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The Innovation Economy: A Conversation with Richard Bendis

Richard Bendis is an expert in the field of innovation, with experience as an entrepreneur, corporate executive, venture capitalist, investment banker, innovation and technology-based economic development leader, international speaker and consultant in the technology and healthcare industries. Mr. Bendis has provided global consulting services to over 16 countries and 22 states, several cities and regions, along with international organizations. Mr. Bendis currently serves as the founding President and CEO of Innovation America.

From an economic development perspective, the economic development trends have gone through many transitions. Especially in Iowa, the agricultural economy was Iowa's primary growth engine, and remains the framework through which the rest of the world sees Iowa. How does the innovation economy change that and should it?

Bendis: The agricultural economy is still key to employment in Iowa. Most outside of Iowa rarely recognize how that agricultural basis developed into a very strong manufacturing economy. That manufacturing growth was once the key pillar to growth in the state. While manufacturing is still a very large and very important industry to Iowa, manufacturing is not the avenue through which Iowa will experience its next emergence of growth opportunities.

Growth in Iowa will be completely dependent on our ability to innovate or Iowa's ability to develop an innovation economy. Innovation isn't necessarily a new concept as former Governor Vilsack spoke of its importance over ten years ago. Don't confuse innovation with another economic development buzzword, technology-based economic development. Iowa has had growth in its tech sector, but the end result of tech-based economic development is an end-product that is shipped or sold. It's important to understand that innovation doesn't always lead to an end product—rather innovation is a service, process, or system that may be applied to any industry or business. Basing our economic development efforts on innovation will benefit both agricultural and manufacturing industries. Iowa has been very innovative through history, but now if you look at where innovation is going, it has more applicability to all Iowans than it did before.

Why is Iowa focusing so much on innovation if they don't lead to end products, which are then sold? Isn't a profitable company that is able to sell a product the whole key to keeping people working?

Bendis: The benefit of an innovation economy is not limited to larger metro areas and tech centers. One example of this is from two Iowa agricultural companies, Pioneer and Monsanto. As they increase yield in corn per acre, it has increased a substantial return on investment for those companies and farmers; in addition, it has also increased the wealth in communities, and has increased the overall wealth and economic stability of the state. Smaller communities are taking advantage of innovation in the growth in the wind industry. The growth in turbines installed, wind industry manufacturing, and even the workforce training for the wind industry has largely taken its lead outside of Iowa's largest metro areas.

Up until this point, however, Iowa has not had the same focus on innovation as some other states have had. Back in 1986, Kansas and KTech began carving out a part of its economic development strategy around innovation-based economic development. The result of those efforts and having 25 years of sustained funding and emphasis on Innovation-based development has allowed Kansas to transform its entire economy and has created the infrastructure for an entrepreneurial culture. Public private partnerships made capital available for the funding of research centers of excellence and has expanded its commercialization of technology from its universities.

Iowa has been tiptoeing into innovation economic development, but has been doing so in such a fragmented model that the efforts of multiple organizations have led to siloed and fragmented results. That fragmentation is dissolving now through the efforts of the Iowa Innovation Council. Iowa is now on the cusp of being perceived as a progressive innovation-based economic development state from these efforts. The creation of the Innovation Council has been a pivotal step toward that effort for the following reasons:

• Iowa's Innovation Council is statutorily dictated to be primarily comprised of private sector companies and leaders. Engagement and commitment of the private sector—the right mix of both small and large companies, both rural and urban, are essential for producing results.


• Iowa's Innovation Council has been in the idea stage for ten years, but has only recently come to fruition. The good news is that now that it's full steam ahead, Iowa can leapfrog to catch up to other states pretty quickly, basing our efforts on other states' best practices and findings.


• The Iowa Innovation Council Roadmap Process will lay out the most comprehensive strategic plan for innovation that any state has done over the last twenty years. This extremely comprehensive collaboration among large and small businesses, Regent institutions, community colleges, business accelerators and government are all working together to build the innovation economy for Iowa. This intense level of collaboration, interaction, and dialogue occurring in Iowa is what is needed to guide this effort forward. The success already happening is a very positive early outcome to align knowledge and resources for the betterment of Iowa's innovation economy.