EDA’s Regional Innovation Strategies program — which makes i6 challenge and seed fund support awards — has released its notice of funding opportunity for FY 2018. Applications are due August 29. SSTI hosted a free webinar featuring EDA’s Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship on June 14.*

The third package of emergency assistance related to COVID-19 is currently making its way through Congress, having passed the Senate last night and being expected to pass the House tomorrow. The legislation includes additional emergency loans and tax credits for retaining employees, as well as near-term aid for individuals, small businesses, and some of the most affected industries. While relatively little assistance is directly relevant to science- and innovation-related business development, many broader small business provisions can still be of assistance to these companies.

The U.S. Economic Development Administration has announced the FY 2020 notice of funding availability for the Regional Innovation Strategies program. There are multiple changes to the program this year, including that EDA is now referring to the program as “Build to Scale.” A total of $35 million is available this year due to support from Congress with advocacy from SSTI’s Innovation Advocacy Council. The Trump Administration budget proposal for FY2020, and again for FY2021, proposed eliminating the program.

SSTI and five peer, economic development-focused organizations submitted a letter to assistant secretary for economic development, John Fleming, in response to a request for information about incorporating Opportunity Zones (OZs) into existing EDA practices. The letter encourages the agency to be cautious in its approach, pointing out that OZ’s impacts are not yet understood.

EDA is currently soliciting proposals for $23.5 million in Regional Innovation Strategies (i6 Challenge and Seed Fund Support), and submissions are due April 4. For those looking for more information, EDA’s website contains profiles of all past awardees, and SSTI has a collection of past webinars, including the informational webinar for the current opportunity.

More than 50 current and former program awardees, along with 11 tech-based economic development-focused organizations led by SSTI have signed letters supporting the Regional Innovation Strategies program at EDA. Since 2014, when the program first received funding, EDA has funded 180 projects across nearly every state, D.C., and Puerto Rico. In FY 2019, Congress appropriated $23.5 million. These projects have supported specific regional activities, including mission-focused seed investing in Kansas, maritime tech demonstrations in Washington, and incubator services in Florida.

The White House Office of Management and Budget released Delivering Government Solutions in the 21st Century, a plan for reorganizing federal agencies. On topics related to innovation, the wide-ranging plan would make changes to education, workforce, economic development, small business and more. Some of the suggestions could advance with administrative actions only, while many will require congressional support.

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.

Both the House and Senate are beginning the appropriations process for FY 2019 this month, and early indicators suggest that EDA’s Regional Innovation Strategies program could see an increase over its $21 million for FY 2018.

Working with public and private-sector partners across the U.S., the EDA invested approximately $289.1 million in 815 locally-driven economic development projects in FY 2017, according to its most recent annual report. The report provides examples of the projects it funds in each state, to help show the breadth and diversity of the programs and projects it funds.

With final passage and signage pending at the time of publication, the federal budget for FY 2018 provides relatively strong support for innovation economies. The Regional Innovation Strategies program is funded at $21 million, MEP at $140 million and the National Science Foundation at $7.8 billion, increases for all organizations. Other notable innovation programs receiving at least level funding are SBA’s cluster and accelerator programs, DOE’s ARPA-E, NASA science and the National Institutes of Health.

The EDA University Center Economic Development Program Competition recently announced $2.5 million in grants awarded to 25 colleges and universities in the Chicago and Philadelphia EDA regions to leverage assets, promote innovation and strengthen regional economies. The goal of these awards is “to boost innovation, create good-paying jobs and ensure American competitiveness in the global economy” while funding research as well as innovation economy development services.

The U.S. Economic Development Administration today announced the 50 organizations that will share in grants totaling $36.5 million to support programs that fuel innovation and tech-based economic development as part of the Build to Scale program.

The U.S. Department of Commerce is seeking applicants for the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (NACIE). NACIE advises the U.S.

The U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) has launched the FY 2021 $2 million STEM Talent Challenge to support programs to train science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) talent and fuel regional innovation economies across the nation.

The Economic Development Administration (EDA) has announced the seven recipients of the inaugural STEM Talent Challenge, awarding a total of $2 million in grants through the inaugural STEM Talent Challenge, which aims to boost local science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) talent.

In separate announcements this week, the Department of Defense Office of Economic Adjustment (OEA) and the Economic Development Administration (EDA) revealed funding opportunities that can assist efforts to transform American innovations and support the growth of new companies.

Department of Defense

The Economic Development Administration’s Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIE) released a funding opportunity this morning for a new STEM Talent Challenge. The opportunity provides $2 million in total to governmental and nonprofit entities working to implement STEM apprenticeship models in their regions.

The final FY 2021 budget provides $1.4 trillion in total federal funding, including increases in some programs affecting the innovation economy. Among SSTI’s Innovation Advocacy Council priorities: EDA’s Build to Scale received an appropriation of $38 million, SBA’s Regional Innovation Clusters received $6 million, and SBA’s Federal and State Technology (FAST) program received $4 million. These are just a few of the federally-funded initiatives that support regional innovation economies and a wide range of federal R&D activities.

This week, the Senate passed the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, a legislative package that includes the Endless Frontier Act. The tech-based economic development community should be excited about many initiatives authorized in the bill, including $10 billion for regional technology hubs, $100 billion in new R&D-related activities, and an expansion of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership program.

As the new administration settles in, the Economic Development Administration (EDA) has updated its investment priorities — the guiding principles behind all of its competitive grants. Changes to the priorities are outlined below so that participants in local innovation economies are better able to align their proposed programs to these federal priorities.

President Joe Biden has nominated Alejandra Y. Castillo to serve as the next assistant secretary for economic development in the U.S. Department of Commerce. If confirmed, she will have a unique opportunity to leave a significant imprint on regional efforts toward growing prosperity as a result of the $3 billion appropriated to the Economic Development Administration in March through the America Rescue Plan Act. 

A bipartisan, bicameral group of legislators have introduced bills that would make a five-year commitment to increase America’s investment in R&D by $100 billion, while also investing $10 bi

Join us for a special SSTI webinar on June 9th, when U.S. Economic Development Administration representatives will share information regarding $1.5 billion in economic development grants available for coronavirus response and recovery efforts at the local, state and regional levels. The EDA team also will discuss the pending innovation and entrepreneurship challenge component of the funding. Join us to learn more about qualifying for grants, which types of project support/assistance will be funded, how to apply, and more. There will be time for Q&A at the end of the presentation.

A total of $29 million in grants will be awarded to 44 organizations across the country as part of the Scaling Pandemic Resilience through Innovation and Technology (SPRINT) Challenge provided by the Economic Development Administration. The SPRINT Challenge, with grants ranging from between $200,000 to $750,000, was developed last year with the goal of addressing the health and economic risks brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic through investments in entrepreneurship and innovation.