Is anyone really surprised by Amazon’s announcement that it will build its new headquarters in two large, affluent East Coast metropolitan areas? Amazon’s decision is yet another data point in the increasing concentration of wealth in big multinational companies and large urban centers. Meanwhile, in smaller cities and middle-income regions across the globe, even the best ideas and most promising new businesses can die on the vine for lack of access to markets and capital. Those regions need new forms of innovation financing to prosper in an age of globalized commerce. With the right funding, many communities across the U.S. can — and should — build their own locally-sourced innovation economies. A new type of financial instrument, local innovation bonds, would establish a pool of debt financing for tech startups that stay locally owned and managed as they grow.