Activating the Silicon Prairie

Earlier this month, I had the good fortune of participating in a forum with leaders from around the Midwest. Executives from Greater Des Moines, Kansas City, Omaha and St. Louis gathered around a central theme: Metropolitan areas in the Great Plains and Midwest can, and must, take proactive and collaborative actions that are critical to…

About the Author: Meg Fitz is Vice President of Regional Development for Greater Des Moines PartnershipFor more on Fitz, see the note that follows this post.



The Midwest is full of brilliant and innovative people, Meg Fitz says. Now, as they’re wont to say at StartupCity Des Moines (above), it’s time to “shut up and build.”

Earlier this month, I had the good fortune of participating in a forum with leaders from around the Midwest. Executives from Greater Des Moines, Kansas City, Omaha and St. Louis gathered around a central theme: Metropolitan areas in the Great Plains and Midwest can, and must, take proactive and collaborative actions that are critical to the global economic competitiveness of the Heartland.

In Central Iowa, we have had an amazing first quarter. The future President of China visited our state, one of only three stops in the U.S., and signed a multi-billion dollar deal. We finally landed Southwest Airlines, which changes the game for us when it comes to air transportation. Our colleagues in Kansas City, Omaha and St. Louis have a similar list of ‘wins’ that they could share. Collectively, our metros are well over 6 million strong and we account for $338 billion of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product. Not too shabby. But what is it that makes the Heartland special? What makes us competitive? At what are we better than anyone else in the U.S., or the world for that matter?

At the 2012 TED conference, Peter Diamandis’ talk was titled “Abundance is our Future.” He argues that today we have the tools to create and solve any problem in the world. How true! Technology has flattened our world, opening up endless possibilities. We are truly living in an amazing time. And it is up to us to seize this opportunity.

The Midwest is full of brilliant and innovative people who are quietly building and transforming our world. It is the job of people like me to help create an environment where these people can thrive, both personally and professionally. We need to create the environment where startups have access to mentors and other resources; we need to provide platforms that connect like-minded people but at the same time encourage thinking on a global level; and darn it, we need to be bolder. I write this as an Iowan, where humility is added to the drinking water. We have a great story here. We need to tell it and sell it.

The communities of Greater Des Moines, Kansas City, Omaha and St. Louis will continue to meet from time to time to achieve our goal of activating the Silicon Prairie around the commonalities of bioscience/life science, entrepreneurship and transportation. The original list was MUCH longer, but we needed to start somewhere. I am a believer in having many minds around any given project. Please know that your ideas, suggestions and concerns are welcome as we take this journey. And now, as my friends at StartUp City say, it’s time to “shut up and build.”


Credits: Photo of StartupCity Des Moines by Anna Jones | Art of Photography. Photo of Fitz courtesy of Fitz


About the author: Meg Fitz is Vice President of Regional Development for Greater Des Moines Partnership. In that role, she works with 24 Chambers of Commerce around the metro, providing small business services and professional development opportunities.

Fitz can be reached by email at mfitz@desmoinesmetro.com.

This story is part of the AIM Archive

This story is part of the AIM Institute Archive on Silicon Prairie News. AIM gifted SPN to the Nebraska Journalism Trust in January 2023. Learn more about SPN’s origin »

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