Building Connections That Last
How accelerators can create pathways into regional economies
By Eric Moreno, Director of Knowledge Enterprise Health Partnerships, Arizona State University
In economic development, relocation announcements are exciting to celebrate. They are visible, measurable and often represent years of work. But companies rarely make those decisions all at once. Before a company opens an office, hires employees or moves its headquarters, its leaders need to believe two things: that a market has what the business needs and that they can successfully navigate it.
That second part is easy to overlook. A region may have strong institutions, specialized facilities, available talent and a supportive business environment. Those assets still need to become accessible to a company. In my experience supporting the Mayo Clinic and ASU Health Care Accelerator, the difference often comes down to relationships. A market becomes more real when it stops being a collection of statistics and becomes a network of people a company knows and trusts.
A gateway into Arizona
Some companies enter the Accelerator because they are drawn to the global reputations of Mayo Clinic and ASU and are interested in exploring opportunities to work together. Others already understand Arizona’s growth and see Greater Phoenix as a market worth considering, but need a practical reason to take the next step. The collaboration between Mayo Clinic and Arizona State University creates a credible entry point for both groups.
The two institutions bring different capabilities and extensive relationships across health care, research, education, industry and economic development. Through those networks, companies can also encounter the broader Arizona ecosystem: economic development organizations, investors, health systems, local governments, industry partners, specialized facilities and workforce resources.
Across seven cohorts, the Accelerator has supported 61 companies. Three-quarters entered the program from outside Arizona, including 28 international companies representing at least 12 countries and regions. Others were already based in Arizona and used the program to deepen their local growth. Together, this mix creates opportunities to introduce outside companies to the state while helping homegrown companies build stronger roots here.
Structured business development
In the Accelerator, the most valuable connections are not created by placing founders in a room with prominent people and hoping something useful happens. They begin before the companies arrive. During onboarding, each company identifies the barriers or opportunities most important to its next stage of growth. One may need clinical-trial expertise. Another may be seeking guidance on supply chains, reimbursement, product validation, workforce or research collaboration.
The Accelerator team works backward from those needs to identify clinicians, researchers, operators, business leaders and other subject-matter experts who may be relevant. Both sides are briefed on why the conversation could be useful. This makes the meeting more focused and more respectful of everyone’s time.
These introductions come with no guarantees. A meeting may lead to candid feedback, another referral, a potential collaborator or a longer-term business opportunity. Like any relationship, it must be cultivated after the introduction. The purpose is to give companies relevant access and a credible starting point, not to promise a particular outcome.
Attraction is a continuum
Successful company attraction should not be measured only by headquarters relocations. That remains an important goal, but meaningful economic activity can begin much earlier. A company may return for additional meetings, hire an Arizona intern, complete a student capstone project, work with a local vendor, pursue a research or validation opportunity, raise capital locally or establish a smaller operating presence before considering a larger move.
MiiHealth AI offers one example of how those connections can build over time. London-based MiiCare participated in the Accelerator’s 2024 cohort. The company subsequently established its U.S. headquarters in Phoenix through MiiHealth AI. Since then, it has continued building relationships in Arizona, including engaging student talent through ASU’s Blackstone LaunchPad Summer Internship Program and raising a recent $2.8 million seed round to support its growth.
MiiHealth AI’s path also reflects how company attraction is often shaped by many complementary efforts. Clinical, academic, investment, economic development, workforce and place-based partners can each provide a different piece of what a company needs as it grows. The Accelerator served as an early entry point, while the broader ecosystem created additional pathways for the company to continue building in Arizona.
A mutually reinforcing ecosystem
That long-term, ecosystem-focused approach is reflected in the Accelerator’s joint leadership. Dr. Barbara Marusiak, the program’s co-director and a clinical associate professor in clinical research management and regulatory science at ASU, helps lead the Accelerator alongside Dr. Steven J. Lester of Mayo Clinic in Arizona, its founder and chief medical officer and the medical director of Discovery Oasis. Dr. Lester has described the long-term vision as creating an “enduring and self-reinforcing ecosystem.” From an economic development perspective, that can create a type of triple win.
Companies gain targeted expertise, market knowledge and relationships that can help them make better decisions. Participating institutions and partners encounter new technologies, ideas and potential collaborators. Arizona benefits when those relationships generate business activity, research, innovation, workforce opportunities and continued engagement with the state.
The relationship is mutually reinforcing. The Accelerator brings companies to Arizona and introduces them to the region. Regional partners give them additional reasons and pathways to engage. Those companies contribute new ideas, expertise and opportunities back into the region. Over time, that activity strengthens the ecosystem that future companies will encounter.
A short program cannot guarantee that a company will relocate, and not every introduction will become a pilot or partnership. These decisions can take years. What an accelerator can do is help a company move from saying, “This market appears to have what we need,” to saying, “I know people here, I understand how to navigate this market and I can see how our company could succeed here.”
That is where accelerators can become more than educational programs. When they are designed as gateways into a regional economy, they can help build the relationships from which investment, innovation, workforce activity and long-term growth emerge.