Heartland Economic Intelligence

The Opportunity

Heartland Forward is a "think-and-do tank" targeting $500M in economic impact for heartland communities by 2030. Unlike pure policy shops, they run real programs: the Builders + Backers Idea Accelerator has put 854 entrepreneurs through cohorts across 13 states, launching 263 ventures. Their broadband initiative connected 120,000 previously unserved households to high-speed internet, enrolled 230,000+ households in the FCC's Affordable Connectivity Program, and delivered digital skills training to 20,000 residents. They secured a $1.5M Department of Labor grant for their Nursing Pathways workforce program. And in 2025, they received $40.5M from the People First AI Fund specifically to deploy AI for economic development — an enormous sum for an organization with no known engineering staff.

Proposal

The Problem Today

Heartland Forward runs ambitious programs that generate real data — 854 entrepreneur cohort alumni across 13 states, 120,000 broadband connections, $1.8M+ in grants disbursed — but they track outcomes manually through reports and spreadsheets. The Builders + Backers team knows their 84% retention rate and that 70% of the Winter 2023 cohort launched or grew ventures, but connecting these outcomes to long-term economic impact requires data infrastructure they don't have. Their broadband initiative connected households but can't systematically measure the downstream economic effects — did connectivity lead to new businesses, higher incomes, better educational outcomes?

The $40.5M People First AI Fund grant creates both an opportunity and an urgency problem. They've publicly committed to "focus on AI in 2025" but appear to have no technical team to build with. The money is designated for deploying AI for economic development, not for research papers. They need production data tools, not consultants who write slide decks.

What We'd Build

Entrepreneur Outcomes Tracking System

The Builders + Backers program has 854 alumni across 13 states with 263 ventures launched — that's training data for understanding what makes heartland entrepreneurship work. An automated pipeline that tracks cohort outcomes over time: venture survival rates, revenue growth, employment created, follow-on funding raised. Prediction models identify which venture types and community contexts produce the strongest returns, letting Heartland Forward allocate resources where they'll have the most impact. Alumni network analysis surfaces mentorship matches — connecting a successful food tech founder in Arkansas with a struggling one in Ohio. Demographics tracking (57% women, 74% BIPOC currently) becomes systematic rather than manually compiled for annual reports.

Broadband Economic Impact Analytics

A GIS-based analytics layer that correlates broadband connectivity data with economic outcomes at the county and census tract level. The system ingests: FCC broadband deployment data, ACP enrollment records, Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data, Census Bureau income and business formation data, and educational outcome metrics. Machine learning models identify which types of connectivity interventions (fiber vs. fixed wireless, digital skills training vs. hardware subsidies) produce the strongest economic uplift in which community contexts. Interactive maps let policymakers and funders explore the data — showing, for example, that counties where Heartland Forward deployed fiber AND digital skills training saw 2x the business formation rate of fiber-only counties.

AI Workforce Readiness Platform

With $40.5M designated for AI deployment, Heartland Forward needs tools that match workforce training programs to actual employer demand in heartland communities. The system analyzes: job postings from Indeed/LinkedIn filtered to heartland metros, Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational projections, community college and training program catalogs, and employer surveys. ML models identify skills gaps — where employer demand outstrips training supply — and recommend high-impact upskilling pathways. The platform serves both the individual level (which skills should a displaced manufacturing worker in Indiana learn?) and the policy level (which training investments produce the best employment outcomes across the 13-state footprint?).

Build Phases