here are people who like to talk about the new Knowledge Economy. And then there are the people who actually practice it.
        That one difference explains, perhaps better than any other factor, the rapid rise to economic success of the Plains and Rocky Mountain States, according to economic experts who track the growth of knowledge-based firms.
        David Birch, founder of Cognetics of Waltham, Mass., and author of the report, Entrepreneurial Hot Spots: The Best Places in America to Start and Grow a Company, says there is an overriding reason why the American West continues to dominate the high-technology landscape for new and growing companies: "The knowledge-value entrepreneur is not principally concerned about land, transportation and energy costs, or large pools of unskilled labor. His and her primary need is for skilled, knowledgeable people, and his or her location preferences are the preferences of such people, who can live where they please."
        And where are these skilled, knowledgeable people choosing to live? Increasingly, they are forsaking the once-standard choices of Silicon Valley, Boston and Austin, Texas, for the mountains of Salt Lake City and Denver, the wheat fields of Omaha, Neb., and Wichita, Kan., and the open spaces of Fargo, N.D., and Henderson, Nev. Consider these numbers:

• The eight-state Mountain Region ranked No. 1 in 2000 in producing the highest percentage of new and high-growth, high-tech companies, according to the Cognetics report.


• Four of the top five states for producing knowledge-based startups are in the Mountain West — Nevada (No. 1), Arizona (No. 2), Utah (No. 3) and Colorado (No. 5)


• The top four fastest growing small metros for entrepreneurial startups are, in order, Las Vegas; Fargo, N.D.; Sioux Falls, S.D.; and Reno, Nev.

Richard Fitzpatrick, president of the Internet Business Alliance in Nevada, sees a parallel between the migration of information technology companies to the Mountain West and the earlier migration of Americans to these same states a century and a half ago.
        "This is an environment that really supports and rewards creativity and risk-taking," says Fitzpatrick. "In the Silver Rush of the 1800s, the people who were the most successful were the people who sold the shovels and the picks and the supplies. Today, it is the people who are building the cutting-edge infrastructure for the Internet and the necessary tools for the dot-coms and e-commerce companies."

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