One of the top perennial concerns of America’s manufacturing and business communities relates to the workforce. The main issues may vary year to year; examples include too few workers available, skill mismatch, poor work habits or preparedness because of non-work issues such as basic education attainment, drug use, prison records or lack of work ethic.

A recently published InfoChart from the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) presents an annotated walk through federal R&D obligations from FY 1951 through 2024, explaining key events influencing key moments in the surges and downswings along the nation’s path to supporting discovery, research, development and innovation. The data is presented in constant 2017 dollars. 

As policymakers consider how to invest limited dollars to stimulate R&D across the U.S. while other countries increase their investments, it’s important to examine whether newer regional policy approaches have the potential to increase national competitiveness versus traditional individual programs.

The New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) recently announced that it is awarding Fordham University $3 million from its Greenlight Innovation Fund. The university will also receive additional funds, including a $1.1 million grant from Councilman Oswald Feliz, to create the Bronx Green Job Center (BGJC), a workforce development and entrepreneurship hub that aims to create an equitable green-job pipeline in the Bronx.

July 29
3:00 p.m. EDT
Free

Please join us for the Innovation Finance subcommunity meeting where we will discuss Innovation Finance 101. This meeting is intended to be the first in a series of foundational conversations on innovation finance and will focus on the terminology, process, and structure of venture capital investment. Register here. 

Vaccine and therapeutics storage and delivery may never be the same as Emory University and Micron Biomedical recently announced the first clinical trial of a novel rotavirus vaccine, CC24, delivered via dissolvable microarray technology. This clinical trial was the first clinical evaluation of any drug or vaccine delivered via patch or microarray that is sponsored by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

The Opportunity Zone (OZ) program, first established in 2017 with a ten-year lifespan, has been made permanent in Public Law No: 119-21. As noted in a 

Massachusetts’ Gov. Maura Healey recently proposed a multi-year funding strategy (Five-Year Massachusetts Capital Investment Plan (CIP) [FYs 2026-2030] that  would include investment of $890.4 million, including general obligation bonds and private sector contributions, for many of the state’s TBED and innovation initiatives (programs are outlined below).

After the tremendous learning and community-building experience at SSTI’s conference last December at the beautiful Sheraton at Wild Horse Pass in Arizona, many people are looking forward to our next gathering. We are too, but have decided to postpone the event until next year with dates to be determined.

The U.S. Small Business Administration announced a new funding opportunity through the Regional Innovation Cluster (RIC) Program. The program is designed to enable new RICs to assist small businesses in matching innovative technologies to industry needs, with the aim of reshoring critical industrial and manufacturing capabilities, securing domestic supply chains, and spurring job creation.

SBA is interested in competitive offers from organizations with relevant partnerships and small business expertise in critical industries, including: 

The U.S. Small Business Administration adopted new rules in 2023 that made it easier for venture capital funds to leverage federal resources under the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program, thereby increasing the capital they have available for early-stage investments.

In perhaps the most difficult budget season of the last 25 years, where the President’s budget has proposed eliminating funding for scores of programs, both the House and Senate subcommittees with budget oversight for the Economic Development Administration (EDA) have proposed continuation funding of $50 million for FY2026 for the popular Build 2 Scale (B2S) program—referred to as the Regional Innovation Program Grants in budget language.

The Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) subcommittee of House Appropriations has turned against the Federal and State Technology (FAST) Partnership in its budget recommendations for the Small Business Administration, zeroing out the only program that provides funds to help states level the competitive field of applicants for the SBIR/STTR program. While the FAST funds were decreased from the $9 million enacted in FY2024, the SBDC line item received a $10 million increase in the FSGG appropriations proposal.

House and Senate subcommittees with oversight for Commerce, State and Justice appropriations differ on funding recommendations for the EDA Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs program, commonly referred to as Tech Hubs. While any funding in a tight budget environment is good, the $50 million in the House version of the CJS bill or the Senate subcommittee’s $60 million is far short of Congress’s original vision for the Tech Hubs, authorized at $10 billion over ten years.

The nearly status quo nature of the FY 2026 budget of $9.0 billion for the National Science Foundation advanced by the Senate Appropriations Committee stands in striking contrast to the Administration’s $3.9 billion request. House appropriations, meanwhile, appropriated $7.0 billion for NSF, a reduction of $2.06 billion or 23% from the FY 2025 enacted level.