Title
a. Receive an oral report from the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) on the Economic Development Administration (EDA) Regional Technology and Innovation Hub Program (Tech Hubs) grant proposal, and
b. Consider adopting a resolution authorizing the County Administrative Officer or designee to join the Greater Salinas Advanced Air Mobility Coalition being led by UCSC to submit a proposal for the EDA Tech Hubs grant.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors:
a. Receive an oral report from the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) on the Economic
Development Administration (EDA) Regional Technology and Innovation Hub Program
(Tech Hubs) grant proposal, and
b. Consider adopting a resolution authorizing the County Administrative Officer or designee to
join the Greater Salinas Advanced Air Mobility Coalition being led by UCSC to submit a proposal
for the EDA Tech Hubs grant.
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
Economic Development Administration (EDA) Tech Hubs Overview:
The Tech Hubs Program is an economic development initiative designed to drive regional technology-and innovation-centric growth by strengthening a region's capacity to manufacture, commercialize, and deploy critical technologies. This program will invest directly in regions with the assets, resources, capacity, and potential to transform into globally competitive innovation centers in approximately 10 years while catalyzing the creation of good jobs for workers at all skill levels.
The Tech Hubs Program will bring together a wide array of public, private, and academic partners into a collaborative consortium focused on regional economic development needs and unique growth opportunities.
The Tech Hubs Program was enacted as a part of Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) and Science Act of 2022 (as the Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs Program). The statute authorized $10 billion for the program over five years. ...
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