Commerce announces $21 million in new Regional Innovation Strategies awards

At SSTI's 2018 Annual Conference this week, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced 40 awardees for $21 million in the latest round of the Regional Innovation Strategies program. The program which makes grants for the i6 Challenge and Seed Fund Support, has now provided $78 million to 180 projects across 46 states, DC and Puerto Rico.

Congratulations to SSTI members: Ben Franklin Technology Partners, Excell Partners, Kansas State University, Launch New York, Launch Place, Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, New Jersey Innovation Institute, Research Foundation for SUNY, University of Michigan, University of Missouri, and VilCap on their awards.

Commerce also announced that the next funding round will be released in February. Resources on past funding rounds are available at ssti.org.

Congress has not yet appropriated funds for FY 2019, but the Senate has budgeted $25 million and the House $21 million. Contact Jason Rittenberg for more information on SSTI's work to support the program.

The full list of FY 2018 Regional Innovation Strategies awardees is below:

i6 Challenge Awardees:

• ACTION Innovation Network, Fall River, MA
• CLT Joules, Charlotte, NC
• Elevate Ventures, Inc., Indianapolis, IN
• Exponential Impact, Colorado Springs, CO
• Greater Phoenix Economic Council, Phoenix, AZ
• HealthShare Exchange of Southeastern Pennsylvania, Inc., Philadelphia, PA
• Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS
• Maryland Department of Commerce, Baltimore, MD
• Medical Center of the Americas Foundation, El Paso, TX
• New Jersey Innovation Institute, Inc., Newark, NJ
• North Idaho College, Coeur d’Alene, ID
• Northeast Indiana Innovation Center, Inc., Fort Wayne, IN
• Pennsylvania State University , University Park, PA
• Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research Trust, San Juan, PR
• Social Enterprise Greenhouse, Providence, RI
• South Carolina Research Authority, Columbia, SC
• State Board for Community Colleges and Occupational Education, Pueblo, CO
• The Curators of the University of Missouri, St Louis, MO
• The Research Foundation for SUNY at Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY
• The Southern Windsor County Incubator, Inc., Springfield, VT
• Tri-County Economic Development Corporation, Lakeside Park, KY
• University of San Diego, San Diego, CA
• VilCap, Inc., Washington, DC
• Winrock International Institute for Agricultural Development, Little Rock, AR

Seed Fund Support Awardees:

• Arizona Bioindustry Association, Inc., Chandler, AZ
• Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern PA, Philadelphia, PA
• Bounce Innovation Hub, Akron, OH
• California State University, Fresno Foundation, Fresno, CA
• Excell Partners, Inc., Rochester, NY
• GoodCity, Chicago, IL
• Innovate Mississippi, Jackson, MS
• Launch New York, Inc., Buffalo, NY
• Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, Waltham, MA
• New Mexico Angels, Inc., Albuquerque, NM
• New Orleans BioInnovation Center, Inc., New Orleans, LA
• Regents of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
• Southside Business Technology Center, Inc., Danville, VA
• StartUp NV, Inc., Las Vegas, NV
• Tampa Bay Wave, Inc., Tampa, FL
• Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX