Innovators finding creative 'sweet spot' in North Idaho
Susan Schuler, the CEO of north Idaho startup ADLocal Value, pitches her startup before investors during an Innovation Collective pitch event in May. / PRESS file
Coeur d’Alene is proving to be a “sweet spot” for innovation.
The Innovation Collective, comprised of over 60 offices and 40,000 square feet between two “dens” on Lakeside Avenue, has become a community hub for startup founders and locally based companies that are scaling up on national levels.
Coeur d’Alene native Nick Smoot brought the space together in 2017 and has seen firsthand how North Idaho has long been a leader in the race to the latest technological developments — particularly in the fields of artificial intelligence and robotics.
“There is a constant flow of curious tech and innovation-minded experts coming into the community,” Smoot said. “It’s wild seeing these people come in from major tech hubs and the way they’re impacted by the friendliness, the tech talent, and the space itself.”
The Coeur d’Alene based company Continuous Composites, for example, has become a national leader in Continuous Fiber 3D Printing Technology, or CF3D. The company has even grabbed the attention of the US Army, Smoot said.
“They’re needed to produce specific things that only (Continuous Composites) can produce,” he added.
Companies like Continuous Composite are increasingly attractive as the country has entered what Smoot described as an “American defense Renaissance,” and a renewed push for American-made technologies.
“We proudly have some of the most important companies in that space,” Smoot said. “We’ve been doing it for over a decade in North Idaho.”
The North Idaho way of life also plays a significant role in drawing innovators in from larger metro areas.
“(We’re) very counterculture to many software-driven cities,” Smoot said.
The region’s reputation for being family-focused appears to be one of the most attractive elements of said counterculture.
“We’ve come to the end of that era where people ran the test of not having families,” Smoot explained. “Having a family is a special thing, it’s a different kind of fulfillment — and I think that’s what attracts people.”
