Chicago’s Potemkin Village: Why our innovation economy has failed, and how to fix it

September 12, 2017

The Radler
2375 North Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, IL, USA

Program Series:
Technology and Engineering

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Chicago’s Potemkin Village: Why Chicago’s innovation economy has failed, and how we can grow an innovation economy built around invention, technology transfer, and entrepreneurship

Since 2012, Chicago has built an estimated 1.5 million square feet of coworking spaces, and about 80 or 90 incubators and accelerators. By any reasonable measure of success, this massive effort has not translated into a competitive market for advanced industries. Chicago has not grown its share of the national venture capital market, and we have not brought more national investment into the region for the purposes of advancing technology. More significantly, Chicago has not kept pace with changes in our industrial economy. Once there were 200,000 Chicagoans employed manufacturing steel; now there are none. With what have we replaced these legacy industries? Thomas Day, the managing partner of Invent2026, will speak about how to leverage the region’s applied research laboratories to build new industries in Chicago–new batteries, sensors for smart farming and monitoring toxins in water, and advanced materials–to reassert Chicago’s presence in the new economy.

 

Details

Tuesday, September 12, 2017, 7:00 p.m. The Radler, 2375 N. Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago IL, 60605. The Radler has great food and drink available for purchase, and welcomes guests of all ages for C2ST programs. Walk ins welcome, but advance registration requested.

For a preview of what Day plans to talk about, please read this.

This program is presented in partnership with The Radler, who have generously allowed us the use of their facilities for free. Please consider supporting the restaurant by purchasing drinks and/or food while you are enjoying the program so that the partnership continues to be mutually beneficial. Thank you for your consideration!

Speaker

Thomas Day

Thomas Day is the managing partner of Invent2026, a new nonprofit economic development agency, to lead a Midwest innovation corridor rooted in invention, technology transfer, and entrepreneurship. Beginning this fall, in partnership with the Women’s Business Development Center, Invent2026 will be supporting the InventIllinois partnership, a program to support entrepreneurs and small business owners who are commercializing inventions generated from applied research laboratories.

Tom was on the initial team that built The Bunker (now Bunker Labs), a business incubator for military-veteran entrepreneurs. He has a BA from Penn State University, an MSJ from Northwestern, and an MPP from UChicago where he was a Research Assistant at the Paulson Institute. Tom served in the U.S. Army as a Military Journalist, deployed with the 101st Airborne during the invasion of Iraq and occupation of Mosul.