Where is the next Silicon Valley?
Silicon Valley, a slice of northern California right outside of San Francisco, has been the undisputed tech capital of the world for several years now. However, many other areas around the country are starting to make some noise. In fact, one of those areas is just south of us, near a place we don’t generally speak kindly of around here (yes, I’m talking about Provo).
You may have heard it before: if you want to work with the latest and greatest in technology or build your own startup, get to Silicon Valley. Many of the world’s tech giants, such as Google, Facebook and Apple are all located in the quickly-expanding Silicon Valley. The increase in venture capitalists in the area, along with some of the nation’s top talent coming from schools like Stanford and UC Berkeley, have formed Silicon Valley into the world’s tech hub.
But what about other areas that are attracting some of the brightest tech and startup talent? I focused on three areas in the U.S. that are booming with startup fever.
Austin, Texas
Austin has recently shown up on the radar as an emerging tech hub. Ask anyone who has lived in or even just visited Austin and they’ll tell you all about the amazing city. From the diverse music scene to the steep climb in employment, millennials and experienced business people alike are flocking to Austin.
The Texas city experienced a 41.4 percent jump in tech-industry employment between 2001 and 2013. It helps that Dell is based out of Austin, but thousands of other startups are finding their home deep within Texan country. Some of the notable companies in Austin are Dell, Oracle and IBM.
Raleigh, North Carolina
North Carolina’s capital continues to grow as a tech hub. Raleigh is near the “Triangle,” which is a thriving research area that’s home to several large startup meetings and events such as Stacked, Triangle DevOps and Triangle.rb. This has strengthened the startup community around Raleigh, while also attracting tech enthusiasts to get their start in the area.
Raleigh is located in a prime location geographically (East Coast beach, anyone?), is only a short distance from several top-tier universities, and thrives off of tech startups and tech giants. Notable companies based in Raleigh are RedHat and Cisco.
Provo, Utah
Yes, our arch rival has absolutely exploded in the tech industry over the last few years. It was recently recognized by Inc. Magazine as the third most up-and-coming city for tech jobs, while also being featured in Forbes and The New Yorker as “The Next Silicon Valley.”
Provo attracts strong tech talent from all over the world, but much of it comes from surrounding universities such as BYU, UVU, Utah and yes, our very own USU. Computer science and information systems programs from these schools have grown significantly over the last few years, producing qualified individuals to fill the high demand for tech roles in Provo.
For its small population of only 116,288, Provo boasts more private venture-funded companies per capita valued at over $2 billion than anywhere else in the world. In addition, it has even gained its own nickname: Silicon Slopes. Some of the notable companies in Provo are Domo, Qualtrics and Adobe.
The hype in the startup and tech community continues to expand around the country, and cities such as Austin, Raleigh and Provo are fueling this growth. Which city will be next? Could it be our very own Cache Valley? With an emergence of tech companies in our own backyard, the possibilities are endless.
— coltenvantussenbrook@gmail.com