Join us!

Kick off the 2026 Rural Innovation Network Summit with an informal evening at Radius Brewing. Rural Innovation Network members, CORI staff, and partners are invited to gather over drinks and food, make new connections, catch up with old and new friends, and get settled in before the Summit begins.

What does it take to create the conditions where scalable tech startups can emerge and grow in rural communities? We’ll open the Summit with a welcome from CORI CEO & Founder Matt Dunne and Executive Director of Emporia Main Street Casey Woods before hearing from Network leaders in Montana, New Mexico, Michigan, and Missouri about what is working in their startup ecosystems.

Together, we’ll explore the resources, leaders, relationships, and long-term work that make investment-ready startup ecosystems possible, and what communities can build from the ground up to create more pathways for rural founders and stronger rural economies.

Opens with a look at the Rural Innovation Network by the numbers, then digs into what recent CORI research reveals about the conditions that help rural businesses start and grow. The session also tackles newer topics: What the data say about rural readiness for AI, and what the data still can’t tell us. The goal isn’t to rank communities against each other, but to help members see where their own assets already give them an edge and where to focus next to close the gap.

Economic transformation is measured in years, not grants. After Dr. Amanda Weinstein’s Network-level look at rural economies, this session will zoom in on our host community. Following Emporia’s trajectory, we’ll explore what we can learn when longitudinal research and data are paired with deep community knowledge about building a tech-based economy.

What if rural communities had a trusted, community-centered way to turn data, local knowledge, and shared stories into stronger decisions and new opportunities? Join CORI for an introduction to the Rural Insights Hub—an emerging effort to help rural leaders access actionable insight, make the case for their communities, and build toward more connected, opportunity-driven futures. We’ll share what we have learned from conversations across the Rural Innovation Network, how that learning is shaping the Hub’s direction, and where the work is heading next. Come ready to reflect, react, and help us continue building this work with rural communities.

What if your community had a seat at the table in shaping the technology that shapes your future? At this year’s Summit, we’re partnering with the Stanford d.school, known for human-centered design, to bring a hands-on session exploring exactly that. Think less lecture, more lab: immersive future-scenario exercises, AI-powered reflection tools, and tactile card games for prototyping with algorithms, all designed to make emerging tech feel approachable.

Participants can look forward to exploring AI and human-centered design in ways that are approachable regardless of technical background, leaving with practical language and ideas to bring back to their own community’s tech work.

Making entrepreneurship visible: Storytelling as an ecosystem-building tool w/ CORI’s Entrepreneurship and Communications Teams
Location: Granada Theatre

Storytelling is not the victory lap after a community builds an entrepreneurship ecosystem. It is part of how the ecosystem gets built. Stories help residents see why tech entrepreneurship belongs in their community—and help aspiring founders see themselves in it. They make local entrepreneurs visible, turn entrepreneurship into a tangible and accessible path, and build confidence in what is possible locally. That visibility creates momentum: recruiting partners, rallying community support, and ultimately attracting more founders, talent, capital, and opportunity.

Standing up community-based AI training hubs in rural higher education w/ CORI’s Tech Workforce Team
Location: Davis Theatre (located inside the Emporia Arts Council)

Through a panel with AI pilot participants and a demo of their AI curriculum-building apps, discover how four communities are leveraging higher education institutions to rapidly deploy AI workshops tailored to diverse audiences. Attendees will receive a practical playbook for using AI tools to ensure community-specific contexts, guardrails, and policies are fully integrated into local AI programming.

From our ground up: Building a shared rural innovation policy agenda w/ CORI’s Development Team
Location: Paula’s Classroom (located on the second floor of the Emporia Arts Council)

CORI is stepping into a larger role in federal policy and advocacy, and we are doing so in the way that works best: with a member-driven agenda built on your local experience. This session is where we start turning local experience into a shared national agenda. Together, we will begin surfacing the priorities and barriers that matter most across the Network. No policy expertise needed. What you know from doing the work is exactly the expertise needed.

We’ll close out our time together by reflecting on what we’ve learned, what we’re taking home, and what comes next for the Rural Innovation Network. And before we go, we’ll share where the Network will come together next for Summit 2027.

Downtown walking tours:

From rehab to entrepreneur hub | 502 Commercial Street
Tour a substantial building rehabilitation project.

The Gazette reimagined | 517 Merchant Street
The Gazette Collective converted a former newspaper building into a multi-use space.

Making space for makers | 727 Commercial Street
Emporia Main Street’s tour will include the Fabrication Lab and other amenities that support our entrepreneurs.

From crowdfunded brewpub to regional brand | 17 W. 4th Avenue
This tour will showcase the brewing process and inner workings of Radius.

CORI served as an execution partner with the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) for the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA)’s inaugural Economic Recovery Corps, a national fellowship placing practitioners in under-resourced rural communities to drive catalytic economic development.

To open today’s program, three fellows—Clarissa Schauseil, Lani Willmar, and Beverly Lee—will each give a lightning talk on the projects and capstones they’ve built over the past two and a half years, spanning AI-powered entrepreneur support tools, youth tech workforce development, and innovation-driven economic development in defense communities.

Think musical chairs, but instead of chairs, you’re catching new conversations. Move around the room while the music plays, and when it stops, find whoever’s closest—that’s your partner for this round. You’ll have 2–3 minutes to answer the networking question before the music kicks back in and sends you off to find someone new. Repeat, meet, repeat again.

Downtown walking tour stops:

Built to ride: Merchant Cycles & the Unbound effect | 716 Commercial Street
Learn about cycling in Emporia, which hosts for Unbound Gravel, one of the world’s largest cycling events.

From rehab to entrepreneur hub | 502 Commercial Street
Tour a substantial building rehabilitation project.

The Gazette reimagined | 517 Merchant Street
The Gazette Collective converted a former newspaper building into a multi-use space.

Making space for makers | 727 Commercial Street
Emporia Main Street’s tour will include the Fabrication Lab and other amenities that support our entrepreneurs.

From crowdfunded brewpub to regional brand | 17 W. 4th Avenue
This tour will showcase the brewing process and inner workings of Radius.

Additional walking tour stops that require transportation:

From Emporia to the world: Inside Dynamic Discs | 840 Overlander Road
One of the world’s largest disc golf retailers is headquartered in Emporia, Kansas.

Campus-to-tech pipeline: E-sports, cybersecurity, & technology at Emporia State University | 1 Kellogg Circle
Learn about ESU’s Cybersecurity, E-Sports, and general technology programming.