When a Company Invests in an ‘Underdog City’
The story of how a company that started in one of these places is now involving people and businesses in another—and why that matters in the next stage of equitable American recovery.
Entrepreneurs
12 posts
A Company That Helps You Find Job B
The tech-training and incubator company Bitwise, based in Fresno in California’s agricultural Central Valley, has been an important test case for the proposition that new, valuable, job-creating and wealth-expanding businesses…
Sparking a Small-Town Business Ecosystem
The national-level response to the coronavirus pandemic descends from tragedy into catastrophe. The black granite slabs of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington display the names of more than 58,000…
Bitwise Goes Big
Fresno tech startup, Bitwise gets $27 million in funding to expand its operations.
Erie and America
The challenges of Rust Belt America are real, and well-known. What's less familiar is the response some mid-sized cities are making.
How to Create a Tech Startup Scene If You’re Not in Silicon Valley
Pittsburgh's success provides important and surprising clues.
Artisanal Salt From an Ancient Sea
Fair warning: I am not going to try to strap any Larger Policy Significance onto this report. It was just one of the more interesting things we’ve seen on our…
Another Look at Salt-Harvesting in West Virginia
Combine ancient ingredients with a modern sensibility, and a new business takes form.
The Story of Moop: How an Unlikely Company Came to Be
A Pittsburgh woman managed to build a successful bag company from a failed effort to make a dress.
The iPhone Case That Can Call the Police
A startup in Pittsburgh has designed a smartphone case and app to deter assault and help catch the attackers.
The Company That Turns Plastic Bottles Into Fabric and Jobs
A startup in Pittsburgh shows what a social enterprise is capable of.
Ice Cream, Chocolate, Coffee, and Beer
Take ingredients and blend, for small-town synergy.