WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration on Monday designated 31 know-how hubs unfold throughout 32 states and Puerto Rico to assist spur innovation and create jobs within the industries which can be concentrated in these areas.
“We’re going to put money into vital applied sciences like biotechnology, vital supplies, quantum computing, superior manufacturing — so the U.S. will lead the world once more in innovation throughout the board,” President Joe Biden stated. “I actually consider this nation is about to take off.”
The tech hubs are the results of a course of that the Commerce Division launched in Could to distribute a complete of $500 million in grants to cities.
The $500 million got here from a $10 billion authorization in final 12 months’s CHIPS and Science Act to stimulate investments in new applied sciences comparable to synthetic intelligence, quantum computing and biotech. It’s an try and broaden tech funding that’s largely concentrated round a couple of U.S. cities — Austin, Texas; Boston; New York; San Francisco; and Seattle — to the remainder of the nation.
“I’ve to say, in my complete profession in public service, I’ve by no means seen as a lot curiosity in any initiative than this one,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo informed reporters throughout a Sunday convention name to preview the announcement. Her division acquired 400 purposes, she stated.
“Regardless of the place I’m going or who I meet with — CEOs, governors, senators, congresspeople, college presidents — everybody desires to inform me about their utility and the way excited they’re,” stated Raimondo.
This system, formally the Regional Technology and Innovation Hub Program, ties into the president’s financial argument that individuals ought to be capable of discover good jobs the place they reside and that chance needs to be unfold throughout the nation, reasonably than be concentrated. The White Home has sought to raise that message and spotlight Biden’s associated insurance policies because the Democratic president undertakes his 2024 reelection bid.
The 31 tech hubs attain Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Montana, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Virginia, New Hampshire, Missouri, Kansas, Maryland, Alabama, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, Minnesota, Louisiana, Idaho, Wyoming, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, New York, Nevada, Missouri, Oregon, Vermont, Ohio, Maine, Washington and Puerto Rico.