Reinventing the Heartland: How One City's Inclusive Approach to Innovation and Growth Can Revive the American Dream

A blueprint for the bottom-up revival that is so sorely needed in cities across America.

To thrive in this day and age, cities must create innovation economies of their own. Tech jobs, venture capital, and R&D are concentrated in a handful of big coastal cities, while the broad middle of the country is left out-and that's a problem.

Nicholas Lalla founded Tulsa Innovation Labs in January 2020 to help Tulsa, Oklahoma transition from its outdated oil and gas legacy to tech. Lalla's organization would go on to build the first tech-led economic development strategy in northeast Oklahoma's history, raise over $200 million, and create thousands of tech jobs. This success catalyzed a massive, city-wide endeavor-the first time in American history a city has dedicated itself in such a concerted way to becoming a player in the innovation economy.

Drawing upon Lalla's experience, Reinventing the Heartland lays out a bold and pragmatic plan for urban reinvention, showing innovators, entrepreneurs, and leaders how to:

  • Help establish your city's tech-identity based on existing assets to inspire local growth.
  • Build an environment of innovation and healthy inclusivity.
  • Rapidly up-skill talent in the era of AI.
  • Fuel a future of positive change, growth, and urban-rural partnership.

Each chapter covers a core plank of the action plan, with powerful examples of the kinds of changes American cities need. In Reinventing the Heartland, Lalla provides the path forward for any city ready to embrace the future.

Charts, data, and statistics can be found in the audiobook companion PDF download.

1145959543
Reinventing the Heartland: How One City's Inclusive Approach to Innovation and Growth Can Revive the American Dream

A blueprint for the bottom-up revival that is so sorely needed in cities across America.

To thrive in this day and age, cities must create innovation economies of their own. Tech jobs, venture capital, and R&D are concentrated in a handful of big coastal cities, while the broad middle of the country is left out-and that's a problem.

Nicholas Lalla founded Tulsa Innovation Labs in January 2020 to help Tulsa, Oklahoma transition from its outdated oil and gas legacy to tech. Lalla's organization would go on to build the first tech-led economic development strategy in northeast Oklahoma's history, raise over $200 million, and create thousands of tech jobs. This success catalyzed a massive, city-wide endeavor-the first time in American history a city has dedicated itself in such a concerted way to becoming a player in the innovation economy.

Drawing upon Lalla's experience, Reinventing the Heartland lays out a bold and pragmatic plan for urban reinvention, showing innovators, entrepreneurs, and leaders how to:

  • Help establish your city's tech-identity based on existing assets to inspire local growth.
  • Build an environment of innovation and healthy inclusivity.
  • Rapidly up-skill talent in the era of AI.
  • Fuel a future of positive change, growth, and urban-rural partnership.

Each chapter covers a core plank of the action plan, with powerful examples of the kinds of changes American cities need. In Reinventing the Heartland, Lalla provides the path forward for any city ready to embrace the future.

Charts, data, and statistics can be found in the audiobook companion PDF download.

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Reinventing the Heartland: How One City's Inclusive Approach to Innovation and Growth Can Revive the American Dream

Reinventing the Heartland: How One City's Inclusive Approach to Innovation and Growth Can Revive the American Dream

by Nicholas Lalla

Narrated by Dan Bittner

Unabridged — 9 hours, 20 minutes

Reinventing the Heartland: How One City's Inclusive Approach to Innovation and Growth Can Revive the American Dream

Reinventing the Heartland: How One City's Inclusive Approach to Innovation and Growth Can Revive the American Dream

by Nicholas Lalla

Narrated by Dan Bittner

Unabridged — 9 hours, 20 minutes

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Overview

A blueprint for the bottom-up revival that is so sorely needed in cities across America.

To thrive in this day and age, cities must create innovation economies of their own. Tech jobs, venture capital, and R&D are concentrated in a handful of big coastal cities, while the broad middle of the country is left out-and that's a problem.

Nicholas Lalla founded Tulsa Innovation Labs in January 2020 to help Tulsa, Oklahoma transition from its outdated oil and gas legacy to tech. Lalla's organization would go on to build the first tech-led economic development strategy in northeast Oklahoma's history, raise over $200 million, and create thousands of tech jobs. This success catalyzed a massive, city-wide endeavor-the first time in American history a city has dedicated itself in such a concerted way to becoming a player in the innovation economy.

Drawing upon Lalla's experience, Reinventing the Heartland lays out a bold and pragmatic plan for urban reinvention, showing innovators, entrepreneurs, and leaders how to:

  • Help establish your city's tech-identity based on existing assets to inspire local growth.
  • Build an environment of innovation and healthy inclusivity.
  • Rapidly up-skill talent in the era of AI.
  • Fuel a future of positive change, growth, and urban-rural partnership.

Each chapter covers a core plank of the action plan, with powerful examples of the kinds of changes American cities need. In Reinventing the Heartland, Lalla provides the path forward for any city ready to embrace the future.

Charts, data, and statistics can be found in the audiobook companion PDF download.


Editorial Reviews

Professor of Sociology at Northwestern and author MARY PATTILLO

'Get out your highlighter and notepad because Reinventing the Heartland offers an information-packed, clear-eyed, and supremely readable how-to on investing in cities. Lalla's insights on growing a tech-fueled economy make this book essential for planners, civic leaders, and social scientists across the country.'

President of the Ford Foundation DARREN WALKER

'A gripping read about how to make progress in America. Lalla challenges American cities to work across sectors and harness tech to create good jobs to ensure opportunity extends far and wide. Reinventing the Heartland is essential for anyone interested in inclusive growth in times of rising inequality.'

President of The Burning Glass Institute MATT SIGELMAN

'An inspirational blueprint for the future of the American Heartland. Lalla's vision for transforming Tulsa into a tech hub offers a fresh, actionable strategy for cities looking to escape the cycle of economic decline. By focusing on inclusive growth and leveraging local strengths, this book shows how communities can create opportunities that benefit everyone.'

New York Times bestselling author of The Rise of t RICHARD FLORIDA

'A fascinating story of the bottom-up revival happening in cities across America. Steeped in his own experience in Tulsa's incredible reinvention, Lalla provides THE PLAYBOOK for building a more prosperous and inclusive innovation economy.'

Former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Develop HENRY CISNEROS

'Nicholas Lalla has written a powerful book—powerful in the way it chronicles Tulsa's journey to modernize its economic base and even more powerful in the way it charts a path forward for other Heartland cities. Reinventing the Heartland represents a critical map to inclusive prosperity across the region where the nation's future will be decided.'

Co-Author of The New Localism BRUCE KATZ

'Reinventing the Heartland arrives at the exact moment when the hierarchy of US cities and metros is being reshuffled by macro forces and mega investments. Lalla's action plan is rooted in new economic realities which, if embraced and amplified, have the potential to transform lives and places.'

President and CEO of Jobs for the Future MARIA FLYNN

'Lalla offers an invaluable proof of concept for what it takes to drive strong regional growth. For all those helping to create the quality jobs of the future, Reinventing the Heartland is for you!'

Former mayor of Pittsburgh TOM MURPHY

'Technology, demographics, climate change, and globalization are re-ordering our personal lives, but also the competitiveness of cities. Civic leaders need to bring a curiosity, a nimbleness, and an appetite for risk—not simply protect the status quo—if their community is going to thrive. Reinventing the Heartland brilliantly captures these challenges...it is a must read for anyone that cares about the future of their community.'

Former deputy mayor of Chicago SAMIR MAYEKAR

'Economic development leaders need to read this book! A post-COVID playbook for inclusive growth, Reinventing the Heartland rings true even for big cities like Chicago which are also working to enhance their tech economies.'

APRIL 2025 - AudioFile

In a voice full of optimism and Midwestern "can-do" spirit, narrator Dan Bittner recounts how a midsized Midwest city transformed itself into an economic juggernaut. Until recently, Tulsa, Oklahoma, was largely dependent on the energy sector: gas and oil. In 2020, with his founding of Tulsa Innovation Labs (TIL), urbanist and social entrepreneur Nicholas Lalla set out to diversify the city's economy, turning it into a world-class 21st-century tech-savvy enterprise. In this audiobook he explains how businesses, higher education, and local governments can retool to attract the best inventors, entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists. Throughout, Bittner's tone reflects Lalla's personal mission: motivating communities to offer people not just jobs, but thriving futures. B.P. © AudioFile 2025, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID: 2940191937748
Publisher: HarperCollins Leadership
Publication date: 03/04/2025
Edition description: Unabridged
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