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Congress Appropriates $10M for Regional Innovation Program

January 16, 2014
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The FY14 Omnibus Appropriations bill, which the U.S. House of Representatives passed yesterday and the U.S. Senate is expected to pass on Friday, contains $10 million for the Regional Innovation program in the U.S. Department of Commerce’s budget. This is the first time the grant portion of the program was directly funded.  The program was authorized in the America COMPETES Act of 2010 and establishes the program “to encourage and support the development of regional innovation strategies, including regional innovation clusters and science and research parks.”

Funding for the Regional Innovation program was one of SSTI’s highest legislative priorities and many SSTI members reached out to their representatives and senators to express support for the program. Language indicates that the Economic Development Administration is to centrally administer the grants rather than through its regional offices and with criteria provided in the America COMPETES Act. SSTI will follow and report on the Department of Commerce’s progress in implementing the program. For more information about SSTI’s activities on this issue, contact Dan Berglund at 614.901.1690.

Update: The FY14 Omnibus Appropriations bill was approved by the Senate and signed by the President on January 17, 2014.

dept of commerce, federal agency, congress, ssti