Competitiveness Conversation: Nebraska Convenes National Leaders to Advance the Bioeconomy and Expand the State’s Innovation Capacity

The Council on Competitiveness and the University of Nebraska System are bringing together state and national leaders for a dialogue on the opportunities driven by the rapidly expanding global bioeconomy.

The two-day event, which takes place April 29-30 at Omaha’s Durham Museum, will highlight Nebraska’s innovation ecosystem, including talent, technology, investment and infrastructure. In addition, the conversation will examine the shift toward “making and manufacturing” the domestic feedstocks essential to producing a wide range of products — from fuels to pharmaceuticals to consumer goods — and unlocking new value in a range of industries, including agriculture, manufacturing, retail and defense.

Celebrating its 40th anniversary, the Council on Competitiveness is the nation’s premier CEO leadership organization, championing an innovation agenda to drive long-term economic and productivity growth and prosperity across the United States. This edition of its “Competitiveness Conversations Across America” series will take place in Omaha’s Durham Museum, bringing together more than 200 executives from business, academia, the U.S. Department of Energy national laboratories, labor and government in a series of distinctive keynotes and panel discussions.

Participants will identify actionable opportunities to scale the U.S. bioeconomy — accelerating innovation, strengthening domestic supply chains and translating Nebraska’s regional strengths into a national competitive advantage.

“For a nation like the United States — continental in scale, with more than 340 million people — 21st century competitiveness cannot be separated from the nation’s ability to power a robust, multi-sector bioeconomy that feeds, fuels, heals, and empowers. And in our country’s rich tapestry of people, assets, strengths, and capabilities, Nebraska and America’s heartland represent a core, global competitiveness advantage,” said the Hon. Deborah L. Wince-Smith, Council on Competitiveness President and CEO. “Nebraska is leveraging its agricultural strength, research excellence and talent to create the high-value products and services that strengthen U.S. economic and national security.”

The Nebraska edition of the Competitiveness Conversations Across America series will include focused sessions on topics such as national defense and biosecurity; the commercialization of innovations related to the bioeconomy; consumer demand; and opportunities in Nebraska's bioeconomy, among others.

“The bioeconomy is projected to transform how the world produces food, energy, materials and medicine,” said Jeffrey P. Gold, M.D., NU System president and a member of the Council on Competitiveness Executive Committee. “Nebraska has an impressive footprint in all these industries and is poised to be an important player in this space. It is fitting that this historic national conversation, which I believe will have a significant impact on the future of the bioeconomy, takes place here in our state.”

The two-day event follows a series of past Council on Competitiveness conversations, which have focused on topics ranging from artificial intelligence to quantum computing. More information on the Nebraska Competitiveness Conversation, as well as a full list of speakers and their bios, is available at the event website.