We sat down with Harrison Leffel-Jones, Development Director of the Lansing Regional SmartZone, who attended and spoke at the 37^th Annual International Conference on Business Incubation hosted in Downtown Detroit. Harrison was joined by Joe Carr, Vice President for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at LEAP. Continue reading to learn more about his experience at the conference.

What conference did you attended in Detroit?
Joe Carr and I attended the INBIA (International Business Incubator Association) Annula Conference. This conference was a great opportunity to network with other entrepreneur support organizations (ESOs) from around the country and the world. The focus around the conference was continuing to adapt and innovate to meet the needs of our entrepreneur clients. The days were filled mostly with interactive panel discussions and opportunities to visit local incubators.

Why did you go?
The Lansing Regional SmartZone and LEAP have been iterating and trying new ways of working with high-tech clients from the Greater Lansing Region. As part of our attendance, I organized a panel discussion about managing entrepreneur ecosystems through times of change. The focus being on stakeholder engagement and achieving shared goals. I was joined by Joe Carr from LEAP, April Boyle-Jones of Velocity Center, and Jordan Turner from the City of Grand Rapids, all of whom have played a vital role in transitioning their SmartZones.

What was your favorite part?
Meeting likeminded professionals from around the country really pushes the boundaries on what is possible for the Greater Lansing Region. There is a ton of innovation occurring in how to support entrepreneurs. It is also great to see how Detroit was featured as a success story of how entrepreneurship has fueled the turn around of that city.

What’s next?
Taking these learning and applying them to our region and planning for the future. One of the key learnings was pushing each of us to define what success looks like. Not only is it crucial to define success but the metrics which guide what success looks like. Highlighting the work that the Lansing Regional SmartZone and LEAP are doing provides a great opportunity for others to learn about our region and how we can be stronger together across the state, country, and world in supporting entrepreneurs.