Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs Program: EDA Announces Phase One

At a Glance

• Phase One will be used to identify and fund planning grants for at least 20 hubs.
• Each selected hub is eligible to receive up to $15 million.
• Phase One applications are due by August 15, 2023.

On May 12, 2023, the Economic Development Administration (EDA) released the long-awaited Phase One Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs program. Authorized as part of the CHIPS and Science Act, it received congressional appropriations in the amount of $500 million in the FY 2023 Omnibus Appropriations Act.

The program’s overarching goals are to identify regions that contain the necessary assets to leverage academia, industry and community organizations into long-term, sustainable economic growth while reducing offshoring and building regional centers of economic growth. Phase One of the program is primarily concerned with identifying the regions with the highest odds of successfully transforming federal dollars into self-sufficient growth through planning grants. The NOFO lays out definitions of eligible consortia with a particular focus on bringing together academia, industry, federal labs and community organizations such as workforce development organizations, unions, and state and local governments.

Phase One will be used to identify and fund planning grants for at least 20 hubs, with each eligible to receive up to $15 million. Phase Two of the program will be used to help implement the plans which EDA identifies as having the highest likelihood of success, with the condition that only consortia that have been awarded grants under Phase One as eligible to apply. Phase One applications are due by August 15, 2023, with the Phase Two NOFO expected to be released in fall 2023. EDA expects to make at least five Phase Two implementation grants.

The CHIPS & Science Act received bipartisan support in Congress; however, broader budget questions may limit future appropriations for successive rounds of funding. The administration, for its part, is looking to fund projects quickly as it wants to put this popular legislation to work.

The Energy, Manufacturing and Technology Practice Team at Faegre Drinker is dedicated to providing client service and government relations representation to the makers of the products essential to modern life. We are experienced in navigating complicated regulatory regimes and the political landscape on Capitol Hill. Our clients are fueling the advancement of the American economy through the production of the components of microchips; consumer goods; food products; traditional, renewable and nuclear energy; and domestic rare earth elements.