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SBA Releases Regional Innovation Cluster solicitation

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: 

SSTI has postponed its Annual Conference until 2026

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.

As most readers likely know, staging conferences of the size and complexity of SSTI’s last one takes months of planning. A critical first step is securing the appropriate site. Given the continued uncertainty in the federal economic development and R&D funding landscape that many likely conference participants are navigating, we were not comfortable committing SSTI to an expensive hotel contract for a 2025 event. 

Making room for TBED in new Opportunity Zones

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 July 10 Digest article recapping the reconciliation package, OZ has undergone significant revisions

Massachusetts Gov. requests $890.4M investment in TBED and innovation initiatives in five-year capital funding plan

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). If approved by the state legislature, the package would also provide capital funding resources to implement the Mass Leads Act passed last fall (see this Digest article for more information).

TBED Works: Georgia Research Alliance was a go-to resource for a company producing “game-changing” technology

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). 

Recent research: Can regionally oriented innovation policies strengthen national competitiveness?

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. For example, should programs such as EDA Tech Hubs and NSF Engines—both of which are designed to stimulate greater innovation results from existing, strengthened and new assets within more geographic areas across the country—be continued or even expanded? Would networked, regionally oriented innovation policies increase collaboration and accelerate economic growth?

Don’t miss these upcoming SSTI events!

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

 

August 12
2:00 p.m. EDT
Free

The Lab-to-Market subcommunity meeting occurs every 2nd Tuesday at 2:00 p.m. Eastern time)

The August discussion will focus on the national and regional ecosystems for moving technologies out of the laboratory to create new products, companies, and jobs. Come prepared to share about initiatives in your region: What’s working and what’s not? How have you worked around bottlenecks in the process? Register here.