The impact of entrepreneurial activity on regional economic growth continues to be a focus of research and policy-makers throughout our global environment (Carree and Thurik Citation2000; Agarwal, Audretsch, and Sarkar Citation2007). Entrepreneurial activity requires innovation when entrepreneurs move from initial disequilibrium towards equilibrium (Schumpeter Citation1954; Kirzner Citation1973). Emerging entrepreneurial ventures and the innovators behind these start-ups bring necessary change and positive growth when conditions are aligned for their success (Davidsson, Delmar, and Wiklund Citation2006). Public administration and government policies should support both entrepreneurship and innovation as such support is necessary for organizations as they design programmes and develop policies for growth and sustainability (Galbraith et al. Citation2017). New ventures need talent, good ideas and a knowledge-based economy around them to positively impact regional development (Bouncken, Kraus, and Roig-Tierno Citation2019). Organizations tend to access knowledge from research sources, implicitly assuming that entrepreneurship and innovation involve developing social networks and collective actions (Huggins and Johnston Citation2009). The discussion concerning the space and scale of knowledge networks for innovation is important to clarify. Additionally, emerging entrepreneurial firms are highly active with regard to accessing knowledge from a range of sources and geographic locations; however, these networking activities may decrease during future periods of peak firm growth (Huggins et al. Citation 2015).