Director, Regional Entrepreneurship
Melissa Roberts Chapman
she/her
Inclusive Ecosystem Building,
Entrepreneurship Support & Capital Access,
State and Local Policy,
Impact Measurement and Evaluation,
Cluster-Based Economic Development,
Burnt Ends

Melissa Roberts Chapman was previously Director of Regional Entrepreneurship at FAS.

publications
Emerging Technology
Blog
What Works in Boston, Won’t Necessarily Work in Birmingham: 4 Pragmatic Principles for Building Commercialization Capacity in Innovation Ecosystems

Successful commercialization efforts have now grown across the country, but what do they have in common, and why do they work? Our experts weigh in.

10.24.23 | 12 min read
read more
Emerging Technology
Blog
Systems Thinking In Entrepreneurship Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love “Entrepreneurial Ecosystems”

Ecosystems aren’t just for biologists anymore. Here is how and why entrepreneurs and policymakers should look at innovation communities as ecosystems.

06.05.23 | 13 min read
read more
Emerging Technology
day one project
Policy Memo
Increasing Access to Capital by Expanding SBA’s Secondary Market Capacity

Interagency Community Investment Committee agencies should partner with the Small Business Administration to use their existing authority and infrastructure to pilot a secondary market for their securitized debt instruments.

05.25.23 | 9 min read
read more
Emerging Technology
Blog
The bold vision of the CHIPS and Science Act isn’t getting the funding it needs

The CHIPS and Science Act establishes a compelling vision for U.S. innovation and place-based industrial policy, but that vision is already being hampered by tight funding.

05.23.23 | 10 min read
read more
Emerging Technology
Blog
What Should Come Next for the NSF Innovation Engines Communities? (And What About Those That Just Missed Out?)

There are exciting things ahead for communities that participated in the NSF Engines grant program, even for those that missed out on securing funding.

05.17.23 | 6 min read
read more
Emerging Technology
Blog
What the CRS Report on Regional Innovation Ecosystems Gets Right and Misses

At the beginning of April, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) released a landmark report outlining the scope of federal investments in regional ecosystems, something we have written about at FAS in the past. This CRS report, ‘Regional Innovation: Federal Programs and Issues for Consideration,’ does an excellent job covering the scope and scale of our massive federal investment […]

04.17.23 | 13 min read
read more
Emerging Technology
day one project
Policy Memo
Aligning Regional Economic Development Plans with Federal Priorities

Economic innovation requires more sophisticated, focused, and better supported local economic planning. Here’s how to achieve it.

03.27.23 | 15 min read
read more
Emerging Technology
Blog
Cluster Development is the New Economic Development

We don’t know if Congress does New Year’s Resolutions like the rest of us, but  it seems like at least one of their goals is to continue ‘Building Regional Innovation Economies.’ We can guess that much from that title – given to a House of Representatives Subcommittee on Research and Technology hearing at the end of December. […]

01.12.23 | 6 min read
read more
Emerging Technology
Report
Science and Innovation in the 118th Congress

To help seed the ground for bipartisan progress, we’ve put together a menu of the best policy ideas on a range of critical topics.

01.12.23 | 2 min read
read more
Emerging Technology
Report
118th Congress: Emerging Tech & Competitiveness

Global competition for advanced technology leadership is fierce. China continues to build scholarship capacity across science and engineering disciplines, has surpassed the United States in knowledge- and technology-intensive manufacturing, and is hot on American heels for the global lead in R&D investment. In the U.S., domestic manufacturing jobs have enjoyed a recent surge, but the […]

01.12.23 | 6 min read
read more
Emerging Technology
Blog
Building Back Better: A Billion Dollar Investment in Broadening Economic Opportunity

As Build Back Better Regional Challenge communities get to work, they represent our best hope for greater opportunity across the country.

09.02.22 | 5 min read
read more
Emerging Technology
Blog
CHIPS and Science Highlights: Regional Innovation

Three new programs, NSF Engines, Tech Hubs and Recompete, plus existing programs like BBBRC and GJC, represent a massive proposed investment in building regional innovation clusters.

08.11.22 | 5 min read
read more