Spokane told economic boom within its reach

Ingredients for growth are in place, LaunchPad speaker says

Sporting red suspenders and a thick Texas drawl, former Austin Mayor Kirk Watson brought his wit and wisdom to a Spokane business forum Thursday.

Michael Guilfoil and Tom Sowa
Staff writers Spokesman Review

Several hundred people endured the stuffy Fox Theater to attend LaunchPad 5.0, a celebration of local technology companies. They heard Watson describe a new world order that favors quality over size, and creativity over material assets.

"You don’t need a port," said Watson, 45, "because you can be a portal."

Watson proudly described the economic revival Austin underwent during the past decade, and said Spokane and the surrounding region have all the assets needed to enjoy similar success.

"You have great universities," he said. "You can offer all sorts of year-round activities. And you have your own renaissance going on downtown."

Watson, who travels all over the country consulting on economic development issues, lavished Spokane with praise for how far it’s already come.

But he triggered the most enthusiastic applause when he turned his attention briefly to the controversy surrounding River Park Square’s financing.

"Fix it, get over it and move on," he said.

Following Watson’s presentation, a panel of eight local entrepreneurs, developers and a music critic tackled the topic of "building a creative community."

The event’s final panel focused on developing regional, big-picture growth and grass-roots efforts to build strong young companies.

Forming a regional plan, according to INTEC CEO Lewis Rumpler, is a key step toward developing what he called "the innovation economy." He likened the concept to what occurred 20 years ago when Durham, Raleigh and Chapel Hill, N.C., embarked on a regional transformation.

That "research triangle" today is the home of strong companies and a large amount of federal research, Rumpler said.

The Inland Northwest Training and Education Center, with two other local groups, commissioned a report called "The Innovation Economy." Its key concept, said Rumpler, is the need to bring together three regional components: intellectual capital, human capital and investment capital.

The report suggests 10 steps to upgrade the economy, but the first, most important step, is to recognize the need for strong "visionary leadership."

Rumpler also introduced Greg Horowitt, director of corporate relations from a Southern California program that tries to jump-start young companies and entrepreneurs.

The program, called Connect, comes to cities like Spokane and conducts intensive boot camps for promising startups.

To participate, Spokane would have to join the organization and pay an annual fee of about $1,000.

The Connect idea originated with the University of California at San Diego, which developed ways to make sure business leaders, academic researchers and tech company officials understood each other and saw mutual benefits in working together.

INTEC, according to Rumpler, is discussing the option of contracting with Connect.

Horowitt said Connect has been used successfully around the country and in Scotland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

He described the intensive 6- to 8-week courses for entrepreneurs as "tough love" to make sure businesses are focused, organized and ready to compete.

"We do that in a cruel-to-be-kind way," he added. "That way, they’re more prepared to move on and succeed."

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news-story.asp?date=061303&ID=s1366018&cat=section.business