CoP

The Economic Development Administration (EDA) announced 60 organizations receiving $53 million from the Build to Scale program today. This is the program’s 10th and largest award cycle, following years of consistent appropriations growth from Congress. The Build to Scale program, which includes the Venture Challenge and Capital Challenge, funds the launch or expansion of programs that address regional needs to achieve a more robust innovation economy. SSTI has been a staunch supporter of Build to Scale and participating organizations since it was first formed.

This week the Economic Development Administration (EDA) announced it had completed awarding $27.9 million in cooperative agreements to establish eight economic development Communities of Practice, including the Technology-Based Economic Development (TBED) Community of Practice led by SSTI to help build the capacity and disseminate effective technology-based economic development practices across the innovation industry and the Building Better Regions Community of Practice where SSTI has partnered with RTI. Each EDA award will build a Community of Practice designed to connect participants to capture and disseminate practical knowledge and bring together thematically related groups of economic development practitioners who are working to develop economic ecosystems conducive to the creation of quality jobs for American workers.

The nonprofit research institute, RTI International, has been named the grant winner to coordinate and lead a Community of Practice (CoP) for the Build Back Better Regional Challenge’s 60 finalist coalitions. While the 21 awardees of the challenge will go on to build out their proposed programs, the CoP is intended to build long-term connections among all 60 coalition finalists, which were awarded from 529 applications. SSTI is excited to be a sub-awardee on the CoP working with RTI.