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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13
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Build to Scale 2024: Info session recording and new map are available

Thursday, September 26, 2024

SSTI recently hosted an informational session with EDA representatives about the 2024 Build to Scale program. The $50 million program is accepting applications until October 28. The recording and slides are now available here for those who missed it or want to review.

  • Read more about Build to Scale 2024: Info session recording and new map are available

SSTI releases Rural and Persistent Poverty Map, consistent with Build to Scale Investment Priorities

Wednesday, September 18, 2024

With the release of the Economic Development Administration’s (EDA) 2024 Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for its Build to Scale program, time has begun ticking towards the October 28 application deadline.

  • Read more about SSTI releases Rural and Persistent Poverty Map, consistent with Build to Scale Investment Priorities

Revamped $50M Build to Scale program launches; webinar on Sept 17

Thursday, September 12, 2024

The Economic Development Administration has released the 2024 Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for its Build to Scale program. With $50 million in available funding, the program continues to support regional commercialization, entrepreneurship, and capital formation efforts. This year’s competition, however, comes with a restructured application process and updated evaluation criteria.

Key changes for 2024

  • Read more about Revamped $50M Build to Scale program launches; webinar on Sept 17

New resource: SSTI breaks down B2S program's Venture and Capital Challenges

Thursday, June 22, 2023

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.

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. Their discussion focused on the Build to Scale (B2S) program’s two competition tracks: the Venture Challenge and the Capital Challenge. These interviews offer a comprehensive overview of each funding track and its alignment with technology-based economic development (TBED) strategies. They also provide valuable advice on crafting competitive applications, emphasizing understanding and directly addressing the specific challenges your community faces as part of your proposal.

  • Read more about New resource: SSTI breaks down B2S program's Venture and Capital Challenges

EDA opens Tech Hubs competition

Thursday, May 18, 2023

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.

  • Read more about EDA opens Tech Hubs competition

EDA opens $4.5 million STEM Talent Challenge

Thursday, April 13, 2023

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.

  • Read more about EDA opens $4.5 million STEM Talent Challenge

EDA announces up to $35 million in new funding opportunities for Economic Recovery Corps and Equity Impact Investments programs

Thursday, June 23, 2022

The U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) last week announced a new funding opportunity that includes two programs designed to strengthen equitable economic development strategies across the country. One program will add staff resource to local organizations focused on improving economic resilience and competitiveness in distressed regions across the country, while the second will provide technical assistance to enable organizations serving underserved populations and communities to participate in economic development planning and projects.

  • Read more about EDA announces up to $35 million in new funding opportunities for Economic Recovery Corps and Equity Impact Investments programs

EDA launches $2 million STEM Talent Challenge

Thursday, August 12, 2021

The U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) has launched the FY 2021 $2 million STEM Talent Challenge to support programs to train science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) talent and fuel regional innovation economies across the nation.

  • Read more about EDA launches $2 million STEM Talent Challenge

EDA makes $3 billion available for regional economies

Thursday, July 22, 2021

Today, the Economic Development Administration (EDA) announced funding opportunities for the $3 billion Congress provided the agency in the American Rescue Plan Act. Funds are available through six distinct challenges, with separate goals and application processes/deadlines for each.

  • Read more about EDA makes $3 billion available for regional economies

Funding from Defense, EDA available

Thursday, June 11, 2020

In separate announcements this week, the Department of Defense Office of Economic Adjustment (OEA) and the Economic Development Administration (EDA) revealed funding opportunities that can assist efforts to transform American innovations and support the growth of new companies.

Department of Defense

  • Read more about Funding from Defense, EDA available

SSTI hosting EDA to discuss CARES funding – including forthcoming innovation opportunity

Thursday, May 28, 2020

Join us for a special SSTI webinar on June 9th, when U.S. Economic Development Administration representatives will share information regarding $1.5 billion in economic development grants available for coronavirus response and recovery efforts at the local, state and regional levels. The EDA team also will discuss the pending innovation and entrepreneurship challenge component of the funding. Join us to learn more about qualifying for grants, which types of project support/assistance will be funded, how to apply, and more. There will be time for Q&A at the end of the presentation.

  • Read more about SSTI hosting EDA to discuss CARES funding – including forthcoming innovation opportunity

Regional Innovation Strategies making $35 million available

Thursday, February 20, 2020

The U.S. Economic Development Administration has announced the FY 2020 notice of funding availability for the Regional Innovation Strategies program. There are multiple changes to the program this year, including that EDA is now referring to the program as “Build to Scale.” A total of $35 million is available this year due to support from Congress with advocacy from SSTI’s Innovation Advocacy Council. The Trump Administration budget proposal for FY2020, and again for FY2021, proposed eliminating the program.

  • Read more about Regional Innovation Strategies making $35 million available

EDA opens 2019 Regional Innovation funding cycle

Thursday, February 7, 2019

The Economic Development Administration is now accepting applications for the Regional Innovation Strategies program through April 4. Funding is available through the i6 Challenge, focused on transforming innovations into products and services, and Seed Fund Support, to help expand the availability of investment capital for startups. SSTI will again be hosting an informational webinar with EDA — see details and register below.

Regional Innovation Strategies program FY 2019 informational webinar
Tuesday, Feb. 12 @ 2 P.M. EST

  • Read more about EDA opens 2019 Regional Innovation funding cycle

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Recent news from the SSTI Digest

Recent Research: What makes place-based economic development policies work?

Wednesday, September 9, 2026
Place-based economic development is back near the center of federal policy, from Opportunity Zones to the CHIPS and Science Act. That renewed attention comes with a familiar problem: decades of enterprise zones, tax incentives, infrastructure investments, and other geographically targeted programs have produced results that are hard to summarize cleanly. In a new NBER working paper, Matthew Freedman and David Neumark ask the better question: not simply whether or not these policies work, but under what conditions they might work, for whom, and why. Their review points to a practical conclusion: policy design matters and targeting a distressed community with development-focused financial incentives is rarely enough on its own.
economic development

A BBBRC grant builds momentum for a highly trained semiconductor workforce

Wednesday, September 9, 2026
For the civic leaders of Osceola County, the Great Recession of 2008 made clear that they could not base their economy so heavily on travel and tourism. By the time COVID-19 hit in 2020, they knew the steps they had taken to diversify their economy were the right ones. When the Build Back Better Regional Challenge (BBBRC) opportunity arose in 2021, the county and its partners were well-positioned to operationalize the benefits the grant presented to the region and create a trained workforce for a recently attracted semiconductor industry. How did Osceola County get here? There are potential approaches to emulate by more areas of the county dependent on low-wage sectors like tourism or, for that matter, extraction-focused regions subject to “boom and bust.” 
semiconductors
workforce

The impact of tax incentives on early-stage company investment varies

Wednesday, September 9, 2026
One persistent question in economic development policy is how incentives impact private sector investment decisions. Recent and ongoing research from Murillo Campello and Guilherme Junqueira of the University of Florida, published in the National Bureau of Economic Research working paper series, explores the impact of the Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS) program on venture capital risk-taking. The researchers found that the availability of QSBS tax benefits strongly influences venture capital investment behavior, specifically in traditionally structured venture capital funds. They also found no similar behavior among angel or corporate investors, an insight that may hold important program design and policy lessons for the TBED community. 
tax incentives
investing
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