Just south of Chicago, Champaign-Urbana is fostering a growing community of entrepreneurs and innovators.

From the city’s earliest days as a trading post to an aircraft manufacturing boom in the 1920s and 30s that earned it the nickname “The Air Capital of the World,” Wichita has long been an economic hub for Kansas and the Midwest.

Burlington’s innovative spirit was on full display in 2015, when Burlington became USA’s first city to run exclusively on renewable energy.

Nearly half of Ames residents are students at Iowa State University, fueling a young culture focused on advancement and innovation that serves the city’s entrepreneurship scene.

Akron is located in one of the best states for women entrepreneurs and calls itself the “City of Invention.”

Nicknamed “The Glass City” for its history as a major hub for glass manufacturers, Toledo has a long history of entrepreneurial spirit.

Home to the Minnesota’s government, St. Paul is both a political and financial hub for the American Midwest.

Sacramento, CA is the state’s capital and sixth-largest city. Since the California Gold Rush of the 1840s, Sacramento has been a major economic hub for both the state and the West Coast as a whole, a status it still holds today.

Plano is home to the headquarters of a number of major companies (including Fortune 1000 companies such as Rent-A-Center and J.C. Penney), the city is a thriving business hub.

Seasoned entrepreneurs recognize the value of advisory boards. Taking the time to gain a comprehensive understanding can result in significant benefits to the scalable start-up.