Sponsored: SEEDS conference highlights the future of jobs and entrepreneurship in the digital age

The Southeast Entrepreneurship and Economic Development Symposium (SEEDS) returns in November for its second annual conference.

The event is a collaboration between the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce and Southeast Missouri State University’s Harrison College of Business and Computing and brings together business and community leaders for presentations regarding trends in the Southeast Missouri economy. The year’s event, presented by Mayson Capital Partners, will be held Thursday, Nov. 14 at the Drury Plaza Conference Center.

Mo Collins, director of entrepreneurship at the International Economic Development Council (IEDC), will give the keynote address.

Collins told B Magazine the IEDC, with almost 5,000 members, is the largest global economic development membership organization. She said the organization certifies economic developers and launched a global certification in entrepreneurship development in the past two and a half years.

Collins, who has owned three businesses in her lifetime, will speak on innovations in technology in terms of being on the “cusp of seeing fundamental and profound shifts in where jobs are.”

“I want us to be proactive, and entrepreneurship is one way to do that,” Collins said. “What I am going to be talking about is that we are at this cusp of fundamental and profound economic change. We've already had one wave based upon technology innovation.”

She said we’re now witnessing the second wave of technological innovation, such as AI (Artificial Intelligence), virtual reality and the Internet of Things; a network of physical devices that can transfer data to one another without human intervention.

Community leaders, Collins said, must get in front of the change to understand it and the impact it will have on citizens, jobs and how people work. Additionally, there will be a need to “shepherd” people through the changes. Many future jobs will come from entrepreneurship.

“The best example of that is AI, right? It's only been around for what, 18 months, 20 months, and we're all seeing it begin to transform how we do business. Every industry is using it to some extent,” Collins said. “I think we're going to see some profound shifts across industries, and those shifts are predictable. It's incumbent upon us in the economic development field to know that it's coming.”

Collins said even the COVID-19 pandemic lent a hand to innovation and entrepreneurship. There were record numbers of people starting businesses during that time, which turned around a trend of declining entrepreneurship. Innovation and the upward trend of entrepreneurship have given all people an opportunity to participate in the economy.

Along with technological innovation, many barriers to starting a business have been eliminated. Collins said that when she started her first business, she couldn’t secure a loan without a male co-signer. Part of the reason she started her first business was because a boyfriend told her she couldn’t.

“All those walls are falling. And the same is true with minorities and immigrants who are starting businesses. The rate and pace of people who are starting companies has dramatically increased,” Collins said.

Part of the barriers to entry falling is due to technological innovation enabling people to work remotely and participate in "side hustles" as a part of the gig economy. Collins said that the same innovation has enabled people with disabilities or who take care of families to explore a passion or expertise.

Cape Chamber president Rob Gilligan said he thinks business leaders will find value in hearing from Collins, among the other speakers, at the event.

“Cape Girardeau has a great history and legacy of success with entrepreneurs,” Gilligan wrote in an email to B Magazine. “Mo’s expertise in the role that entrepreneurship plays in a broader economic development plan will give business and community leaders more insight into the need and opportunities we have to support continued growth.”

The event also features a regional economic update from Charles Gascon, senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Featured speakers discussing natural resources and the regional economy include moderator and Missouri Highway Commission chair Dustin Boatwright, Charles Kruse Farms president Charles Kruse speaking on Agriculture, East Perry Lumber Co.’s timber/log procurement manager Tommy Petzoldt speaking on forestry, Buzzi Unicem Cape Girardeau plant manager Craig Conklin speaking on mining and U.S. Strategic Metals commercial director Mike Hollomon speaking on mining.

There will also be an entrepreneurship fireside chat with Brian Treece who is former mayor of Columbia, Missouri and vice president of strategy and development at Equipment Share.

The symposium will begin at 10 a.m. and conclude by 2:30 p.m., with doors opening at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 14, at the Drury Plaza Conference Center.