those six states are part of the AI caucus. There was the Heartland Health Caucus, which I believe had eight states working together. What did they learn from that caucus that can carry over to this one about the collaborative spirit?
Cooper: Yeah. We are definitely building the AI Caucus after healthcare — the health caucus model. And essentially what we’ve learned on health issues is we brought eight states together, and that caucus was really formed out of a piece of research that we did looking at rural health opportunities. And the caucus, on the health side of things, set their agenda, and they decided — a nonpartisan group — to meet monthly and in person twice a year to discuss the key issues that heartland states are facing in healthcare.
And so using that same model, that’s what we hope to execute with the AI caucus. But Heartland Forward is the convener. We, you know, as a mission to accelerate economic growth and be a resource for states and local communities, that’s what we want to accomplish with the AI caucus — how can we convene, how can we provide data and research to ensure that the heartland has the opportunity to lead in AI versus being left behind?
Kellams: Heartland Forward also recently mentioned that there will be the launch of the Center for Investment Readiness, or CIR. This is going to be a hub dedicated to helping micropolitan areas. Before talking more about the CIR, for those who don’t know what a micropolitan area is, how would Cooper define it?
Cooper: A micropolitan is a community 50,000 in population and below.
Kellams: Ok. So what is the goal with the CIR to help these smaller areas that are 50,000 people and below?
Cooper: Yeah. We’re thrilled to be launching the Center for Investment Readiness. The center is being created based upon research that Heartland Forward has done to date and work that we’ve done directly in communities. We have released over the past few years what we call a micropolitan report. And as we said earlier, that’s communities with 50,000 population and below. And we looked at those micropolitan in the heartland specifically — how are they gaining strength, what are the levers they are pulling to really accelerate economic growth.
We also have what we call secret sauce communities. So those are micropolitan and larger communities that have figured out the ingredients to success and what has made them accelerate economic growth. So we’re combining some of those tools and resources that we have already established at Heartland Forward and creating this Center for Investment Readiness.
And what’s exciting when we talk about the communities and what the center will actually do — it is in the name. We’re going to help communities become investment ready. We’re going to focus on optimizing local development and strategies. We’re going to help them support new and existing businesses that maybe they’ve been trying to attract in the past or there are new opportunities for new attraction. But it’s also a hub for research and strategic program development to enhance investor confidence. So when investors are looking at the heartland and want to invest, they know that these Center for Investment Readiness communities in the heartland are ready. They have done all of the right things.
And when we talk about investments, it can be anything. It can be philanthropic, it can be venture capital, it can be investment to grow education or workforce. And so we’re really excited, we announced our first three communities that we will be working directly with — that is Enid, Oklahoma; Perry, Oklahoma; and Hutchinson, Kansas. But we have set a goal to work with 30 communities by 2030.
Kellams: Mhm. You mentioned Enid and Perry, Oklahoma, and Hutchinson, Kansas, and finding communities with that “secret sauce.” Is there something about those three communities that makes them ideal for the launch?
Cooper: They’re kind of that perfect size. And while we have a focus on micropolitan, we are also looking at small metropolitan — seeing kind of 70,000 in population and below. And all three communities have very unique assets. Enid, Oklahoma, is called the grain capital of the world. They have an Air Force training base. Perry, Oklahoma, has a large business — a regional and global business — located in the region. And Hutchinson, Kansas, is doing great things as well, everything from the amazing state fair to other entrepreneurial initiatives and things that they’re launching.
So these are communities that have some of the ingredients, but with additional support — Heartland Forward providing customized data, entrepreneurial mapping, programmatic solutions and access to additional subject matter experts — we believe they’re well on their way to continue to grow and be known for those secret sauce communities in the heartland.
Kellams: And Hutchinson, Kansas is the only community that I know of that has an underground salt museum.
Cooper: You are correct. Yes. You know a little bit about Hutchinson, I love that.
Kellams: I do, I was born there. Do micropolitans have advantages, or is it sometimes — because of a smaller population base — more of an uphill battle to attract some investment?
Cooper: Yeah. Whatever size the community that we’re working with, in many cases, something that we believe strongly at Heartland Forward is the magic happens when you bring the right people around the table. And micropolitan communities are doing amazing work. One thing they’re known for in many ways is excellent quality of life, ease of access to things. But what we’re really focusing on initially in our first three communities and beyond — let’s take those assets, and then how do we build on that? They might just need a few more things as it relates to their education system, or they’ve been struggling with access to healthcare. But if they had additional networks and conversations and data to really help us build a strategy, they have the opportunity to grow.
So that’s why we’re really excited to be able to work in communities of this size, because in some cases, when we talk about changing the narrative in the middle of the heartland and accelerating economic growth, these are communities that are doing great things that sometimes don’t hit headline news. And we want to lift up their stories and give them the resources they need to really grow as a community.
You know, we talked at the top of the conversation around the AI caucus. We will see AI education, development, policy that will translate to the Center for Investment Readiness communities. And we appreciate the partners — both the policymakers around AI and in our Center for Investment Readiness communities. And if you want to learn more, you can visit Heartland Forward. You’ll also be able to read more about these initiatives in Pulse of the Heartland, which is published every two weeks. So I encourage everyone to check out our website, and we hope that we will continue to work with great partners and highlight all the amazing things happening in the heartland.
Kellams: Angie Cooper, president, Heartland Forward. As always, thank you for your time.
Cooper: Thank you, Kyle, I appreciate it.
More details about the projects can be found at HeartlandForward.org. This conversation took place in late November.
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