Miami-Dade County led the work to get South Florida designated a national climate resilience tech hub, the only one of 31 focused on climate change, an urgent major issue for the region in light of global warming and sea level rise. Venture capitalists saw the potential but not many investable ventures; some entrepreneurs created scalable ventures but without much regional support; economic development agencies were not yet fully building the ecosystem or just getting started. Most wanted more from government, higher education, and others. The label "climate tech hub" had to be backed by specific proposals to attract available funding. What are the gaps and missing ingredients? What actions might fill the gaps?

To activate the first wind turbines in the ocean off Martha's Vineyard eventually supplying clean energy to 400,000 households, Vineyard Wind's leaders had to navigate the permitting process, numerous delays, and objections from stakeholders in three communities: Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket islands near where power originated; Cape Cod where cables reached land and power stations; and mainland New Bedford where a new green industry was part of its economic development plan. Issues included marine mammals, birds, fishing grounds, sacred Indigenous People's areas, views, beach disruption, worker training, and union jobs. Solutions included new technology, community investments, settlements with unions, community meetings, and relationships with government officials, but there were financial costs as well as delays. Significant as the first commercial-sized offshore wind farm in North America, Vineyard Wind I was co-owned by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, a financial fund, and Avangrid, an energy supplier and main venture operator. Pedro Azagra, Avangrid CEO, spent a great deal of time with government officials seeking support. How effective were the actions, and would they help the next projects achieve the goal of more clean energy for Massachusetts and New England?

Founder Duncan McIntyre developed an innovative service-based business to electrify transportation fleets for school districts and scale through public-private partnerships while contributing to climate change solutions. The case covers the rationale for electric school buses, the leadership of its founder, its growth from one customer to many over five years, and relationships with multiple stakeholders in a complex system. Highland Electric Fleets contracted with school districts in the U.S. and Canada to supply and service electric school buses, offering to lower costs for the districts, even those who were not climate action supporters. Ancillary benefits included providing power back to the electric grid, reducing the use of fossil fuels and emission of greenhouse gases, and cleaner air for children. But just as McIntyre was envisioning expanding to electrify other transportation fleets, supply chain challenges leave McIntyre with the dilemma of how to deal with the possible defection of its largest customer because of buses failing to be delivered in time.