In light of new leadership and a new year, Innovate Alabama is sharpening its focus on key areas.
At the organization's first board meeting of the year, CEO Cynthia Crutchfield, who stepped into the role Dec. 1 after a national search, and board members shared progress on various programs within the organization’s three pillars: entrepreneurship and access to capital, talent attraction and retention and outdoor recreation.
During the meeting, the Alabama Innovation Commission recommended a move to provide resources to small businesses, urging the state of Alabama to apply for the federal State Small Business Credit Initiative Program to provide needed resources to small businesses.
The SSBCI program was established in 2010 and re-upped in 2021 through the American Rescue Plan. SSBCI aims to spur private investment for entrepreneurial pursuits. Receiving SSBCI funding would provide resources to small and early-stage businesses and to support scaling of existing businesses.
Innovate Alabama also will lead an initiative to create a statewide innovation ecosystem asset map that will aggregate resources into a database or app that will be accessible to innovators, entrepreneurs, students and residents throughout the state. The aim is for it to also be used as a recruitment tool for students and innovators outside Alabama who will more easily be able to see the resources and opportunities available.
Mapping the innovation ecosystem is a bid to find gaps and missing connections that can help drive Alabama’s innovation economy. From these gaps, Innovate Alabama hopes to direct funding and partnership opportunities. Innovation mapping is also meant to help replicate successful innovation models, including partnerships and industry-oriented coordination of assets throughout the state.
In an effort to promote an alignment of resources and policy, Innovate Alabama will offer an Innovation City designation. This designation will come with recognition and opportunities to receive resources or coordinate with partner entities. Innovate Alabama will leverage best practices, precedents and input from statewide leadership to define the metrics and goals of the designation.
One of the initiatives being implemented to attract and retain talent is the Fuel AL program being led by the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama. Fuel AL will connect undergraduate and graduate students to a region and that region’s employers. At the same time, it will host workshops and networking events to engage students and present career and entrepreneur opportunities within the state.
With 14 HBCUs in the state, Alabama has more HBCUs than any other state in the nation.
Under leadership by former Alabama Innovation Commission member Charisse Stokes, Tidal IT Solutions has exposed students to technology and innovation by facilitating programs and events to attract and retain tech talent while encouraging entrepreneurship as a career option. Innovate Alabama plans to intensify attraction and retention of HBCU students.
Innovate Alabama also established a Council on Outdoor Recreation in December.
The council was created advise the board of directors on strategies to achieve three primary goals: expanding Alabama’s outdoor recreation industry, enhancing the state’s attractiveness for a skilled workforce and yielding substantial returns for both rural and urban communities for the enjoyment of current and future Alabamians.
