Economic Development Administration designates 31 tech hubs to jump start manufacturing, development

These days, technology allows someone to connect with another living on the other side of the world with a click of a button. Efficiencies in the transportation sector let businesses sell products and interact with customers who are in a different time zone. It’s a global economy—one the Biden-Harris administration is looking to be more competitive in through the creation of 31 regional Tech Hubs.

The progam is “an economic development initiative designed to drive regional innovation and job creation by strengthening a region’s capacity to manufacture, commercialize, and deploy technology that will advance American competitiveness,” reads a statement about the initiative from the U.S. Economic Development Administration. “The program invests directly in burgeoning, high-potential U.S. regions and aims to transform them into globally competitive innovation centers.”

The hubs are located in 32 states and Puerto Rico, in both rural and urban areas, and focus on industries including autonomous systems, biotechnology, quantum computing, clean energy, semiconductor manufacturing, and precision medicine, among others.

“Innovation, cutting-edge research, and creativity can be found in every community across America,” said Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves in the statement. “The phase 1 designees and grant recipients reflect the diverse technological industries growing here at home and are symbols of American innovation and opportunity. The Tech Hubs program will provide them tools and resources to drive economic growth across the nation, which Americans will feel for generations to come.”

The designated hubs are: 

Safe and Effective Autonomous Systems

• Headwaters Hub – smart photonic sensor systems in Montana.
• Ocean Tech Hub – ocean robotics, sensors, and materials in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
• Trustworthy & Equitable Autonomous Systems Tech Hub – secure autonomous systems in Oklahoma.

Maintaining Our Quantum Edge

• Elevate Quantum Colorado – quantum information technology in Colorado.
• The Bloch Tech Hub – quantum computing and communications in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin.

Advancing Biotechnology: Drugs and Devices

• Advanced Pharma Manufacturing Tech Hub – active pharma ingredient manufacturing in Virginia.
• ReGen Valley Tech Hub – cells, organ, and tissue biofabrication in New Hampshire.
• iFab Tech Hub – precision fermentation and biomanufacturing in Illinois.
• Kansas City Inclusive Biologics and Biomanufacturing Tech Hub– vaccine-related biologics and manufacturing in Missouri and Kansas.
• Heartland BioWorks – biologics manufacturing in Indiana.
• PRBio Tech Hub – biopharmaceutical and medical device manufacturing in Puerto Rico

Advancing Biotechnology: Precision and Prediction

• Wisconsin Biohealth Tech Hub – personalized medicine in Wisconsin.
• Baltimore Tech Hub – predictive healthcare in Maryland.
• Birmingham Biotechnology Hub – equitable AI-driven biotechnology in Alabama.
• Greater Philadelphia Region Precision Medicine Tech Hub–  end to end precision medicine in Pennsylvania, Deleware, Maryland, and New Jersey.
• Minnesota MedTech 3.0 – smart medical technologies in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Accelerating Our Energy Transition

• Gulf Louisiana Offshore Wind Propeller – offshore wind and renewable energy in Los Angeles, Calif.
• Intermountain-West Nuclear Energy Tech Hub– small modular reactors and microreactors in Idaho and Wyoming.
• SC Nexus for Advanced Resilient Energy – clean energy supply chain in South Carolina and Georgia.
• South Florida Climate Resilience Tech Hub – sustainable and climate resilient infrastructure in Florida.
• New Energy New York (NENY) Battery Tech Hub – end to end battery development and manufacturing in New York.

Strengthening Our Critical Minerals Supply Chain

• Critical Minerals and Materials for Advanced Energy (CM2AE) Tech Hub– critical mineral processing in Missouri.
• Nevada Lithium Batteries and Other EV Material Loop – lithium batteries and electric vehicle materials in Nevada.

Regaining Leadership in Semiconductor Manufacturing

• Texoma Semiconductor Innovation Consortium – fablet-based semiconductor manufacturing in Texas and Oklahoma.
• Corvallis Microfluidics Tech Hub – microfluidics platforms in Oregon.
• Advancing GaN Tech Hub – gallium nitride-based semiconductors in Vermont.
• NY SMART I-Corridor Tech Hub – end-to-end semiconductor manufacturing in New York.

Growing the Future of Materials Manufacturing 

• Sustainable Polymers Tech Hub – sustainable plastics and rubbers in Ohio.
• Forest Bioproducts Advanced Manufacturing Tech Hub – sustainable wood biomass polymers in Maine.
• American Aerospace Materials Manufacturing Tech Hub – aerospace materials manufacturing in Washington and Idaho.
• Pacific Northwest Mass Timber Tech Hub– mass timber manufacturing and design in Washington and Oregon.

Simultaneous to the announcement of the hubs, the Economic Development Administration also awarded 29 planning grants to help selected communities be more competitive for future funding opportunities. Winners were selected from nearly 400 applications from regional consortia that include industry, academia, state and local governments, economic development organizations, and labor and workforce partners, the statement says.

The tech hubs were authorized under the the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act, which was signed into law in August 2022. On Monday, the Department of Commerce launched a funding opportunity, allowing the designated hubs to apply to receive between $40 million and $70 million each for implementation funding, totaling nearly $500 million.