California Groundbreakers and Comstock's Magazine partnered up to present "Innovation City" at the CLARA auditorium on January 23, 2017.
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Before he left office, former Mayor Kevin Johnson put a plan in place to jumpstart Sacramento's innovation economy. That includes investing $1 million in local companies via the city’s RAILS grant program, which stands for Rapid Acceleration, Innovation and Leadership. So what's next? If Sacramento wants to succeed in becoming an innovation hub, what needs to happen now?
Mayor Darrell Steinberg, kicked off the talk with his hopes and plans for jump-starting innovation in Sacramento. Then a moderated Q&A with some RAILS grant winners and other innovators about how they're helping to turn Sacramento into an innovation city.
PANELISTS
* Brian Collins, chief advisor to the accelerator program at I/O Labs, which received a $250,000 RAILS grant
* Alona Jennings, co-founder of Operation Innovate, a program that gives digital badge certification in STEM careers to Sacramento's underserved youth, and just received a $50,000 RAILS grant
* Vaibhav Nadgauda, managing partner at Moneta Ventures -- one of Sacramento's few venture capital firms, Moneta recently announced it would give $60,000 each to 20 startups in I/O Labs' new accelerator program.
* Clay Nutting, food- and arts-focused entrepreneur -- he helped put Lowbrau, TBD Fest and Art Hotel on the map; his latest efforts include Art Street, which just got $25,000 from the Mayor's Innovation & Growth Fund
* Crystal Strait, senior advisor to Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg -- she helped set up the Mayor's Innovation & Growth Fund, as well as the City of Sacramento's Creative Economy Initiative, which includes funding for local arts, food and tech initiatives.
* Eric Ullrich, co-founder and chief operating officer of Hacker Lab, which offers office space, tools and training for makers and entrepreneurs in Sacramento, Rocklin, and soon in Rancho Cordova
PODCAST TIMEFRAME
* 0 to 5 minutes - Allison Joy of Comstock's magazine and Vanessa Richardson of California Groundbreakers do their intros
* 5 minutes - Mayor Darrell Steinberg gives his vision of innovation in Sacramento
* 10 minutes - Panelists introduce themselves
* 23 min - What are MOFIE and RAILS?
* 29:50 min - I/O Labs got a $250,000 grant form the City -- its plans for what to do with all that money
* 37 min - Hacker Lab's vision for a "Fab City"
* 44:30 min - Where's the venture capital funding going to in Sacramento?
* 47:50 min - Getting the diversity and youth of Sacramento into STEM training and careers
* 52 min - Tying together innovation in tech, food and the arts
* 58 min - Besides funding, what should the City's role be in innovation?
* 1 hr, 2:10 min - Can Sacramento be the capital of GovTech?
* 1 hr, 10:20 min - The private sector's role in Sacramento innovation
* 1 hr, 16:30 min - Silicon Valley: How should Sacramento work with it, and how should it stand on its own?
* 1 hr, 19:20 min - The City's efforts to recruit companies from elsewhere
* 1 hr, 22:20 min - How about funding for tech infrastructure? And tech education in the schools?
* 1 hr, 27:25 min - What incentives can Sacramento provide to keep talent here and not moving away?
* 1 hr, 32:20 min - The Digital Badge program: replacement for a college degree?
* 1 hr, 35:45 min - How state regulations could hinder innovation
* 1 hr, 41 min - How can citizens support -- and track -- RAILS grant winners' efforts? And . . .drones!
* 1 hr, 44:15 min - How can state government more effectively recruit innovators? And what areas there are most ripe for innovation?
* 1 hr, 49:50 min - Public and private support for funding companies that have race and gender diversity
* 1 hr, 54:20 min - Where are the black people in the tech community here?
* 1 hr, 58:55 min: I have a revolutionary tech idea . . . where do I go around here to get it off the ground?
2 hr - Introducing the 15 RAILS grant winners
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