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October 11, 2004

innovation again -- visa's "innovation index" identifies USA's most innovative markets

from Business Wire:

The Seattle area is the most innovative region in the United States, Austin is the most entrepreneurial, Providence, RI is the most giving, and Los Angeles is the most creative, according to Visa's new Innovation Index, which examined variables of innovation for its www.ideashappen.com campaign.

Seattle was followed by Austin, Nashville, Minneapolis, and Washington D.C. Rounding out the Top 10 on the Innovation Index were San Diego, Indianapolis, Salt Lake City, West Palm Beach, and Cincinnati.

The Index was created by Visa to measure on a per capita basis community support, entrepreneurialism, and creativity - elements of innovation - among the nation's top 50 markets. Many of these cities also finished strong individually in one or more of the three individual categories. (Comprehensive lists are attached.)

"The findings show that innovation is springing up all across the nation," said Jon Raj, campaign coordinator for Visa's Ideas Happen (www.ideashappen.com) campaign, which is urging young adults 18-to-29 years of age to submit ideas online for the chance to receive one of the dozen $25,000 awards ($300,000 total) to help turn their ideas into reality. "We learned from the first campaign last year that innovative concepts come in all shapes and sizes - from filming documentaries to drive a point, to new business concepts, to new, online fund-raising techniques to enhance educational opportunities for children in a remote African village."

Raj said the Index examined data, such as the average number of new businesses, expansions, new divisions, and the number of new patents issued by the U.S. Patent office through 2003 for the major Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) to evaluate entrepreneurship.

Posted by Douglas Sorocco at 05:54 PM.
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