Enriching the Ecosystem

To remain a leader in innovation, the United States needs the support of foundational institutions that help seed, grow, and renew enterprises. Historically, these institutions-such as universities, venture creators, labor markets, and job-training programs-have tended to operate in silos. But they are far more effective when they're networked. By collaborating to bridge the gaps between them, business, academic, and policy leaders can help generate more ideas, start-ups, company growth, global competitors, and prosperity. In this article, I outline an agenda for strengthening the links between key institutions. Leaders, I argue, should focus on four goals: 1) linking knowledge creation to venture creation to speed the conversion of ideas into market-ready enterprises; 2) linking small and large enterprises to promote the growth of younger companies and revitalize large corporations through partnerships with innovative SMEs; 3) improving the match between education and employment opportunities, through apprenticeship programs and other education-industry links; and 4) linking leaders across sectors to develop regional strategies and produce scalable models. In all four of these areas, promising models have already begun to emerge. By highlighting the most successful institutions and what can be learned from them, I show how America can create a richer, more competitive business ecosystem.