In October 2011, the MSU Center for Community and Economic Development was awarded a grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) to establish an MSU EDA University Center for Regional Economic Innovation (REI) with a mission to create a new and unique economic development ecosystem for Michigan. Since 2011, REI has built a virtual network infrastructure to include economic development practitioners, higher education institutions, public- and private-sector leaders, workforce development boards, community action agencies, state agencies, public utilities, commercial lenders, and EDA Economic Development Districts. The goal of the network is to foster collaboration and strategic partnerships that will produce innovative economic development strategies to create high-growth entrepreneurship and jobs in distressed regions of Michigan. The REI ecosystem operates on an annual cycle of solicitations seeking initiatives within four focus areas—resiliency planning, financial resiliency, 21st-century communications, and circular economies—that will lead to entrepreneurship, strategic planning, and development outcomes that are competitive within the context of the global knowledge economy and network society.