Forbes Summit emphasizes connectivity, Midwest competitiveness

Forbes Summit 

Connectivity will be a key factor in U.S. efforts to lead the global economy in the coming decades. So said business people and entrepreneurs at the Forbes Reinventing America Summit, which took place Thursday in Chicago for the second straight year.

They referred to offline collaborations as well as digital and technological connections. And they urged Chicago, which some attendees called the “capital of the Midwest,” to seek links to neighboring states and their startup communities — a move they said could even draw venture capital to the region. Silicon Valley attracts most of the country’s venture investments.

“I think to really elevate the Midwest, we need to find ways to connect Indy to Chicago, Chicago to Detroit, Detroit to Ann Arbor,” said Scott Dorsey, co-founder of Indianapolis-based ExactTarget, on a “Betting Big on the Heartland” panel. “I think we’ll get a lot stronger if we build more connective tissue throughout the big Midwestern cities where today I feel like we do a lot of things in isolation.”

The official theme of this year’s Summit was “Leading the Next Industrial Revolution.” The 300 attendees heard from makers of 3D printers and those who use 3D printing techniques to create novel items, such as a dress printed all in one piece.

But strengthening the Midwest remained a focus.

Terry Howerton, co-founder and partner at TechNexus, emphasized the importance of companies to embrace the Midwest as a whole. He suggested a connected Midwest could make an attractive home to entrepreneurs.

“Instead of tearing each other down or trying to steal a company across a state border, we have an opportunity to retain talent in the Midwest, to develop research in the Midwest, to build companies in the Midwest that compete against the whole world,” he told Blue Sky.

Howerton appeared on the “Heartland” panel and later introduced Gov. Bruce Rauner, who reiterated his criticism of taxes and regulations in Illinois.

Steve Case, co-founder of America Online, discussed his belief that communities outside of Silicon Valley offer opportunities for innovation. He is behind Rise of the Rest, a multi-city tour that runs pitch contests in cities including St. Louis and Nashville. He said communities in smaller cities should celebrate entrepreneurship and startups.

“Most startups fail, so going in with some degree of skepticism is understandable,” Case said. “I think it’s really important that you lean into the future and at least give the entrepreneurs the benefit of the doubt that maybe this actually could be a big idea.”

Panelists also discussed the idea of transforming — instead of replacing — company staffs through “upskilling,” the practice of teaching an existing employee new skills. Howard Tullman, CEO of the 1871 tech hub, said high-end vocational training could offer digital skills that would keep employees competitive.

Caralynn Nowinski, executive director and COO of UI Labs, said upskilling could fill a need for skilled labor at manufacturing companies. She encouraged companies to consider the variety of skills in their workforces and approach upskilling accordingly. Someone in skilled labor may need a different sort of training than someone in engineering, she said.

She urged employers to remember “that it’s not a one-size-fits-all in how you think about your workforce.” That perspective should help company leaders to establish the right mechanisms and programs, she said.

Panelists throughout the day discussed the value of apprenticeships and internships for workers seeking development.

Lifeway Foods CEO Julie Smolyansky shared her company’s experience with Year Up, a Boston-based non-profit that trains young urban adults through internships and classes. Partnerships with companies give jobs to low-income people, and connections to those workers give companies access to their opinions and insights from their experiences, Smolyansky said.

“They have been operating under really scarce resources, and that’s something that we can learn," Smolyansky said of workers from low-income backgrounds. "We all, every day, operate with scarce resources. So I think they’re looking to us to teach them, and I’m looking to them to teach me.”

LEADERSHIP 3/12/2015 @ 3:37PM 1,506 views

'It's Not About Snacks And Scooters': How To Win The Big Talent Game

Forty percent of employers report difficulty in securing talent, according to a recent report by HR consultancy and staffing firm Manpower  Group. There’s a lack of hard skills, there’s a lack of soft skills, there’s a lack of suitable candidates in general.

What’s a hiring manager–or a job seeker–to do?

That was the topic of a discussion about changes in the American workforce and the challenges of finding and retaining the best available talent that took place Thursday afternoon as part of the second annual Forbes Reinventing America Summit in Chicago. 

The panel included Tom Gimbel, CEO of LaSalle Network, Caralynn Nowinski, M.D., Executive Director of UI LABS, Howard Tullman, CEO of 1871, and Kip Wright, Senior Vice President of Manpower North America.

When it comes to seeking quality talent among young professionals, “It’s really not about foosball and snacks and scooters,” said Tullman. “[Young adults] want to work on big problems. They want to work with other talented people. They really want to make a difference—that’s more generational than it’s ever been. They don’t care abut ownership, they care about experiences and managing their work life in different ways.”

Each of the panelists expressed dismay at the lack of skills training that’s currently part of the education system.

“I actually see this getting far worse,” said Wright, referencing the Manpower research that cited a dearth of technical and soft skills among job candidates. “It has as much to do with education and what our education system is putting out—a traditional four-year curricula—instead of more short, targeted bursts of skills that are useful in an immediate capacity.”

Nowinski noted that a new challenge for employers, particularly those seeking manufacturing talent, is to create a workforce that combines the model for a more traditional knowledge worker with specific experience with that of a worker trained with digital skills they can continue to update.

“How do we make sure that we’re thinking about how tech and talent solves those problems?” asked Nowinski. “How do we ensure that the person on the line who now listens for things and smells things and feels the vibration—how do you translate those skills into the next generation of workers? Now we’re talking about using a combination of a knowledge worker and digital technology.”

Gimbel observed that in addition to an education better suited to producing a skilled workforce, job seekers need to be playing an active role in educating themselves.

“Parents pay thousands and thousands for private lessons for the kids,” said Gimbel. “Go back and take a class [yourself.] Go to school. You want your kid to be competitive but you’re not going to invest in yourself?”

Further, Tullman noted, job seekers need to be ready to show employers a strong work ethic coupled with a willingness to pay dues and earn independence.

“The talent has to do a good job of convincing prospective employers that they have a longer term horizon and are ready to work,” said Tullman. “It really is about patience. You might have a clear view of where you want to end up but it’s really not a short distance. Everybody’s in a hurry today but we have to teach a couple of these generations that you have to earn the ability to do it your own way.”

Gimbel suggested that it’s society and workers at large–rather than millennials, specifically–that have become entitled, but that active communication with employees can assuage that issue.

“Eighty percent of my company are millennials and they’re the hardest working people out there. I think what they want is more communication and more information–telling them what this is going to lead to.”

Ultimately, Wright recommended, companies need to begin to look at their talent horizon the way they would their financial outlook.

“How many of you spend months looking at your talent plan? Do you, every month, look at your financial plan? Of course. We’ve got to fundamentally think very selfishly and aggressively about how we manage our talent.”

Reinventing America, The Forbes Summit in Chicago Part II

Sugar Rautbord 
Sugar Rautbord is the author of three bestselling novels and a PR exec.

Because Forbes is such a strong business brand and controls the bulk of the Business of Everything readership, its forays into the live, tangible, Forbes summit experiences continue to grow. Witness the outstanding connecting events with their coveted invitations to participate in the Under 30 Billionaires Summit and the Forbes Women's Summit.

Bringing live leaders from the new generation of entrepreneurs and CEOs together with the new wave of Funds into the same room is an experience most business leaders and investors find profitable, creating a Forbes experience Off-Page. Especially when the mixer is chaperoned by the highly experienced and practiced eyes of the Forbes media machine--the same eyes that have recorded the growth of Google, the comeback of Apple, and the emergence of 3D manufacturing.

Forbes Reinventing America Summits are growing in influence and following. These small, invitation-only congresses bring together Wealth, Politics, Business, and Government as well as Education and Disruptive Innovation and are a winning formula for stimulating growth, forging new partnerships, and in this case, the reinvention of industrial power.


From left, Forbes Managing editor Bruce Upbin and Steve Case. Photo by Glen Davis/Forbes

Having debuted the Reinventing America Summit in Chicago last year to much acclaim, Steve Forbes, editor-in-chief of Forbes Media, is returning with his combination of pragmatic and in some cases new leaders in industry, finance, education, and government under the imprimatur that the nation's industrial core is rebounding.

The guests that FORBES has assembled across America's Heartland and participating in the new Industrial Revolution include billionaire Harold Hamm from Continental Resources, who is singularly credentialed to speak to oil pricing and energy as well as Steve Case , co-founder of AOL and Chairman of Revolution and the Case Foundation along with the multi-tasking Howard Tullman , Chief Executive Officer and the Man behind the Curtain at 1871, a Chicago based incubator that is now home to more than 325 early-stage, high-growth startups and second home to the Pritzker Group and Chicago Ventures.


Steve Forbes and Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Photo by Glen Davis/Forbes

In Chicago on March 11th and 12th the "REINVENTING AMERICA" Summit is scheduled to host a congress of 350 powerful minds at the JW Marriott where Mayor Rahm Emanuel will preside over the educational forces and supportive environment required to foster a creative and supportive climate for economic growth and new industry.

Because Mayor Emanuel, former chief of staff to President Obama, is a big believer in government supporting Business and urban based educational programs allowing the underserved to catch up in the competitive arena of Jobs Getting, it is highly likely he will take the opportunity offered to him at this Reinventing America Symposium, to announce his intentions to expand the program Year Up, doing vigorously well in New York to re-arm and educate the unemployed young adult populace for a year and then augment them in finding careers and jobs for the people who participated in the year long program to bloom in Chicago.

Year Up founder and CEO Gerald Chertavian will be attending the conference as well as Marc Utay, Managing Partner, Clarion Capital Partners, LLC, a contributor and supporter of Year Up.

Governor Bruce Rauner, the newly elected Republican governor of Illinois brings Forbes list status to the table as well as hard-earned business acumen. It will be a relatively new experience and revelatory for both the Illinoisians and out of town guests at the Summit to hear the new governor espouse his initiatives, such as social programs to expand job opportunities, along with his principled Business practice.


Karen Kerr of GE Ventures. Photo used with permission.

Another interesting panel will include Karen Kerr, Senior Managing Director, Advanced Manufacturing, GE Ventures which helps entrepreneurs and start-ups succeed by providing access to GE's technical expertise, capital and opportunities for commercialization through GE's Global network of business, customers and partners.

As Steve Forbes has said "We kicked the [Reinventing America] series off last year in Chicago and it went very well. Everything that's happened since underscores that the heartland is on the uptick."

Reinventing America, The Forbes Summit in Chicago Part II - 1871 CEO Howard Tullman will Participate

Reinventing America, The Forbes Summit in Chicago Part II

Posted: 02/19/2015 12:24 am EST Updated: 1 hour ago

Because Forbes is such a strong business brand and controls the bulk of the Business of Everything readership, its forays into the live, tangible, Forbes summit experiences continue to grow. Witness the outstanding connecting events with their coveted invitations to participate in the Under 30 Billionaires Summit and the Forbes Women's Summit. Bringing live leaders from the new generation of entrepreneurs and CEOs together with the new wave of Funds into the same room is an experience most business leaders and investors find profitable, creating a Forbes experience Off-Page. Especially when the mixer is chaperoned by the highly experienced and practiced eyes of the Forbes media machine--the same eyes that have recorded the growth of Google, the comeback of Apple, and the emergence of 3D manufacturing.

Forbes Reinventing America Summits are growing in influence and following. These small, invitation-only congresses bring together Wealth, Politics, Business, and Government as well as Education and Disruptive Innovation and are a winning formula for stimulating growth, forging new partnerships, and in this case, the reinvention of industrial power.


From left, Forbes Managing editor Bruce Upbin and Steve Case. Photo by Glen Davis/Forbes

Having debuted the Reinventing America Summit in Chicago last year to much acclaim, Steve Forbes, editor-in-chief of Forbes Media, is returning with his combination of pragmatic and in some cases new leaders in industry, finance, education, and government under the imprimatur that the nation's industrial core is rebounding. The guests that FORBES has assembled across America's Heartland and participating in the new Industrial Revolution include billionaire Harold Hamm from Continental Resources, who is singularly credentialed to speak to oil pricing and energy as well as Steve Case , co-founder of AOL and Chairman of Revolution and the Case Foundation along with the multi-tasking Howard Tullman , Chief Executive Officer and the Man behind the Curtain at 1871, a Chicago based incubator that is now home to more than 325 early-stage, high-growth startups and second home to the Pritzker Group and Chicago Ventures.


Steve Forbes and Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Photo by Glen Davis/Forbes

In Chicago on March 11th and 12th the "REINVENTING AMERICA" Summit is scheduled to host a congress of 350 powerful minds at the JW Marriott where Mayor Rahm Emanuel will preside over the educational forces and supportive environment required to foster a creative and supportive climate for economic growth and new industry. Because Mayor Emanuel, former chief of staff to President Obama, is a big believer in government supporting Business and urban based educational programs allowing the underserved to catch up in the competitive arena of Jobs Getting, it is highly likely he will take the opportunity offered to him at this Reinventing America Symposium, to announce his intentions to expand the program Year Up, doing vigorously well in New York to re-arm and educate the unemployed young adult populace for a year and then augment them in finding careers and jobs for the people who participated in the year long program to bloom in Chicago. Year Up founder and CEO Gerald Chertavian will be attending the conference as well as Marc Utay, Managing Partner, Clarion Capital Partners, LLC, a contributor and supporter of Year Up.

Governor Bruce Rauner, the newly elected Republican governor of Illinois brings Forbes list status to the table as well as hard-earned business acumen. It will be a relatively new experience and revelatory for both the Illinoisians and out of town guests at the Summit to hear the new governor espouse his initiatives, such as social programs to expand job opportunities, along with his principled Business practice.


Karen Kerr of GE Ventures. Photo used with permission.

Another interesting panel will include Karen Kerr, Senior Managing Director, Advanced Manufacturing, GE Ventures which helps entrepreneurs and start-ups succeed by providing access to GE's technical expertise, capital and opportunities for commercialization through GE's Global network of business, customers and partners.

As Steve Forbes has said "We kicked the [Reinventing America] series off last year in Chicago and it went very well. Everything that's happened since underscores that the heartland is on the uptick."