Win $1,000 for your 'Big' idea

The American Dream was never about comfort. It was about agency. About ordinary people deciding to shape their own future, build something useful and leave their community better than they found it.

That spirit built towns, industries and generations of opportunity. It is also a spirit that needs to be actively reclaimed.

With just less than 20 days left to submit an idea for a $1,000 local grant, residents need to stop waiting and start building.

Across the country, many people feel stuck waiting for institutions to respond, for markets to stabilize and for someone else to go first. But the American Dream has never belonged to spectators. It belongs to builders.

Rise up and lead from where you stand

Every meaningful act of creation begins with a personal question.

What do you wish existed here?

What do you see that is missing or broken?

What would unlock the next chapter of your life?

Those questions are not abstract. They are practical.

The American Dream begins the moment you stop asking who should fix something and start asking what you could build. A business. A nonprofit. A product. A gathering. A movement. The form matters less than the decision to act.

Cities move forward when individuals choose responsibility over resignation.

Making things up is how progress happens

Every breakthrough that defines modern life began as something someone made up.

A group of friends in North Idaho decided the city needed a film festival. That decision led to the NoID Film Festival, which showcased 20 films in its second year. In another case, a small team created the world’s first smart sensor designed to protect linemen after one of their brothers nearly died from electrocution. That company, Safeguard, now serves most of the U.S. lineman industry and is on a path toward $100 million in annual recurring revenue.

None of these ideas came with guarantees. Each required people who are willing to risk failure to build something that mattered.

That willingness to imagine what could be and take action is the engine of the American Dream.

Legends coming to Coeur d’Alene

This belief in creation and responsibility is why two legendary makers are coming to Coeur d’Alene for the upcoming Build Summit at the Innovation Den on Jan. 16.

Flint Dille created the 1980s "Transformers" movie and helped shape iconic storytelling franchises. He also played a role in the creative evolution that led to Pokémon Go, which went on to achieve a multibillion-dollar valuation.

Amish Patel helped design the Xbox controller at Microsoft, one of the most widely used consumer devices in the world. He later played a key role in the development of VICIS football helmets, now regarded as the safest helmets in the NFL. His work has also extended to advanced medical robotics, including next-generation spinal surgery systems valued at over $100 million. Today, he runs a lab called Conduit Venture Labs, a studio focused on helping people make things up at the intersection of physical objects and software.

They are not coming to give motivational speeches. They are coming to lead workshops and share how ideas actually become real, including the discipline and persistence required to see something through.

From inspiration to action

Alongside the summit, a software platform created here in Coeur d’Alene called build_ has launched a new feature designed to help residents turn ideas into action.

The platform allows people to list projects, find collaborators, and connect their ideas to specific challenges facing the city. Some of those challenges are sponsored contests. As part of the current launch, a $1,000 grant will be awarded to a Coeur d’Alene resident with a promising new idea through the Next Big Thing challenge.

There are only a few days left to participate.

The process is simple. Create your project, submit it to the challenge and show up.

The choice in front of us

Institutions never handed down the American Dream — people who took risks created value where none existed before.

The future of Coeur d’Alene will be shaped by those willing to imagine boldly, act locally, and take responsibility for what comes next.

Seventeen days is enough time to decide.

Rise up. Make something up. And help write the next chapter of the American Dream, right here at home. We are here to build with you.

Subscribers of the Cd'A Press are allowed one free ticket to the build_ summit. RSVP at luma.com/reslp4kj 

Submit a project for the Next Big Thing Challenge at app.buildcities.com/challenges 

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Nick Smoot is a longtime tech founder and investor. He led a local investment group that funded nine startups in the region.