The crux of this argument is that federal funding should be involved, which is what got Silicon Valley started so it can have some merit. Silicon Valley's cult

The crux of this argument is that federal funding should be involved, which is what got Silicon Valley started so it can have some merit. Silicon Valley's culture is hard to replicate, and by culture its just the consolidation of venture capital firms and the aspirations of liquid wealthy people who want to play angel investor themselves. Would newly wealthy tech aficionados in the midwest really stay in opioid land with its extremes of temperatures, or would they just get the condo in south beach Miami and disappear? Having one local Warren Buffett means only insurance and real estate plays get funded, as an example. Having only a couple Warren Buffetts means you get some people that "only invest in what they know" and aren't willing to learn anything. You really need a market of venture capital, run by people that got rich there. So pumping an area with federal funding is a much better step than just slapping a "Silicon" label on the nearest geographic formation.