Silicon Heartland: Transforming the Midwest from Rust Belt to Tech Belt

(Hardback)

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Chronicling her return to America's heartland, CNBC correspondent Rebecca A. Fannin provides an optimistic and engaging look at the current entreprenurial comeback happening in the Midwest, documenting its transformation from Rust Belt to Tech Belt. The American Midwest was once a proud bastion of good-paying jobs and middle-class life. Recently it has come to evoke bleakness- job loss, opiate addiction, despair. But without fanfare, a pivotal movement has grown, quietly transforming the heartland into a high-tech hub. In Silicon Heartland, tech journalist Rebecca A. Fannin returns to her hometown region to report on how tech ecosystems-of entrepreneurial talent, venture capital, accelerators, incubators, universities, and R&D-are retooling midsized heartland cities and Appalachian towns. Remote regions that were nearly forgotten when the money and power shifted to Silicon Valley-and to China-are being rebooted and reenergized like never before. This movement of tech startups burgeoning in Middle America bodes well not only for leading the region to greater heights, but also for boosting our economy and morale nationwide. Structured around Fannin's road trip across Middle America, her stories and interviews with venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, and business from the Midwest make for a personal yet comprehensive look at the economic rebirth of a region that has been overlooked and underestimated for far too long. Highlighting the successes and efforts that continue to surprise coastal elites, Fannin introduces the resourceful people and the behind-the-scene stories that are reinventing the American Midwest.

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Journalist Fannin (Tech Titans of China) delivers a spirited account of her road trip through the Midwest to survey the regions tech-driven revitalization. The Rust Belt, she contends, is making a comeback in the form of a burgeoning tech industry that has benefited from a recent increase in remote workers who have moved inland from coastal cities, bringing experience and funding with them. Fannin tells the stories of those helping to lead the tech boom, such as a young woman who makes eyeglass frames out of recycled water bottles in Flint, Mich., and a man in Indianapolis who runs a startup that develops sales software for midsize companies. Reporting on the financing of the tech boom, she notes that investors are becoming more willing to fund projects outside Silicon Valley and that tech bigwigs are contributing money to scholarships at Rust Belt schools that boost local talent. To fully capitalize on this economic transformation, she calls for bolder government plans, increased private capital funding, and a shift to Silicon Valleytype visionary thinking, in addition to retraining blue-collar workers for tech jobs. As an Ohio native, Fannins deep empathy for Midwesterners is palpable, and the frank look at the Rust Belts resilience inspires while being realistic about the work ahead. This short but meaty travelogue packs a punch.

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Author Bio

Rebecca A. Fannin is a technology writer, media entrepreneur, and a leading expert on global innovation. She is a special correspondent for CNBC.com, and is the author of the books Silicon Dragon- How China is Winning the Tech Race and Startup Asia. Inspired by the entrepreneurs she met and interviewed in China, Rebecca became a media entrepreneur herself and in 2010 formed the media and events platform Silicon Dragon Ventures, which publishes a weekly e-newsletter, produces videos and podcasts, and programs and produces events annually in global innovation hubs. Rebecca also frequently speaks at major business, tech, and policy forums. She resides in New York City and San Francisco.