Dream Big, Be Bold… now Repeat

Ideas can take months, even years to move from a nascent concept into a tangible outcome.  Some ideas die in this forming stage.  Others make it through after hours spent designing the solution, securing funding, soliciting partners, and otherwise proving that the concept is worthy of moving forward.  In the Innovation District, where ideas are our currency, this is a typical scenario that we go through daily.  It takes patience – and then more patience!!!

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Eventually an idea takes shape and the outcome we had hoped for becomes real.  For those that have been working behind the sciences to mold and refine the idea, it is a relief.  For those that see the result for the first time, it is a chance to marvel at the magic that makes St. Pete special.

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The Innovation District has had many celebrations over the first few months of 2022.  Its been a whirlwind.  Kudos to the teams behind the scenes and their enthusiastic supporters that made the following possible:

• Groundbreaking of the new ARC Innovation Center
• Ribbon cutting of the new Maritime and Defense Technology Hub
• Smart City Showcase with the announcement of two national awards for the District’s Smart City Projects
• Legislative support for the new USF Center for Environmental and Oceanographic Sciences

There are more projects coming.  They are in the forming stage.  We hope they will be successful, but we will have to wait and see.  In the meantime, I am working on being more patient.

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Thanks!

Alison Barlow

Executive Director

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[from the Innovation District May 2022 Newsletter]