What participants in the $500 million tech hub race can learn from the past

Written by Christopher Wink

In 2013, a Senate subcommittee criticized locally-led innovation clusters for not showing any measurable benefit from $55 million in federal funding.

It was part of an Obama-era Department of Energy program focused on identifying and commercializing energy efficiency in buildings, which still account for 40% of U.S. carbon emissions. One of his longest-studied locations was the Philadelphia Navy Yard. At least three were named after him during his tenure, one of which was the Energy Efficient Building Hub.

The subcommittee's report was undaunted. The Hub focused on economic development in the Philadelphia region rather than developing a national program to improve the energy efficiency of commercial and residential buildings across the United States.

Today, the city's isolated former shipbuilding zone is a growing business hub, but its tens of millions of dollars have failed to produce any breakthrough innovations. This is a warning against a new generation of federal funding for place-based technology hubs.

By early summer, a coalition representing a group of states centered around Philadelphia will decide whether to be among a small number of regions awarded between $50 million and $75 million to improve advanced technology capabilities. I will know. It is at the heart of the federal government's Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs program.

What's different this time?

A decade ago, energy efficiency programs were led by academia and focused on inventions that were centralized within institutions. This Tech Hubs initiative focuses on proven technologies and ecosystem approaches. That's Tony Green, chief scientific officer at Ben Franklin Technology Partners, an investment firm backed by the Pennsylvania state government.

Green, who had a small role in the previous program, has taken a lead role this time around, coordinating Philadelphia's Precision Medicine Coalition. Each of the 31 regional bids has a slightly different economic focus.

Green said this is not about academics, but about how to get a product out into the world.

The results will speak for themselves. One of the biggest economic news of the moment is the amount of federal funds being splashed across the United States. Can government-led industrial policy accelerate innovation? Or is it destined to deviate from market trends?

Funding technology hubs for jobs and onshoring

Starting with a $4.6 trillion pandemic relief package launched under President Trump and continuing with another $2 trillion between three spending bills signed by President Biden, the U.S. government is striving to forestall a recession and spend more. has fueled inflation. (By some measures, the US national debt has essentially doubled since 2015.)

The federal government also wants to rebuild America's economy, combat climate change, re-land manufacturing and regain its lead in a range of advanced technologies.

One of the fruits of Biden's spending bill is the tech hub initiative, which is managed by the federal Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration. Back in the fall, the federal government selected just under 30 tech hubs out of 300 bids from across the country. Tens of millions of federal dollars are expected to be awarded to five to 10 regional groups each within the next few months.

Zakiya Ali, executive director of the Delaware Tech Council and a workforce development veteran, said this could be a game-changer for the region. She is part of the Green Party's precision medicine bid, which incorporates four states, including New Jersey and Maryland.

Similar to Baltimore's bid, leaders across jurisdictions are collaborating on opportunities for public investment and the expected economic benefits that follow.

Green said it's about employment and onshoring, and the company has more than 70 partners and five projects focused on precision medicine.

Precision medicine is like the intersection of all areas of technology, life sciences, and healthcare where Philadelphia can definitely claim leadership. This field focuses on personalized care, including patient-specific cancer cells and specialized blood transfusions.

We combine advanced research with manufacturing and technology, as well as a skilled workforce to make policy-making dreams a reality.

Kelvin H. Lee, director of the National Institute for Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Innovation, said Philadelphia is in that region because many of these drugs were innovated here. He is also a member of the Philadelphia Coalition.

Side benefit: Many people work on a single focus

A criticism of such government-led economic strategies is that they require excessive prioritization to gain sufficient political support.

In the case of the tech hub program, a relatively small amount of $500 million is aimed at resupporting advanced manufacturing, growing jobs, addressing racial wealth inequality, and bringing together regional coalitions. Planning sessions for the Baltimore bid included an exchange of ideas about the region's economy and workforce, and included a wide range of priorities. Similar scenes occurred all over the country. Can leaders balance many voices within a single focus?

Past federal economic funding programs have gone in the opposite direction, with too many priorities closely guarded by too few agencies. Now, Green argues that the opposite is true, at least in the Philadelphia case. That means focused proposals, informed by a trusted combination of influence from investors, employers and universities, and that's what people are waiting for. You know, the workforce.

The ecosystem metaphor may be 30 years old, but it's been gaining momentum again in the last decade, Green said. These efforts tend to occur only at the large organizational level, as they are complex processes that require many dedicated staff and significant resources.

But advancing precision medicine requires bringing together many perspectives, he added. That important work will lead not only to local economic benefits but also to the broader health outcomes that the technology promises.

NIIMBL's Lee said the cost of obtaining these drugs is relatively high due to manufacturing costs.We think there's a real opportunity to see that. [these products] It's affordable and accessible.

Christopher Wink is the co-founder and CEO of Technical.ly, where this article first appeared.

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