Originally published on March 20, 2020 by Mark Anderson on BizJournals.com
Louis Stewart, Sacramento’s chief innovation officer, believes that connected communities are stronger, more vibrant and better able to attract and retain talent.
He’s seen it before when he was with the California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development. As deputy director of innovation and entrepreneurship, he secured state funds and acquired investments to help communities and local universities in San Diego and Los Angeles work together and in the process foster economic development.
He hopes to see similar success in Sacramento.
“The best form of flattery is to steal stuff,” he said.
In Sacramento, Stewart is spearheading the push to have government collaborate with the private sector and technology companies. He oversees the Sacramento Urban Technology Lab, a collaboration between government, academia and industry to create a “living laboratory” to test, develop, and scale products and services. The organization sponsors tech events and funds initiatives, including the Sacramento Kings Capitalize contest, a crowdsourced startup competition styled as a March Madness tournament for a $10,000 cash prize.
Under Stewart, Sacramento also funded RAILS grants. The RAILS program stands for Rapid Acceleration, Innovation and Leadership in Sacramento. It offers grants to companies and nonprofits that educate or support technology efforts, especially to underserved communities. Two years ago, Sacramento also embraced the Startup in Residence program, where the city commissions startups to fix problems within city programs.
“Louis is smart and very strategic,” said Barry Broome, CEO of the Greater Sacramento Economic Council. “He’s taken the mayor’s Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship and pushed it to be even more effective.”
Stewart and his family moved to Sacramento in 1981 after living in France and Italy, where his father Mike Stewart played basketball for eight seasons. The younger Stewart had some hoops skills as well. After graduating in 1989 from Sacramento’s John F. Kennedy High School, he received a basketball scholarship from his father’s alma mater, Santa Clara University.
Louis Stewart went to college to study chemical engineering and science, but by his third year, he was just looking to graduate, and the fastest degree was art. After college, Stewart played basketball in Belgium and Peru for a time. When he returned to California, Stewart started working in the retail industry, where he said he learned an important lesson about building relationships.
Early in his career, Stewart sold watches and jewelry at Macy’s. Rather than seeing a sale as a straightforward transaction, he got to know his customers. Whenever a popular new watch or piece of jewelry came out, he reached out to his connections, which often helped him sell more product.
Later, Stewart worked for Fry’s Electronics, selling computers and software.
“Working on the sales floor is one of the best boot camps you can have,” he said. “You have to know every modem, every memory card and every computer.”
Once again, Stewart went out of his way to connect with customers, which earned him repeat business. “I learned you have to build relationships with people.”
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