Interview: John Warner of InnoVenture

John Warner has his work cut out for him. Based in a region that — for all of its other strengths — simply isn’t known as a haven for innovative business, Warner and his collaborators, partners and compatriots are trying to change not only that perception, but also the reasons for it. Warner is the founder of InnoVenture Southeast, an annual Upstate business conference that aims to connect the dots between the bigwigs of regional business, talented individuals, providers of technology and potential investors. The idea is to bring these often disconnected and disparate groups together to forge new collaborations, ideas and — as you might have already guessed — innovation.

“What we do is produce forums and conferences where champions in these organizations can talk about what it is they’re trying to accomplish, the expertise and resources they need, and then find others in the community that have an enlightened self-interest in helping them be successful,” Warner explains. “At InnoVenture Southeast, we bring smart, talented people together, give them a format to communicate with one other, and get out of their way to let them find ways to collaborate.”

Now in it’s seventh year, InnoVenture brings “Senior Leaders” from major regional businesses and institutions like Michelin, Milliken and Clemson together with 60 “Passionate Champions” representing a broad selection of industries and educational centers, each giving presentations about their own attempts at innovation. As Warner explains, the Upstate area already has talented innovators who are “among the world’s best,” but what’s lacking is an “ecosystem” that would allow these companies to work together to turn the area into a more dynamic place for invention and investment.

It’s not just traditional business that’s on Warner’s mind, either. Sustainability and green technology are both major themes at this year’s InnoVenture, for instance.

“There is a growing emphasis on sustainability in the Upstate business community,” Warner says. “In fact, it’s really difficult to have a conversation with a company, or a college or university, or even governmental entities, for that matter, where sustainability doesn’t come up. I think we all appreciate that we live on a planet with finite resources, so we need to learn to live in a way that is more sustainable. … It’s also good business. It tends to be less expensive in the long run, and it tends to be a more elegant solution in the long run.”

But how does that apply to local business?

“If you look at wind energy, [South Carolina produces] more than a quarter of all the wind turbines in the world, and we have one of the largest gas turbine plants in the world. The nuclear renaissance will occur here. Clemson just got a test-drive facility and $100 million to test wind turbines off the coast. So, clean energy is one of those areas where we have considerable expertise.”

As an advocate for regional business connectivity — both through InnoVenture and his regional online business networking community SwampFox — Warner has established himself as an innovator in his own right. Earlier this week, I spoke with Warner about InnoVenture Southeast, which takes place on Tuesday, May 11, and Wednesday, May 12, at the Carolina First Center in Greenville.

During our conversation, Warner gave a brief outline of the event, discussed several of the challenges specific to Upstate-area businesses and also touched on some of the collaborations in the regional business community that have been aided by previous InnoVenture events. To hear selections from that interview, listen to the podcast below.

 

Download the podcast here.

For more information about InnoVenture Southeast, visit the event’s website here.