IT'S TIME TO COME TOGETHER FOR NEW REGIONAL TECH COLLABORATION
VIEWPOINT: READY FOR AN HQ2 REDUX? IT'S TIME TO COME TOGETHER FOR NEW REGIONAL TECH COLLABORATION Remember the frenzy in 2017 when over 200 cities and towns across the U.S. bid to house the second headquarters for Amazon? Northern Virginia in the D.C. region won that bid ultimately. But cities, states and regions might want to dust off those bids to enter a new $1 billion competition by the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) that promises more winners across the country in applied science areas to help make the U.S. more technologically competitive and inclusive. Thankfully, this competition will look more like the Olympics with many gold, silver and bronze winners compared with the winner-take-all approach of Amazon HQ2. EDA will grant $500,000 in technical assistance to 50 to 60 regional coalitions to develop and support three to eight projects to support a regional growth cluster this fall. Next year, EDA will award 20 to 30 regional coalitions $25 million to $100
