PROVIDENCE – After missing out on a portion of $504 million in federal funding, the Ocean Tech Hub received a recent $500,000 award as part of a $9.5 million funding round reaching a total of 19 tech hubs nationwide.
The Economic Development Administration, an agency under the U.S. Department of Commerce, announced the round of Consortium Accelerator Awards on July 29, following its announcement earlier that month on the distribution of the initial, larger funding available.
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In a statement, Alejandra Y. Castillo, assistant secretary of commerce for economic development, said that the latest grants “demonstrate the level of excellence every designee embodies and will enable tech hubs to not only keep up their momentum, but also leverage their coveted designation to attract additional collaboration and capital.”
As of late July, the federal government has appropriated $541 million to the EDA for the tech hub program. U.S. Secretary of Commerce and former R.I. Gov. Gina M. Raimondo leads this effort.
The Ocean Tech Hub, a consortium of blue-economy-focused institutions, agencies, businesses and other organizations in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, was last fall announced as one of 31 federally designated technology hubs under a Biden-Harris administration innovation and technology initiative.
Blue-economy leaders have since said that the consortium members will continue to push forward on planned initiatives where possible but will have to scale back on plans outlined in the hub’s initial funding application due to the larger funding round exclusion.
Jacquelyn Voghel is a PBN staff writer. You may reach her at Voghel@PBN.com.
