Rural Tech Hubs: Center on Rural Innovation

Empowering Rural Tech Innovation: Center on Rural Innovation

In recognition of our valued partners and their significant contributions to broadening economic opportunities, we conducted interviews with several quarterly grant recipients from the Nasdaq Foundation. These discussions delved into their responsibilities, personal histories, and the vital nature of their initiatives. We engaged with Matt Dunne, the founder and executive director of the Center on Rural Innovation (CORI), to explore their efforts in positioning rural America to spearhead the innovation economy. This involves cultivating tech-enabled ecosystems, linking entrepreneurs to funding via the CORI Innovation Fund, and providing AI-enhanced resources to help business owners succeed in a fast-changing marketplace.

Tell us about the Center on Rural Innovation. What is its core mission, and how does it empower economic opportunity in the communities you serve?

The Center on Rural Innovation (CORI) is dedicated to enabling rural America to take a leading role in the innovation economy. Over many years, factors such as automation, the decline of key industries, and restricted access to investment capital have sidelined rural areas from high-growth sectors. CORI is reversing this trend by fostering technology-driven economic prospects in small towns nationwide, allowing residents to create promising futures without leaving their hometowns.

CORI collaborates with rural communities to establish vibrant, technology-supported ecosystems. These initiatives bolster local entrepreneurs, enhance talent development pathways, and promote broad-based economic expansion. The organization targets the approximately 500 micropolitan areas across the U.S. (with populations between 10,000 and 50,000) that benefit from a four-year college within a 30-minute drive. It assists local leaders in implementing data-informed approaches, initiating technology training and entrepreneurial initiatives, and facilitating founder access to capital through the CORI Innovation Fund—a venture investment vehicle supporting scalable startups in rural settings. The Rural Innovation Network, which encompasses 43 communities in 25 states, functions as a nationwide platform for collaboration. Here, rural leaders exchange knowledge, develop solutions collectively, and expedite advancements. Through combined programs, research efforts, and investment capital, CORI delivers a comprehensive framework for unleashing innovation and economic potential in long-overlooked regions.

Can you share a moment when you saw the impact of the Center on Rural Innovation come to life? What change did that moment help spark in terms of financial empowerment?

A pivotal instance where CORI’s mission materialized was during our first national pitch competition, Small Towns, Big Ideas, held five years ago. Rural founders from various parts of America gathered on one platform for the first time, exchanging concepts, forging relationships, and demonstrating that top-tier innovation extends beyond urban tech centers. The victor, Kall Morris, Inc. from Marquette, Michigan, exemplified the potential when rural innovators receive exposure, funding, and ecosystem support. Specializing in orbital debris research and solutions within the aerospace field, this startup has expanded to 17 employees in central Marquette, secured pre-seed and seed investments, and obtained contracts from NASA, the U.S. Space Force, and the U.S. Air Force. Co-founder and CEO Morris noted, “The pitch event gave a vote of confidence to ourselves, and a signal to our supporters, that this dream of success in space wasn’t out-of-this-world.” Without this opportunity, early objectives and initial capital pursuits would not have been feasible, paving the way for sustained achievements.

This event marked a transformative juncture not just for Kall Morris but for CORI’s overall approach. It highlighted that financial empowerment frequently starts with targeted initial support: seed funding, professional networks, guidance, and affirmation that propel further prospects. Observing every participant, we recognized countless others possessing the skills and determination to establish valuable enterprises under comparable circumstances. Following this, interest from rural entrepreneurs has skyrocketed, the Rural Innovation Network has expanded significantly, and the CORI Innovation Fund has grown to back additional founders. The inaugural event validated that empowering rural talent can redefine innovation and economic advancement across the nation.

Your “AI Forward Studio” will equip rural tech entrepreneurs with AI-powered skills, mentorship, and startup education. What makes this program distinctive, and how do you anticipate the Nasdaq Foundation’s Quarterly Grant helping you measure and amplify its impact?

AI Forward Studio stands apart from conventional accelerators as it is tailored exclusively for rural founders and revolves around a fundamental principle: the most effective AI education occurs through practical application to authentic business challenges. Rather than theoretical instruction or broad surveys, participants dedicate 12 weeks to developing, experimenting with, and deploying AI-enhanced features, processes, or prototypes that immediately benefit their ventures. Each component—including intensive build phases, mentor-guided design workshops, and structured peer interactions—is crafted to transition entrepreneurs from ideas to functional prototypes or integrated AI solutions within a concise, guided timeframe. This practical, action-oriented setting mirrors the resourceful, efficient mindset of rural founders, who excel when provided with appropriate resources and communal support.

The program’s uniqueness stems from its status as our inaugural nationwide studio for rural innovators, all operating outside prominent tech corridors. By uniting founders from network-affiliated incubators and accelerators, it dismantles the isolation commonly experienced by rural entrepreneurs and forges enduring connections with peers, mentors, and experts attuned to rural innovation’s unique hurdles and strengths. Graduates emerge with operational AI tools, innovative frameworks and applications, and a sustained national network for ongoing collaboration.

The Nasdaq Foundation’s grant directly fuels both the studio’s execution and our capacity to evaluate and broadcast its outcomes. This funding allows us to monitor AI adoption in business enhancement, capture real-world applications from rural perspectives, and disseminate these narratives to inspire fellow entrepreneurs and investors.

What’s one surprising insight or strategy your team has discovered that’s opened up new possibilities for the people you serve to grow their businesses and build more secure financial futures?

A striking revelation influencing our efforts is the rapid adoption of AI by rural founders to advance their visions and streamline operations within lean teams. This was evident in our Small Towns, Big Ideas competitions. In 2024, Catie McVey of CowTech Analytics—a startup employing computer vision and AI for bovine genetic analysis—revealed that AI propelled her ahead of schedule, achieving in hours what previously demanded weeks of development. The 2025 event showcased elevated startup caliber, with all finalists integrating AI. The champion, Authsnap, harnesses AI to address inefficient medical claim denials, which burden healthcare systems and patients with billions in annual losses.

This evolution from AI awareness to active implementation has unlocked pathways to financial stability. Through targeted applications like automating inefficiencies, prototyping products, or optimizing workflows, founders witness immediate benefits: cost reductions, capacity increases, and revenue stabilization. These concrete gains are crucial for small or solo operations juggling diverse responsibilities. This insight now informs AI Forward Studio’s structure, forging a step-by-step route to enduring growth and security.

What lasting impact do you hope the Center on Rural Innovation will help shape in the communities you serve?

Our guiding vision is a tech economy that is inclusive and robust, where rural individuals not only participate digitally but compete and excel within it. Presently, most micropolitan communities in our Rural Innovation Network enjoy superior broadband infrastructure. With AI reshaping business landscapes, our focus is elevating these areas from connectivity to competitiveness via skill-building, ecosystem development, and capital pathways essential for tech-centric prosperity.

In the future, our enduring influence will be gauged by rural communities’ possession of data, instruments, and collaborative strength to direct their economic destinies. This encompasses establishing on-site incubators, tech training programs, and physical innovation centers fostering technologist gatherings. It also involves equipping leaders with comprehensive research and data for strategic choices in workforce, entrepreneurship, and sustainability—facilitated by the Rural Innovation Network’s shared learning platform. We aspire to a paradigm where rural locales are acknowledged as innovation powerhouses, mirroring the daily reality of vibrant ingenuity, talent, and creativity in America’s small towns. True inclusivity demands centering rural voices, and CORI commits to providing the essential tools, networks, and chances for their leadership.