About the State of Ingenuity Initiative
State of Ingenuity is a regional collaboration that provides a seamless network of entrepreneurial support at every stage of business development through the sharing of resources, facilities, curriculum, training, and collective expertise.
State of Ingenuity represents a collaboration of organizations from the six-county region of southeastern Wisconsin and northern Illinois including Boone, Kenosha, Racine, Rock, Walworth, and Winnebago counties. Economic conditions throughout the region have been significantly impacted by floods, auto plant closures and major job layoffs.
The collaboration, funded by a grant from the Economic Development Administration in 2010, consists of educational institutions, economic development organizations, proto-typing service providers, and business incubators and works to foster economic recovery and entrepreneurial activities. The State of Ingenuity collaboration strives to accomplish the following goals:
- Develop new industry, grow and strengthen businesses, create jobs and increase private investment in the region.
- Build a robust entrepreneurial system to encourage a diverse regional economy.
- Lead efforts to transition the region's economy from an industrial base to a knowledge base.
- Build a sustainable model for economic development strategies and approaches.
State of Ingenuity Partners provide a wide range of services to help you start and build your business:
- Business incubators and incubation services
- Business analysis, planning and training
- Import/export expertise and connections
- Market and product diversification
- Business and entrepreneur pipelines
- Prototyping
- Financing
- Patents
- Mentoring
- Networking
- Leadership development
- Research, data collection and analysis
- Training in green technologies for your workforce
- Development of agricultural and biotech entrepreneurship
- Training, resources and support for family-based businesses
- GIS mapping
- University – Industry Partnerships
- Research Commercialization
State of Ingenuity Development Principles
State of Ingenuity partners embrace the following principles:
1) Enhance regional economic competitiveness
2) Support regional businesses and entrepreneurs
3) Coordinate policies/procedures and leverage investment