Curiosity Lab’s Next Chapter: Emily Heintz on Building a Curated Innovation Ecosystem

WEBVTT
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Urban abb is a gateway to the heart of our
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local small cities. Urban abb covers urban life and planning, culture,
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innovative city initiatives, programs, development and politics. Here people talk
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about their passions and interests and share their opinions and stories.
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It's a conversation we can all learn from.
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Hi.
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Everyone, this is Rico Figuliolini, hosts of urban abb podcast.
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We do here in the city of Pea Street Corners
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just north of Atlanta. Have a great guest today.
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We're here at a Curiosity Lab and Emily Hines, who's
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the executive director, is with me.
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Hey Emily, Hey, glad to be here. So exciting.
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Appreciate you make the time for me.
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Yeah, definitely.
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Curiosity Lab's been here for o I can't even keep
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track how many years right now.
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Yeah, it's just over five years.
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Yeah, that's what it was like. And you just joined
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in November I.
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Think yep, yeah, mid November, so you're catching me eight
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weeks in.
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This is the best part now, So we have this
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conversation going and we're going to be discussing your experience
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and stuff like that.
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So hopefully, yeah, it'll be good.
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Yeah.
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Well, I want to find out a little bit about
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the Michigan girl if we well, she's from Michigan Sevil.
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Yeah, well that way right.
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I moved down here from Michigan about a year ago,
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and my husband had been working down in the Alpharetta
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area for about fifteen years and then his company got
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acquired and they were like, you should move down and
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so we were like, all right, And I've been really
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tied in with the tech community in Michigan and in
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the Midwest generally, So I was like, really, you know,
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like a die hard fan of the startup community in
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the Midwest, and so I was like a little bit reticent.
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I was kind of like really digging my nails in
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not the way down. But it's been really great. I
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feel like it's so true what they say with like
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Southern Hospital, Like everyone we meet, it was just like.
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Why don't you come over to my house for dinner?
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Why don't you like, oh.
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We're having a party on Friday, come you know. So
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I feel like it's been a pretty a pretty easy
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transition from.
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New York myself, so it's the transition for me was
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also a little tough. And we moved here in ninety five,
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getting people waving at us as we were driving to
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the subdivision the first few weeks, I was like, honey,
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do we know them? You know, it's like now we
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don't know them, but people all friendly down here. I
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don't think it's changed too much.
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It's funny too, because I feel like you run into
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people a lot and let you like hear that are
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like we went to down to the beach for like
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a long weekend and we like ran into a bunch
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of people that my son went to school with, and
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we're just like, man that like the community is like
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really tight knit.
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Which we went to Edgewater Beach like Panama City area.
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And like, so it was kind of it was cool
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because we'd never we've never lived in a place where
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you can just drive for a long weekend of the ocean,
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and so we were like we were like, you know what,
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now that we're down.
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Here, let's just like go chi the Great Lakes of Michigan.
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I mean yeah, yeah, So we spent a lot of
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time on the lakes in Michigan. So it's like good
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to find like that close replacement where you can like
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just to drive for a long weekend and stuff.
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I have cousins in to Trent and they drive all
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the way down to Florida and they do that long
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drive for gob blast time.
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I can't do that, rude.
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So, so you've been here and you you your background
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has been start ups, big bit of government.
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Yeah, yeah, I actually I originally I have my master's
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in accounting, and I had originally when I was like graduating,
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I had all the pap in my step of like
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being like, I'm going to be the partner of an
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accounting firm one day. And then I realized, like two
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and a half years later, I was like, this is
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not the career move for me.
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Can you two and a half years out of school?
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Yeah?
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And I was like I And so I had my
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quarter life crist and I ended up going to work
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at ann Arbor Spark, which is the economic development organization
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for Washington County, which is where the city of ann
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Arbor is, where University of Michigan is, and they focused
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a lot on the high tech community because there's University
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of Michigan's a great research institution and they spent out
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a lot of really cutting edge technologies and there's a
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lot of venture capitalists that graduate from the business school there,
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and so that they have a really vibrant tech community
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in that area. So that was kind of my first
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taste of like the high tech community like startups and
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like angel investing, and then and then economic development as well.
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And I think at the time, it was right around
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the the you know, when the autos kind of the
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economy kind of tanked and the autos weren't doing good
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and people are getting laid off everywhere and being in
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accounting and I was an auditor, you know, we were
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going into all of these different businesses like nitpicking them
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while they were down, and so it was kind of.
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Yeah, the death of it, I get you, yeah, pretty much.
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Yeah, And I feel like it was kind of a
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dark time in Michigan, especially just because the autos are
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like right there. So going into economic development and sort
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of seeing like everyone's like so so excited about like
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helping businesses grow and helping connect people to resources and
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just like people developing companies and technologies that you're just
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like like it's like a really positive, like exciting feeling
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and you're just seeing these like technologies that you're like,
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how do you do that? Like that's amazing, you know.
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So yeah, so it was just like a great and
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so I kind of was able to transition from being
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like out of accounting more into doing a lot of
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like business acceleration work, early stage funding, and and like
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getting working more closely with startup in venture capital community.
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But I then the chair of our board became the
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governor of Michigan, So it was like kind of one
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of and he was a former venture capitalist and he
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after he got elected, it was just like one of
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these funny things. We were just like, Raak is going
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to be the governor. Now, like that's how does that
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even happen? Like I feel like I was unaware of
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the cold campaign process and.
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He's someone that you know, the other side of also
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yeah governor.
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Yeah, You're just like, wait, are you sure you want
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to do that?
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You know?
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But we so then a few people went up to
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the state level. So I went up and was running
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two hundred and fifty million dollars venture capital fund of
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funds in Michigan that would invest directly in venture capital
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funds and in early stage startups that were with the
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goal of more business development and technology development in the
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state of Michigan.
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Did you find that to be more heavily in the
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automobile industry because of Michigan and stuff.
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And partially yeah, partially so like mobility and like mobility
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is like a big sector in Michigan. And it it's
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interesting because I feel like the poll wasn't necessarily coming
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from the large auto the large auto companies, but it
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was almost like the engineers and things that had experience
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within the auto industry.
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Were then seeing things and being like, you know.
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I think that we could do this better, do that better,
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and we're kind of spinning companies out after leaving the autos.
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And we also saw like after the economic downturn, there
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was a lot of like people who got laid off
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from the like the large auto companies and then were like,
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you know, I've always wanted to start a business, why
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not now. So there was a lot of like early stage,
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early stage mobility companies at the time, but we have
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a lot of like software type companies as well, so
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and a lot of life science and biotech as well.
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But yeah, so that was so that was kind of
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my I got more into a venture and then was
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really involved in venture capital for a long time after that,
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and even after leaving the state and then I started
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my own business. I kind of became known for doing
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a lot of like research and analysis on like venture
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capital trends and emerging technologies, and so I would do
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an annual research report on that, and I kind of
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like started in my own company.
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So, so you were building your authority in the field,
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I guess, yeah, right, So okay, so let's move forward
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a little bit.
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They're doing your thing and you're.
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Moving you have your company did was what did you
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do after that?
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Just before coming here?
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Yeah, So I actually had decided to sort of like
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wind down my company a little bit, like we went
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through the pandemic, and I was, like, I thought, I
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felt like it was a good time to kind of
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like take a step back from it and not be
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doing that full time or more than full time. As
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every founder, yes, sure, for sure, Yeah, anymore business, it's
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never not too far.
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Yeah.
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Yeah, So I had I had been close with a
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lot of the early stage companies that were starting back
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when I was in an Arbor, like when I first
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came to an Arbor, and so one of the company's
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skyspucks had I had been close with the founders and
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kept in touch with them throughout the years, had participated
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in various ways and funding rounds of theirs they had
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gotten to be larger, like a larger company, and so
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I was like meeting with one of the founders and
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it was just like you know, chit chat about business
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and being founders and like working through different problems and things.
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And he was like, you know, you could work, come
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work at sky Spucks and I was like, maybe that
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would be interesting. So I was the director of business
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intelligence at sky Specs. They're an autonomous drone company that
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is SPEC's wind turbines. So they's spect about sixty six
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percent of the wind turbines globally. That's amazing, Yeah, super fun.
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Like most people don't know how big those turbines because
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you see from a distance, you don't realize how huge
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this thing is.
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And the ones that you see on land are like
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actually the smallest version of them. The ones that are
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like out in the ocean are like huge r nine
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times as big.
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Just a propeller itself is probably I don't know how
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many stories big.
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Yeah.
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Yeah, there's like all these videos that you can find
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like on YouTube or whatever, of them trying to transport
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them through these like areas because they're remote, you know, like.
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And one propeller at a time, and then you got
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to bring it out that to put it together.
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Yeah, and then if you put together a tiny bit wrong,
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the whole thing is messed up.
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Yeah, so I think we'd start flying off.
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Yeah.
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And it was interesting because they did not used to
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do inspections with drones. Obviously, they would do them manually,
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and it's really dangerous to go up and there's you know,
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the risk of lightning strike and like all of these
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other things, and people typically would only would not necessarily
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even inspect the turbine. So we like once the so
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what you said, technology.
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Autonomous drones, so they would just go up there, they'd
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be programmed to be able to do what they needed
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to do. They would just go up on a regular basis. Yeah,
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we'll check it out. Yeah, you come back down and
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send it on.
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Yeah, you got it.
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I mean the comedy, you know, it makes me wonder something.
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I see these TikTok videos. These people sometimes they're at
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the very top and you see this wide angle look
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at the ocet and it's like, I don't think I want.
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To do it. Chocolate.
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Yeah, it is really interesting because it is like a
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kind of a dangerous profession for somebody to actually climb
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to the top of one of these and like they
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But then we were finding there was a lot of
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drone pilots. You still do need an actual license pilot
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to like even be on the ground to like monitor
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it and take over if something happened. And a lot
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of those those people are like you know, ex military,
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they're coming out of the Air Force and.
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The and these aren't small. I mean they're not the Yeah,
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yeah they're big. Yeah, they pick up a roomless size
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maybe or something right now.
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Yeah, they're probably about like four or five.
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Because they have to navigate the winds in the Yeah,
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but it goes up on its own and then like
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inspects the entire thing and you know, using a lot
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of different types of like technologies that are attached to
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the drone and stuff. So it's so it's been very interesting.
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So now you hear a curiosity lab. Yeah, you get hired,
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you're you moved or you moved you've been here? Yeah,
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what I guess, I guess. You know, obviously you made
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that change. What do you find? You know, some of
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that takes a job like this, right wants to be
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able to expand what's happening.
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There's a future that you see.
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I mean you've been exposed to so many different tech
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stuff out there.
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I don't know, were you at these Consumer.
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Electronics Yeah, yeah, there's a lot of stuff out there.
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Yeah, it's right bizarre.
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Yes, I mean they are definitely bizarre things out there.
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Like I wouldn't even have known that was a thing. Yeah.
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If you want to know what those bizarre, just go
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on TikTok or Instagram. You'll see this bizarre. It's like
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who would buy that? Like the lollipop that will actually
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make music for you? I mean so one of those
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is like, who's gonna buy that? It's just like those
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are just.
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Dumb things for me.
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But yeah, there's a lot of stuff out there, right,
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and think things you don't even see. I mean this
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stuff at the defense shows that consumers don't even say
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that are out there.
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It's like, wow, doing that already. Yeah.
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I think things like the Consumer Electronics show are really interesting.
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You know. I was a little skeptical going because it
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can be just the bizarre and like all of that.
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But I think it's one of those things where you
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can really see where different industries are headed. So you're
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you're going and you're not and not a lot of
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those the products are necessarily like ready commercially ready for
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purchase by consumers, even though it's consumer electronics show, but
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it was. It's like one of those things where you're
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seeing something and they're really they're really like pushing the
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limit of their industry. You know, you're seeing like robots
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who are dancing and robots who are folding laundry, and
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different applications on cars for just even people that are
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camping that want to see a movie view it on
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their car while they're you know, so a lot of
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those things. But you can see kind of like the
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direction that the industry is going in when you get
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that density of people coming from all over the world
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at a conference.
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It's like five hundred thousand people go to that.
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Cort crazy tell that different hotels and stuff is not
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just one big grand place. Yeah, exclusive, invite only type
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of things yeah and stuff. Yeah.
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And that's so what did you find that you could
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bring here? Did you s?
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Yeah?
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The thing that you'd like to bring?
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Well, I judged a couple of pitch competitions while I
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was there. From there was a large Korean presence there,
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so a lot of and where they had a lot
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of their national government and local governments and also brought
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companies as well as like the larger companies there were
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featured in the same area. So they they Kotra, which
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is an innovation group within Korea, had asked me to
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judge a pitch competition and and even through that, you're
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seeing companies that are they're looking for a way to
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navigate into the US market, and that's why they had
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such a large presence. So I think a lot of
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conversations where you're talking to companies that are maybe large
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established companies in another country but are not located here
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yet and are kind of trying to figure out like
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what the best landing path is. And I think like
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that's something that like Curiosity Labs like a great entry
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way for them into the United States, and so like
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capturing that grouping of people is really interesting to me.
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Of just companies that are coming here and they like
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want to put you know, even just three people where
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we're like, Okay, you can come to the lab, you
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can rent space for your innovation team who's doing their
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their specking, and of this community, you can work closely
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with us and with the city of Peachtree Corners to
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kind of understand the regulatory environment and things like that,
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and then the more embedded that they get, they're building
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those relationships. You know, the Atlanta Airport is a great
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international hub, like people are like, oh, we can get
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a direct flight there, or as close to direct as possible.
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For some of these countries that are really far away.
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It's like they know, like you've got the large city,
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but it's kind of like we're an easier pathway for
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a lot of them to start getting used to the
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area before they expanded.
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And we've had like Ukraine, I think there were five
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drone companies that came here at last year, maybe demos here.
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We've had half a dozen Israeli companies startups come here
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to do stuff. So for sure there's an attraction. Right,
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things are changing a little bit, right where is it?
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The compute edge is another thing that's happening where you
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want everything closer to what the IoT that's going on, right,
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Internet for everything or whatever.
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Internet, Yeah, you can't have autonomous vehicles if you're gonna
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put that data off, send it somewhere and then come back,
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it has to be really close to where it's operating, right,
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So you know, doing that stuff and showing that how
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do you invite them here?
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Do you like, Yeah, we've been working I mean even
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in the last eight weeks, it's been like high kind
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of like really fast paced where we have been working
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a lot in our deployment process because when we start
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talking to a company about about coming to work here,
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we want to make sure that they're aligned with the
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sectors we are closest in or that we have relationships with.
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We want to make sure that there's like a genuine
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interest in alignment in locating themselves in the city of
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Peachtree Corners that that makes sense for us that like
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the deployment if they want to test a technology here,
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is it something that's like beneficial to residents, is it
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something that is feasible for us to work with them on.
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And then when we kind of get through that vetting process,
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that's when we kind of when we build project plan
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with them of how they're going to install or deploy
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their technology and how long the testing period is and stuff.
376
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And so I mean, you're able to build these great
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relationships with these companies that are looking to expand here,
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and then they are building their network through Curiosity Lab,
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which is just like a great and I mean, I
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think we didn't really touch on it, but I feel
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like that was like one of the things that kind
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of attracted me to this position, as just like it's
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very rare to see kind of like government working so
384
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well with the tech sector. And I've had kind of
385
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I've sat on sort of all sides of that table.
386
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Like I've been a founder. I've been in venture capital
387
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where you're like vetting businesses to make money, you know.
388
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I've been at government institutions and like worked with a
389
00:19:33.279 --> 00:19:37.279
lot of people in government, and I've worked you know,
390
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and I worked at a growth stage tech company and
391
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can kind of see things from all those things, and
392
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so there's from all those different points of view, and
393
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so when you're coming in and you see like how
394
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they really are trying to align all of those things
395
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within this innovation center and within tech park and trying
396
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to connect those things with the tech community, it's been
397
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it was like really unique and really interesting and kind
398
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of I get to do like a lot of different things,
399
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which is not accounties.
400
00:20:10.720 --> 00:20:12.599
I can't even imagine my parents wanted me to be
401
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an account I was like, I'm not going to do that.
402
00:20:14.799 --> 00:20:17.599
Yeah, I think it's my dad's an account and my
403
00:20:17.599 --> 00:20:20.119
mom was an art teacher. So I feel like I
404
00:20:20.119 --> 00:20:22.960
came by it honestly, where like I am like very
405
00:20:23.000 --> 00:20:26.000
detail oriented and like like things to be specific, but
406
00:20:26.039 --> 00:20:29.799
then also like the creative side where and this.
407
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Is where you can do that.
408
00:20:31.640 --> 00:20:34.880
You need that imagination because there'll be tech startups coming
409
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to you and they'll be like, can we do this here?
410
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And you'll be like, maybe we've never done.
411
00:20:38.839 --> 00:20:41.279
That here, but that doesn't mean we can't do it here,
412
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and they're going to have to be creative on how
413
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to do it right as I mean, I know you've
414
00:20:45.799 --> 00:20:47.880
only been here like two months, Bailey.
415
00:20:48.680 --> 00:20:51.400
But I have a lot of opinions generally, so it's fine.
416
00:20:51.440 --> 00:20:59.160
Good good leadership needs opinions. Yes, so here some of that.
417
00:21:00.119 --> 00:21:03.559
What what do you think, well, okay, let's do this.
418
00:21:04.480 --> 00:21:07.319
What would you say to someone that's not being said
419
00:21:07.400 --> 00:21:09.079
now about curiosity Lamp?
420
00:21:10.240 --> 00:21:13.000
Would I say, will clarify so I don't say the
421
00:21:13.039 --> 00:21:16.720
wrong thing. That's like they said they were not going
422
00:21:16.799 --> 00:21:18.519
to be a got your cluestions on here?
423
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I should have prepped you for that one. That's just kidding.
424
00:21:22.480 --> 00:21:24.680
So when you think about curiosity, Lamb, I mean this
425
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is the mobility track that's three miles is everything really that?
426
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You know when a pea tree corners, when citizens and
427
00:21:31.480 --> 00:21:34.960
Peachree corners hear this, which is kind of two audiences, right.
428
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You have the citizens of peach recrners that want to
429
00:21:37.759 --> 00:21:41.039
support what the city is doing. Yeah, mayor city council,
430
00:21:41.160 --> 00:21:44.640
city manager. They all have big ideas of what this
431
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city can do. It's a smart city as an autonomous
432
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leading the autonomous vehicle area maybe in a way experimentation
433
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and stuff. And then you have that other audience of
434
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startups that why should I come there? A type of deal.
435
00:21:59.759 --> 00:22:02.400
So there's two ways of talking about curiosity lab right.
436
00:22:02.440 --> 00:22:06.160
One is to the citizenry saying what are we doing here?
437
00:22:06.240 --> 00:22:08.039
Why is this beneficial.
438
00:22:07.920 --> 00:22:09.039
To the to the city?
439
00:22:09.200 --> 00:22:12.759
Yeah, you know, and the other side is why is
440
00:22:12.759 --> 00:22:15.559
the city beneficial to that startup to come here? And
441
00:22:15.599 --> 00:22:17.559
you were talking a little bit about that, how we're
442
00:22:17.599 --> 00:22:20.240
really good about about working together.
443
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Red tape is cut pretty much?
444
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Yeah, I think, I mean, I would say a lot
445
00:22:26.039 --> 00:22:31.279
of the goals are are aligned, like they might not
446
00:22:31.680 --> 00:22:34.480
seem that way to sometimes where you're you know, you're
447
00:22:34.480 --> 00:22:37.759
describing the two audiences, but really like it's like the
448
00:22:37.880 --> 00:22:38.880
startup community.
449
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What I even first got excited about it is that
450
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how it's all about like growth and it really is
451
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a local business and so like. So I mean that's
452
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one of the reasons why I didn't want to leave Michigan.
453
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I was like, I don't know anyone down in Atlanta,
454
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like you mean, you work. The startup community, the venture
455
00:22:56.799 --> 00:23:01.680
capital community, the local research institutions, the local high tech
456
00:23:01.720 --> 00:23:06.240
talent all works so closely together in a geographic area
457
00:23:06.319 --> 00:23:09.119
because you have to work, You have to work like
458
00:23:09.279 --> 00:23:12.640
day in, day out together and build that community. So
459
00:23:12.799 --> 00:23:18.160
I think that it really is so focused on a
460
00:23:18.200 --> 00:23:22.200
local region. So like City of Peachtree Corners bringing all
461
00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:26.079
of the like the Curiosity Lab ecosystem together to build
462
00:23:26.119 --> 00:23:30.400
businesses here and build those relationships. There is a lot
463
00:23:30.400 --> 00:23:33.519
of sticking point there. Where a company starts here, they
464
00:23:33.559 --> 00:23:36.279
build all the relationships here. They know the investors here,
465
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they know the talent base here, they know T Mobile upstairs,
466
00:23:41.119 --> 00:23:43.880
they know Georgia Tech is located in the atrium.
467
00:23:43.960 --> 00:23:44.160
You know.
468
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They it makes it hard for them to be like, oh,
469
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I'm just going to pick up and move to Michigan
470
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or whatever.
471
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You know.
472
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So It's like there is a level of stickiness there
473
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that I think makes Peachtree Corners a really exciting place
474
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to be located. And also, you know, as you see
475
00:24:02.440 --> 00:24:07.000
these businesses grow and it really is sort of a vibrant.
476
00:24:06.680 --> 00:24:08.880
Portion of business. You know, you don't want to be
477
00:24:09.440 --> 00:24:11.960
just a bedroom community that people buy houses in but
478
00:24:12.000 --> 00:24:14.759
they don't work in. And so I think those goals
479
00:24:14.839 --> 00:24:18.440
are aligned where you are seeing these sort of vibrant
480
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business people, Like vibrant businesses start in and I think
481
00:24:24.440 --> 00:24:28.599
they find Peachtree Corners attractive just from an ease of
482
00:24:28.680 --> 00:24:31.759
doing business. But then I think like the they live
483
00:24:31.839 --> 00:24:35.240
here also and there and like residents are seeing these
484
00:24:35.279 --> 00:24:38.640
businesses start in their area and they can you know,
485
00:24:38.759 --> 00:24:42.599
say like hey, like kids look this like cool technology
486
00:24:42.680 --> 00:24:45.000
and like kind of future proof a little bit of
487
00:24:45.079 --> 00:24:45.920
the economy.
488
00:24:46.000 --> 00:24:48.960
So sure, when you have schools like Wesleyan here, private
489
00:24:48.960 --> 00:24:51.519
school that does it feeds a lot of sports, but
490
00:24:51.599 --> 00:24:54.319
also a lot of art and technology, kids that are
491
00:24:54.319 --> 00:24:57.119
really big into that stuff, and great Atlanta Christian and
492
00:24:58.000 --> 00:25:01.200
Georgia Tech is with the Atrium here. Just the connections
493
00:25:01.200 --> 00:25:03.079
of what's going on here. Some of the big companies,
494
00:25:03.359 --> 00:25:05.440
some of the startups that I've grown out of here
495
00:25:05.519 --> 00:25:09.599
become billion dollar companies that have moved that have a
496
00:25:09.680 --> 00:25:12.119
presence here in Peace for Corners, but also now in
497
00:25:12.160 --> 00:25:13.160
Atlanta as well.
498
00:25:13.480 --> 00:25:16.599
Yeah, and I would say maybe that to get back
499
00:25:16.599 --> 00:25:18.759
to your original question about like what would I say
500
00:25:18.759 --> 00:25:21.119
that people aren't necessarily saying. And I think like the
501
00:25:21.160 --> 00:25:24.000
one thing that struck me since starting here is just
502
00:25:24.759 --> 00:25:28.640
is that the curiosity lab ecosystem, and like I feel
503
00:25:28.640 --> 00:25:32.440
like I sort of over the next you know, thirty
504
00:25:32.440 --> 00:25:36.400
sixty ninety whatever, I really want to be intentional about
505
00:25:36.000 --> 00:25:41.240
curating that ecosystem so that we're able to scale up
506
00:25:41.279 --> 00:25:45.920
the level of you know, number of businesses that we're
507
00:25:45.960 --> 00:25:49.240
attracting here, the number of corporate partners that we have,
508
00:25:49.559 --> 00:25:52.920
a number of you know, penants in the building, the
509
00:25:53.039 --> 00:25:56.920
number of like companies that we're working closely with. And
510
00:25:56.960 --> 00:26:00.559
so I think really being intentional about curating that around
511
00:26:00.559 --> 00:26:05.599
our sectors and around the unique things that the city
512
00:26:05.599 --> 00:26:10.119
of Peach Street Corners offers, I think is a really well,
513
00:26:10.200 --> 00:26:13.599
really like pay off in the end of like these
514
00:26:13.839 --> 00:26:16.880
really great synergies that just happen when you work with
515
00:26:16.920 --> 00:26:19.480
a really close knit, curated community like that.
516
00:26:19.480 --> 00:26:21.279
It's amazing this campus has grown.
517
00:26:21.759 --> 00:26:25.039
They at another building twenty five thousand square feet just
518
00:26:25.319 --> 00:26:26.440
curiosity lamp.
519
00:26:26.599 --> 00:26:26.799
Yeah.
520
00:26:26.839 --> 00:26:28.680
And then of course you have other you have an
521
00:26:28.720 --> 00:26:32.200
accelerated Group Atlanta Tech Park just down the road. You
522
00:26:32.319 --> 00:26:36.400
have five hundred acres of technology park with a lot
523
00:26:36.400 --> 00:26:40.640
of variety of companies here, quite a few T Mobile,
524
00:26:41.000 --> 00:26:43.240
five G Network, a bunch of things. Right, I mean,
525
00:26:43.279 --> 00:26:46.960
it's just like and I've known that the mayor, city manager,
526
00:26:46.960 --> 00:26:49.759
and city council and stuff, that they're all willing to
527
00:26:49.799 --> 00:26:53.039
do what it takes to bring companies here, and if
528
00:26:53.079 --> 00:26:56.759
they find that they need to they lacking somewhere, doesn't
529
00:26:56.759 --> 00:26:59.759
take much to get them moving along really fast.
530
00:26:59.799 --> 00:27:01.960
To sure, it's not like, right.
531
00:27:02.839 --> 00:27:07.359
Really engaged city council, mayor. I mean, I've worked in
532
00:27:07.400 --> 00:27:10.119
a number of cities and at the state level and
533
00:27:10.920 --> 00:27:15.160
have not really experienced this level of like engagement from
534
00:27:15.400 --> 00:27:19.720
the elected officials where they really are like understanding, want
535
00:27:19.799 --> 00:27:22.920
to understand, want to be engaged, want to stay like
536
00:27:23.119 --> 00:27:25.640
up to date with things that are happening. And it's
537
00:27:25.680 --> 00:27:28.960
not just like a rubber stamp process, like a conversation.
538
00:27:29.000 --> 00:27:32.519
They were asking real questions. They're you know, and so
539
00:27:32.599 --> 00:27:35.279
that's some of them been like, you know, you better
540
00:27:35.759 --> 00:27:38.519
keep on communicating that, you know. So I feel like
541
00:27:38.599 --> 00:27:43.079
that's really great, and they're really encouraging and enthusiastic. A
542
00:27:43.079 --> 00:27:45.200
lot of them were just you know, I was excited
543
00:27:45.240 --> 00:27:47.200
about getting the job, and then when I was meeting
544
00:27:47.440 --> 00:27:49.920
some of them, they were like, you should be so excited,
545
00:27:50.160 --> 00:27:54.000
you know, And I'm like, I am excited. I swear.
546
00:27:56.119 --> 00:27:57.279
That's so funny.
547
00:27:57.519 --> 00:28:00.720
Yeah, because they they I mean and they I mean
548
00:28:00.799 --> 00:28:03.319
Mike Mason, the mayor, he's a sci fi fan. I mean,
549
00:28:03.359 --> 00:28:07.440
he's looking at near future and stuff happening and things.
550
00:28:08.039 --> 00:28:10.279
Love to have youumanoid robots walking around there.
551
00:28:11.079 --> 00:28:11.440
Yeah.
552
00:28:11.559 --> 00:28:13.119
I saw. I was on a call with him and
553
00:28:13.160 --> 00:28:15.920
a saw He's got a Dune poster in his office
554
00:28:16.000 --> 00:28:18.079
right behind him. And I was like, I like this
555
00:28:18.160 --> 00:28:21.920
guy a Dune posters so great, very forward looking.
556
00:28:22.400 --> 00:28:26.559
Yeah, leadership in this place. Can you share anything that's
557
00:28:26.559 --> 00:28:29.799
happening over the next twelve months of stuff? I mean
558
00:28:30.680 --> 00:28:31.400
twelve months?
559
00:28:32.000 --> 00:28:34.880
Yeah, what does the future hole? Yeah?
560
00:28:35.119 --> 00:28:39.799
I mean right now I'm really focused on I want
561
00:28:39.880 --> 00:28:42.319
us to be. We're opening up the new building. So
562
00:28:42.359 --> 00:28:44.279
I was just over there prior to talking to you.
563
00:28:44.680 --> 00:28:48.039
I was looking through the construction area and we're kind
564
00:28:48.039 --> 00:28:50.039
of mapping out because we're talking to a lot of
565
00:28:50.440 --> 00:28:54.599
larger corporations who want to place innovation teams within the building,
566
00:28:55.319 --> 00:28:59.319
and so like now the requests of their innovation teams
567
00:28:59.359 --> 00:29:01.359
are coming in, like, you know, can we get a
568
00:29:01.400 --> 00:29:04.200
vestibule that has this, and can we get our logos
569
00:29:04.240 --> 00:29:07.160
here and stuff in working out all the little details
570
00:29:07.200 --> 00:29:10.039
before the building opens. So I was just over there
571
00:29:10.079 --> 00:29:12.960
walking around. So I think opening that I want to, like,
572
00:29:13.759 --> 00:29:16.359
you know, I've been telling them like, Okay, after we're open,
573
00:29:16.440 --> 00:29:18.640
I want everyone to be moved in, and I want
574
00:29:18.720 --> 00:29:21.319
us to have then like do some sort of really
575
00:29:21.839 --> 00:29:26.480
big grand opening, maybe in conjunction with Atlanta Tech Village,
576
00:29:26.599 --> 00:29:32.000
Atlanta Tech Park, the uh there's tech Week that happens
577
00:29:32.039 --> 00:29:35.480
this fall, so it's like maybe doing events with Atlanta
578
00:29:35.480 --> 00:29:38.640
Tech Park in US, doing like an event together around
579
00:29:38.640 --> 00:29:41.279
the grand opening kind of creates some like general buzz
580
00:29:41.319 --> 00:29:44.079
around that. So I think that's one thing. But then
581
00:29:44.279 --> 00:29:49.160
I'm also just really focused on increasing the number of
582
00:29:49.440 --> 00:29:52.680
companies that we're working with, increasing the number of tenants
583
00:29:52.680 --> 00:29:56.680
in the building, and really like building that close knit
584
00:29:56.720 --> 00:29:59.079
community within the building that people can.
585
00:29:59.640 --> 00:30:01.640
That's fun form art, right when you're coming out of
586
00:30:01.640 --> 00:30:04.839
a place like Consumer Electronics Show or some of the
587
00:30:04.880 --> 00:30:06.480
other shows that you guys go to. I know, the
588
00:30:06.519 --> 00:30:09.480
city actually goes outside the country. They've been to Europe,
589
00:30:09.480 --> 00:30:12.599
they've been to Israel, they've been of South America, i know,
590
00:30:12.720 --> 00:30:17.640
the Spain, just at other places, trying to find interest
591
00:30:17.720 --> 00:30:21.240
in coming here because this is like an economic impact
592
00:30:21.319 --> 00:30:24.359
tool if you will, drawing people, Yes, for sure. So
593
00:30:24.400 --> 00:30:25.880
it got to be exciting for you to be able
594
00:30:25.880 --> 00:30:27.880
to say, you know, I've got the power to really
595
00:30:27.960 --> 00:30:30.680
curate some of these companies to go after them. Yeah,
596
00:30:30.799 --> 00:30:35.359
like interesting technology or niches where we're maybe don't have
597
00:30:35.400 --> 00:30:37.839
that big exposure and that you think that we should.
598
00:30:38.119 --> 00:30:42.200
Yeah. I think that's where my accounting brain comes and
599
00:30:42.240 --> 00:30:46.240
where I am like very specific about curating the companies
600
00:30:46.519 --> 00:30:50.400
that come within an ecosystem and like in my background,
601
00:30:50.440 --> 00:30:53.480
like that's a lot of what I've done is like
602
00:30:53.680 --> 00:30:59.680
the curating of relationships across the startup community. And you
603
00:30:59.720 --> 00:31:04.160
know what investment profiles, like investors like venture capital and
604
00:31:04.160 --> 00:31:07.799
angel investors invest in specific stages and sectors of companies.
605
00:31:08.480 --> 00:31:11.680
You know, companies are trying to network with other companies
606
00:31:11.720 --> 00:31:15.039
within their specific stage and sector. The corporations that we
607
00:31:15.160 --> 00:31:18.319
work with, they're interested in companies that are So it's like,
608
00:31:18.400 --> 00:31:23.079
I think I'm very intentional about kind of making those
609
00:31:23.160 --> 00:31:27.119
decisions and figuring out, like who who should we have
610
00:31:27.240 --> 00:31:30.400
in the community, what outreach do we need to do
611
00:31:30.640 --> 00:31:33.279
in order to attract the types of companies that really
612
00:31:33.319 --> 00:31:36.880
are within our wheelhouse and that would be value add
613
00:31:36.920 --> 00:31:40.680
within like the Curiosity Lab ecosystem. So I think that'll
614
00:31:40.720 --> 00:31:43.559
be cool. I'm excited to see what happens like after
615
00:31:43.640 --> 00:31:45.720
the twelve months, because I think like, right now, it's
616
00:31:45.799 --> 00:31:50.960
like really working on increasing the pipeline and increasing those
617
00:31:51.079 --> 00:31:54.880
channels and making sure we're like doing the curation part.
618
00:31:55.279 --> 00:31:58.319
But I think that but I think that as those
619
00:31:58.359 --> 00:32:02.799
things come together, you see more and more synergies and
620
00:32:02.920 --> 00:32:06.880
partnerships and things like that happen where you're like, wow,
621
00:32:06.720 --> 00:32:09.759
how did that happen And you're like, well, it happened
622
00:32:09.759 --> 00:32:13.920
by design, you know. Yeah, so yeah, So I'm excited
623
00:32:13.920 --> 00:32:16.559
for that. So I think a lot it'll be a
624
00:32:16.559 --> 00:32:18.799
busy twelve months, but I'm kind of excited to see
625
00:32:18.799 --> 00:32:20.319
what happens in month thirteen.
626
00:32:22.720 --> 00:32:25.240
It's you know, I'm.
627
00:32:26.960 --> 00:32:29.359
We're almost at we're almost at the end of our time,
628
00:32:29.400 --> 00:32:33.279
but okay, but well, we could talk more about that.
629
00:32:33.519 --> 00:32:34.839
There's just so much to talk about.
630
00:32:34.880 --> 00:32:37.920
But I and I can't wait until we interview again,
631
00:32:38.440 --> 00:32:40.000
because I mean, we cover the stuff a lot of
632
00:32:40.079 --> 00:32:42.799
Petrecorner's magazine and for some of the other things that
633
00:32:42.839 --> 00:32:47.119
we do and my sometimes monthly podcast with City Manager.
634
00:32:47.119 --> 00:32:50.880
We talk about stuff that's happening in the city. You know,
635
00:32:50.960 --> 00:32:53.200
there's just so much out there. So I'm excited to
636
00:32:53.240 --> 00:32:55.559
see what you bring. I know I need to give
637
00:32:55.599 --> 00:32:57.400
you time. Don't mean to get you like, you know,
638
00:32:57.440 --> 00:32:59.559
what's happening in twelve months. You don't have a use
639
00:32:59.640 --> 00:33:01.960
the ball and you just got hit two months ago.
640
00:33:02.319 --> 00:33:06.319
But I'm excited. I think fresh blood always brings in
641
00:33:06.559 --> 00:33:11.200
always always just the path that we go. So I
642
00:33:11.240 --> 00:33:12.839
think that'd be exciting just to see that.
643
00:33:13.599 --> 00:33:16.960
Yeah, yeah, I am as well. So thank you so
644
00:33:17.039 --> 00:33:17.960
much for having me on.
645
00:33:18.319 --> 00:33:22.720
We've had Emily Hines, executive director of Curiosity Lab, appreciate
646
00:33:22.759 --> 00:33:23.359
you being with me.
647
00:33:24.400 --> 00:33:24.839
Yeah.
648
00:33:24.880 --> 00:33:26.839
So one more thing, I just want to because they
649
00:33:26.839 --> 00:33:28.559
didn't do it at the beginning, I should do it now.
650
00:33:29.000 --> 00:33:32.119
We have a sponsor, two sponsors, so with their I
651
00:33:32.240 --> 00:33:34.359
just I don't say thank you to them because without
652
00:33:34.400 --> 00:33:37.599
them it's difficult to do these things. So Box popular
653
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So if you have a logo, your business, your branded business,
654
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and you need to get your stuff, your logo and anything,
655
00:33:44.440 --> 00:33:47.839
can think of vehicle wraps, autonomous vehicle wraps. What if
656
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you want right pair all stuff like that. They will
657
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brand your stuff, trade shows, trade show aboose, they'll do
658
00:33:53.240 --> 00:33:56.680
all that. Box Popularize the company based sam Peatree Corners
659
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and also ev Remodeling ev Remodeling also based on Peachtree Corners.
660
00:34:01.559 --> 00:34:04.039
Eli lives here with his family. They've done over two
661
00:34:04.119 --> 00:34:07.319
hundred and sixty remodels kitchen, bath so they can make
662
00:34:07.359 --> 00:34:10.960
your area as smart as you want it to or
663
00:34:11.800 --> 00:34:15.119
as remodeling as you need. But they'll work with you.
664
00:34:15.199 --> 00:34:20.159
So check them out. Evremodelinginc. Dot com and again Emily.
665
00:34:19.880 --> 00:34:22.239
Thanks Yeah, thank you, Thank.
666
00:34:22.079 --> 00:34:26.719
You guys, leave your comments, review, please review and check
667
00:34:26.760 --> 00:34:27.960
out our other podcast.
668
00:34:28.079 --> 00:34:28.400
Thank you.
669
00:34:32.320 --> 00:34:35.039
Thank you for joining us on another episode of Urban EBB.
670
00:34:35.400 --> 00:34:38.320
If you enjoined today's conversation and want to stay connected
671
00:34:38.360 --> 00:34:40.599
with the heartbeat of our local cities, be sure to
672
00:34:40.639 --> 00:34:43.840
subscribe to our podcast on your favorite platform. If you
673
00:34:43.920 --> 00:34:45.960
have a story to share, or know someone who does.
674
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We'd love to hear from you. The pulse of Peachtree Corners, Norcross,
675
00:34:50.199 --> 00:34:53.719
Berkeley Lake, and Muluth beats through the dreams, actions and
676
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stories of some great individuals we feature until next time.
677
00:34:57.960 --> 00:35:00.800
This was urban Ebb, your gateway to the heart of
678
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