URI Research Foundation’s blue economy proposal a federal Build Back Better Regional Challenge finalist

Updated at 3:16 p.m.

SOUTH KINGSTOWN – The University of Rhode Island Research Foundation’s proposal to develop a regional blue economy technology hub is among 60 finalists selected to receive federal investments from the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s $1 billion “Build Back Better Regional Challenge.”

The foundation’s concept of establishing a Rhode Island Blue Economy Technology Cluster was selected from a pool of 529 applicants. Each of the finalists may receive up to $100 million to strengthen regional industry clusters across the U.S., the EDA said on Monday. As one of 60 finalists, the foundation, also known as URI Ventures, will receive about $500,000 to further develop the project.

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URI President Marc B. Parlange told Providence Business News on Monday that the future of Rhode Island’s economy is blue, and it encompasses everything from offshore wind to aquaculture, naval defense and coastal resiliency.

“We want to be able to lift the entire state,” Parlange said. “We see this as a growth opportunity … for our future and thinking about our relationship with the oceans.”

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According to the foundation, the proposed blue economy technology cluster will establish the Ocean State and southern New England as a leading global center of the blue economy. The cluster proposes five projects, including creating strategies with the R.I. Department of Labor and Training to build a workforce development pipeline, to transform the state’s existing blue economy and nearly double its size. This plan proposes creating an additional 54,000 blue-economy jobs with a projected annual blue-economy gross regional product of $15 billion to $25 billion within the next decade.

The plan also proposes two initiatives to increase offshore wind supports along the East Coast. One is to create a Quonset Multi-Modal Offshore Wind Transport and Training Center and a new regional offshore wind deep water port in East Providence. The plan says more than 10 companies made requests to Rhode Island for deepwater port space over the last three years, but the state turned them away due to a lack of space, “costing millions” of dollars in economic activity and “hundreds of jobs.”

“We have the potential to lead the United States in this area [offshore wind],” Parlange said. “We really should seize the moment now.”

In a statement, R.I. Commerce Secretary Stefan Pryor agreed that the blue economy “can be a key economic driver for the state, creating high quality, well-paying jobs.”

The foundation’s plan can be found here.

The federal regional challenge, the EDA’s marquee American Rescue Plan program, looks to boost economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and rebuild communities across the country, including those that have been underinvested in for decades. The EDA said finalists will now compete for the challenge’s Phase 2 portion through March 15. Then, the challenge will award between 20 and 30 coalitions up to $100 million to implement three to eight projects to support an industry sector, the EDA said.

“The outpouring of interest in this program shows the demand for the Build Back Better agenda and the desire to not only create good-paying jobs, but also strengthen our country’s economic resiliency for years down the road,” U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo said in a statement.

(ADDS 8th paragraph with Pryor comment.)

James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.