Originally published in Entrepreneur

By Tim Schigel

The U.S. innovation economy is expanding beyond the two coasts and creating new opportunity in impressive fashion.

Columbus, Ohio, has seen $250 million in venture capital deals so far in 2018, according to research by PitchBook. St. Louis has tallied more than $650 million over the last three years, and Charlotte, North Carolina, has attracted nearly $900 million over that same period.

In the world of venture capital, these sums are not huge, but they matter.

The key to sustaining this momentum in these emerging venture capital outposts is having a long-term focus, and I mean 20-plus years. It requires dedication from the top to the bottom of the local communities to become places that attract top entrepreneurs and investors.

That means organizing around people and relationships. Capital is important, but it’s human capital, the talent you attract, cultivate and leverage, that is the essential building block of the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Read the full article at https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/323843

Tim Schigel is a partner with Refinery Ventures, an early-stage venture-capital firm based in Cincinnati, and founder of ShareThis, a social sharing tech company. Follow him on Twitter @schigel.