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The Distressed Area Recompete Pilot Program (Recompete Pilot Program)—authorized by the CHIPS and Science Act— will invest $200 million toward interventions that spur economic activity in geographically diverse and persistently distressed communities nationwide. The program will support economic revitalization in distressed communities across the country.

In a recent installment of SSTI’s federal funding video series, SSTI program director Jerry Coughter conducted a two-part interview with Amanda Kosty, management and program analyst with the Economic Development Administration’s Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Have you ever wondered whether there is a federal program that supports tech-based economic development (TBED) strategies and initiatives--even if it doesn’t explicitly state that science, technology, innovation, or entrepreneurship are priority uses of funds? Actually, a wide variety of federal programs can support these programs. To help organizations identify sources of funding that could be useful, SSTI interviewed representatives from the Economic Development Administration (EDA) to understand better how they can use specific funding opportunities to support TBED activities.

Earlier today, the Economic Development Administration (EDA) announced the 2023 notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) for the Build to Scale program. State and local governments, nonprofits, higher education institutions, National Labs, and others can compete for $50 million to support new and expanded initiatives supporting regional commercialization, entrepreneurship, and capital formation efforts.

Two competitions comprise the FY 2023 Build to Scale program:

When Dan Berglund, SSTI’s president and CEO, testified in a hearing before the House on an early draft of the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, he noted that funding from the federal government that addresses the whole innovation system rather than individual elements of the system would be critical to building a regional innovation economy and different than any other federal program.

Late last week, the Economic Development Administration (EDA) released “Tech Hubs Program Fact Sheet,” which provides some information on where the Tech Hubs program is headed. However, the sheet leaves many questions unanswered and raises new questions about how the program will be administered. The program, authorized in the CHIPS and Science Act at $10 billion, received $500 million in funding to date.

EDA is now accepting applications for its $4.5 million FY 2023 STEM Talent Challenge to support programs to train science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) talent and help fuel regional innovation economies.

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

Expanding U.S. innovation capacity sits at the heart of SSTI’s mission, and it was that driving force that guided our response to the Economic Development Administration’s request for information to inform the planning and design of the regional Technology and Innovation Hub (Tech Hubs) program last week. With $10 billion authorized for the program, and $500 million appropriated, the opportunity for growth in the nation demands a thoughtful and actionable plan.

The Economic Development Administration (EDA) recently issued a Request for Information (RFI) on the Regional Technology and Innovation Hub (Tech Hubs) program.