Oct. 23 (UPI) -- The Biden administration will designate more than two dozen U.S. cities as "Tech Hubs" in an effort to create manufacturing jobs, boost investment in technological innovation, and make the United States more globally competitive in industries of the future.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo will join President Joe Biden at the White House Monday to announce 31 states selected by the government to receive funds to build Tech Hubs like San Francisco's Silicon Valley -- with a tight-knit community of businesses focused on technological development.
The initiative, which is funded through private investments and Biden's 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, aims to ramp up manufacturing in fields like semiconductors, clean energy, critical minerals, biotechnology, precision medicine, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing, the White House said in a statement.
The Economic Development Administration announced the funding competition in May, saying the program was open to eligible business and government groups who applied before Aug. 15, with $500 million set to be delivered this year.
Congress approved a total of $10 billion for the program through 2027.
As part of Monday's announcement, $75 million in grants will be split among a number of private sector entities across the country -- including labs, tech manufacturers, colleges, labor unions, and Tribes, as well as nonprofits and state and local governments -- who will use the money to create centers of innovation to further develop these fields.
The hubs are located in Alabama, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming, and Puerto Rico.
The funds will be used to expand Tech Hubs to small and rural areas as well as historically underserved communities as major tech industries remained "clustered in a few cities on the coasts," the White House said.
Each site will tackle a different aspect of the innovation economy in industries such as agriculture, transportation, industrial manufacturing, robotics, smart technologies, and information technology.
The administration considered more than 370 applications from 49 states and four territories before narrowing down to 31 awardees that represented a diverse spectrum of the U.S. population.
The Tech Hubs will have access to a range of technical assistance from the Transportation Department, the Agriculture Department, and the Small Business Administration.
The Department of Commerce also plans to award 18 development grants that will be used to plan future Tech Hubs.
Since Biden took office, private companies have invested more than $500 billion in clean energy efforts for the nation, including $230 billion in semiconductor manufacturing, $140 billion to build new electric vehicles and batteries, and another $20 billion to innovate pharmaceutical manufacturing, the White House said.
"These investments will further position U.S. businesses and workers to outcompete the world in the economy of tomorrow and strengthen our national and economic security," the statement said.
Biden said the CHIPS law was serving to improve America's standing on the world stage as the United States was still struggling to regain its footing in semiconductor manufacturing after the nation's investment in tech research and development fell to less than 1% of GDP since the mid-1960s, the White House said previously.
Raimondo also said the government's massive investment in Tech Hubs would serve to shore up national security as semiconductor manufacturing comes back to the United States amid tensions with China over spying concerns.
