Randall Kempner

Vice President for Regional Innovation, Council on Competitiveness

As Vice President of Regional Innovation at the Council on Competitiveness, Randall Kempner is focused on helping regions develop and implement economic strategies to succeed in the global economy. As Vice President of Regional Innovation at the Council on Competitiveness, Randall Kempner is focused on helping regions develop and implement economic strategies to succeed in the global economy.

“In our global economy, place matters more than ever,” Randall says. “People might find this counterintuitive, but even as technology, capital and knowledge diffuse internationally, the levers of national prosperity are, in fact, becoming more localized.”

Kempner should know. He has over a decade of experience in the field of national and international development consulting having directed regional economic development initiatives across the U.S. as well as competitiveness projects in Bermuda, Colombia, El Salvador, and Peru.

From Kempner’s view, talented people and new ideas have become the most critical drivers of economic growth. “While the U.S. has many successful regions,” he says, “America is also home to many areas that do not offer the environment necessary to support productive firms—and the higher salaries those firms offer. We are becoming a land of innovation haves and have-nots.”

Sustained job and wage growth is dependent upon maintaining a dynamic regional environment that incubates companies that invest in and apply innovation. Kempner argues that the primary locus of innovative activities is at the regional level – where companies, workers, universities, and government most closely intersect.

“Every region,” Kempner says, “can leverage its own unique assets—particularly its knowledge and talent base—to create greater prosperity. Some do it more robustly than others. My job is to foster and encourage the development of regional clusters as a means to economic prosperity across the nation.”

Acting Regionally to Compete Globally

Addressing our regional challenges requires a shift away from traditional economic development models towards an innovation-based system. To catalyze this shift, the Council on Competitiveness launched the Regional Innovation Initiative [RII].

Instead of low-wage rates and tax incentives, regions in industrialized countries compete today on the quality of their skilled workforce and should provide incentives that catalyze innovation, not simply new jobs. Kemper argues that to reach their full potential, communities must collaborate with other communities and with private and public partners.

To guide the development of innovation-based strategies, RII has adopted three ‘C’s’—create, communicate and catalyze. As an advocate of RII, Kempner focuses on assisting federal, state, and local governments to implement pro-innovation policies as well as inspiring private-sector leaders to adopt innovation-based economic development strategies.

“RII is the focal point of the Council on Competitiveness’ efforts to expand our message to more regions and reach more leaders in the private, public, university, labor and non-profit sectors,” says Kempner.

RII objectives also include providing tools and techniques that allow states and regions to inventory, evaluate and benchmark innovation assets as well as supporting a forum for business, academia, government, and supporting organizations to build partnerships by sharing new ideas and best practices. In Rhode Island, the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation is presently using the Council’s regional innovation assessment tool to evaluate the state economy.

“An important first step for economic and community development policy-makers is recognizing the prosperity-creating power of innovation,” Kempner says. “Regional ability to transform new ideas and new knowledge into advanced, high-quality products and services will keep our nation stable and competitive long into the 21st century. Think of it as growing the economy from the grassroots.”