InnovateUM: A Community Festival for Innovation

Solution:

InnovateUM was designed to be a celebration of innovation in Missoula, Montana, serving as a beacon for those interested in furthering an innovation economy that drives workforce, economic, and housing development.

Holly launched the festival and grew its impact over three years. The first year focused on “turning on the light”—gathering the community and sparking interest. The second year emphasized promising tactical strategies from Montana, INTEL, Google, and other hubs of innovation, while the third year mobilized the community into action.

In its third year, InnovateUM introduced a co-creation lab, where more than 180 participants from diverse backgrounds collaborated to envision a new innovation corridor for the community. The ideas generated were so compelling that the City of Missoula, University of Montana, and Missoula Economic Partnership joined forces to bring them into their innovation ecosystem and corridor building collaboration.