July 23, 2024 (Washington, DC)—The Milken Institute announced today the development of a Tech Hub Partners program to strengthen the network of 31 Regional Innovation and Technology Hubs (Tech Hubs) across the US to link business leaders and investors to new tech innovation opportunities and develop new strategies for US technology and economic competitiveness.

Working in collaboration with the US Department of Commerce, the effort will focus on strengthening and accelerating ties among the Regional Tech Hubs, business leaders looking to invest in bottom-up innovation, and stakeholders engaged in the Institute’s 10,000 Communities Initiative, which helps under-served communities and diverse entrepreneurs to develop critical regional infrastructure and support equitable supply chains.

The announcement was made at the 2024 Innovative Capital Summit in Washington, DC, where business, government, and community leaders convened to discuss the Tech Hub program and opportunities to make transformative investments in innovation, supply chain resilience, and job creation. The event was hosted by the US Department of Commerce, the National Science Foundation, the Special Competitive Studies Project, and the Milken Institute.

“We are investing in regional consortiums that will accelerate American competitiveness in the 21st century and ensure our leadership in the industries of the future, including biotech, quantum, autonomous systems, clean energy, and advanced manufacturing. But we can’t do it alone, which is why convenings like this are so critical to institutionalize the work we’re doing and continue investments in the Tech Hubs Program," said US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

Administered through the US Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration, through the passage of the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, the 31 Tech Hubs focus on developing and growing innovative industries in regions across the country, including semiconductors, clean energy, critical minerals, biotechnology, precision medicine, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and more. Tech Hubs bring together private industry, state and local governments, institutions of higher education, labor unions, Tribal communities, and nonprofit organizations to compete for implementation grants.

“We are at the dawn of a new era for regional innovation,” said Milken Institute Executive Vice President for Finance Michael Piwowar. “Through our 10,000 Communities Initiative, we will use our network of stakeholders and partners to help realize the goals of the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 to lift up tech innovation and local economic growth engines across the US.”

The 10,000 Communities Initiative works in partnership with other private and public organizations around the US to ensure that cross-sectoral attention, federal technical assistance funding, and impact capital are effectively deployed to the underserved communities that need it most.

“Business leaders are eager to engage with local innovation initiatives,” said Milken Institute Senior Advisor Karen Kornbluh. “Our recent Milken Institute-Harris Poll Listening Project found that 91 percent of business leaders favor a concerted effort to bolster US competitiveness. They know that today’s new normal is defined by multitrillion-dollar global disruptions—from pandemics to geopolitical shocks, to artificial intelligence—and that the next generation of opportunities will be anchored by the kinds of new, outcomes-based, public-private partnerships formed at today’s event.”

The Tech Hubs Partners program is a natural extension of the 10,000 Communities Initiative effort, which has held a series of regional training events with business, government, philanthropic, and community leaders and capital providers in Albuquerque, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Sacramento, and the Northwest region. In 2025, the Milken Institute will develop a series of regional forums to continue to strengthen investor engagement by linking together business leaders; federal, state, and local government; and frontline community leaders to ensure that the new Regional Tech Hubs successfully become integrated drivers of regional economic ecosystem growth.

About the Milken Institute
The Milken Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank focused on accelerating measurable progress on the path to a meaningful life. With a focus on financial, physical, mental, and environmental health, we bring together the best ideas and innovative resourcing to develop blueprints for tackling some of our most critical global issues through the lens of what’s pressing now and what’s coming next. For more information about the Milken Institute, visit https://milkeninstitute.org/