Crucial Conversations:
Federal Way Innovation Economy & Placemaking
The Greater Federal Way Chamber of Commerce has launched a market analysis on entrepreneurial and start-up economies as part of a grant project with the Washington Department of Commerce.
The Innovation Collective, a national economic and community development firm, will facilitate business discussions with identified industry segments in April. This economic initiative at the Chamber places a strong emphasis on business acceleration, with an eye on unlocking campus development opportunities in the region.
Stakeholder input sessions will include a short presentation followed by group discussion on the development of innovation corridors that could foster mixed-use capabilities to support business enterprises, community groups, and related public organizations.
Innovation Collective’s forward-thinking approach, led by CEO Nick Smoot, brings a wealth of experience and a 10-year track record in grass roots community and economic development. With collaborations in 12 states and 3 countries, the firm has demonstrated its commitment to building stronger, inclusive communities.
“We are excited about this partnership with Innovation Collective and the positive impact it will bring to the Greater Federal Way community,” stated Chamber CEO Rebecca Martin. “By leveraging their expertise in innovation economies and placemaking, we aim to build a resilient and collaborative community, driving economic growth and prosperity.”
MEET THE HOSTS:
Nick Smoot is the founder of the Innovation Collective which specializes in developing entrepreneurial and startup communities. He developed a method for growing the startup tech scene in small town America while connecting large venture capitalists, national labs, and publicly traded corporations to the small market innovations. This led him to develop a multiple programs and tools for surfacing high value innovation in small town markets.
His 18 years of experience range from nonprofit profit work, co-founding three mobile tech startups, running two venture investment groups, co-authoring and advising on federal entrepreneurship legislation including the National Innovation and Modern Skills Training Act (co-author) and the Chips and Science Act (advising), developing community startup economy frameworks, and co-developing 290,000 sq ft of Innovation Campus’.
His experience and focus of domain expertise spans industries including health and wellness tech, robotics, sports tech, consumer tech, energy tech, property tech, community management tech, ed tech, and economics data.
Nick is obsessed with developing startup economies and others know it; his ecosystem work has been recognized by Google, Rise of the Rest, SXSW, Brookings, Milken Institute, and Bloomberg and he has been interviewed for Bloomberg West, The Atlantic, BBC, USA Today, Entrepreneurship Magazine, and Fast Company.
Nick works out of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho and travels often to startup communities across the world.
Behzod Sirjani is a research consultant and advisor who specializes in helping companies learn and make better decisions. He currently runs Yet Another Studio, where he partners with everyone from early stage startups to larger companies like Figma and Dropbox. In addition, Behzod is a program partner at Reforge, where he created the "User Insights for Product Decisions" and "Effective Customer Conversations" courses. He is also a venture partner at El Cap and an advisor for TCV's Velocity Fund.
His 18 years of experience range from nonprofit profit work, co-founding three mobile tech startups, running two venture investment groups, co-authoring and advising on federal entrepreneurship legislation including the National Innovation and Modern Skills Training Act (co-author) and the Chips and Science Act (advising), developing community startup economy frameworks, and co-developing 290,000 sq ft of Innovation Campus’.
His experience and focus of domain expertise spans industries including health and wellness tech, robotics, sports tech, consumer tech, energy tech, property tech, community management tech, ed tech, and economics data.
Nick is obsessed with developing startup economies and others know it; his ecosystem work has been recognized by Google, Rise of the Rest, SXSW, Brookings, Milken Institute, and Bloomberg and he has been interviewed for Bloomberg West, The Atlantic, BBC, USA Today, Entrepreneurship Magazine, and Fast Company.
Nick works out of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho and travels often to startup communities across the world.