Marquette Tech District Foundation, Inc.

The Marquette Tech District Foundation of Cape Girardeau, Missouri with the support of state and federal economic development agencies, local universities - working with tech-focused private companies and non-profit organizations - will expand the model of a Tech District into the Rural Delta Tech Innovation Network (RDTIN) that will support rural communities throughout the Delta (a region defined by the Delta Regional Authority), and will establish the Technical Talent Consortium to cross-pollinate programs.

The RDTIN will use economies of scale to: 1) plant innovation hubs to service startups, entrepreneurs, and tech workers in rural communities starting with an expansion into Paducah, Kentucky 2) develop connections; leveraging assets to complement communities; create a pipeline of deal flow for investors and funding opportunities for startups; assist in talent sharing, development and opportunities all between hubs and 3) host special events showcasing regional tech progress by highlighting successful startups and entrepreneurs for the purpose of diffusing information. The Technical Talent Consortium will 1) provide affordable technical talent to early-stage ventures 2) provide a path to self-employment/employment for newly trained adult computer programmers and 3) partner with corporate executives to define industry-wide problems and form founder/technical teams around them to build solutions. By the end of the three-year grant period, RDTIN will aim to have supported the investment of $15 million into the launch of 30 startups that create 50 high-wage jobs and trained 100 adults in computer programming.

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