The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) has launched the Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs (Tech Hubs) competition.
This program aims to create tech hubs in various regions of the country by bringing together industry, higher education institutions, state and local governments, economic development organizations, and labor and workforce partners.
The Department has issued its first Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), seeking applications for planning grants and Tech Hubs Designations. Successful proposals will show an area's ability in and concentration on a main technological strength, with the potential to become a world leader in that critical technology within a decade.
"Regions are not bound by specific borders, but rather focus on identifying sections of the country with the assets, resources, capacity, and potential to become globally competitive in critical technologies and industries, the Commerce Department news release said. The particular critical technologies are defined in the law creating the program. The types of organizations that can apply and the requirements are defined at this U.S. Economic Development Administration page.
“The Tech Hubs program is a critical piece of President Biden’s Investing in America strategy, and will help us create ecosystems of innovation to strengthen economic opportunity in communities around the country that have historically been overlooked," U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said in the press release. "We’re going to do that by supercharging our existing innovation foundations, bringing together our premier research institutions with world-class companies to create good-paying jobs in these communities, and ensuring the technological advances that define the next century are made in communities across America.”
Later this year, the Department of Commerce will launch a second NOFO for applicants designated as a Tech Hub to apply for implementation funding. The first NOFO will evaluate applications over a three-month period.
