from the front lines (Brookings Executive Education). A frequent collaborator with the Center for Homeland Defense and Security, he helps public, private, and nonprofit leaders advance their critical and diagnosis capabilities to increase the likelihood of solving the right problem the first time. He holds a Ph.D. in Business and Public Policy, an M.B.A., and a Master of M.S. Engineering, all from U.C. Berkeley, and a B.S. in Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He also was an engineer with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Those working to accelerate economic growth in the Heartland must face some stark realities. The Great Lakes region continues to export wealth to coastal economies, even as investment leaders try to equalize growth between the coasts and the Heartland. The region sees only a tiny fractionto 2017 using the SBIR/STTR award database.

The SBIR/STTR program invests in more diverse communities than private venture capital.

SBIR/STTR funds reach a much wider set of U.S. communities than traditional venture capital. Table 1 shows that the largest 100 metropolitan areas captured 78% of total SBIR/STTR funding, and smaller metropolitan areas received another 19%. Micropolitan and rural areas received a little over 3% of all SBIR/STTR funds. As a comparison, more than 80% of private venture capital investment in 2017 landed in five metropolitan areas (San Francisco, New York, Boston, San Jose, and Los Angeles).

Of course, larger metro areas have more people and companies to attract investment. Controlling for the size of regional economies, smaller metro areas punch above their weight. On average, smaller metro areas, those with populations