Today, many communities approach cluster development as a conversation between R1 universities, corporate executives, top government staffers, and elite economic development leaders. Modern cluster development theory–the economic development philosophy so central to CHIPS+–is the practice of engaging universities, government, corporations, capital providers, and entrepreneurs as stakeholders to create comparative local advantage in a global context by driving the development of a cluster of innovation-led companies.Ĭluster development, however, is not always executed in an inclusive and equitable way, and it’s easy to see why. “A cluster,” Porter said, “allows each member to benefit as if it had greater scale or as if it had joined with others without sacrificing its flexibility.” Building targeted, relevant, and world-class research and commercialization capacity at Universities was added as a prerequisite tenet over time. These groups, or clusters, of companies in a particular industry, share critical infrastructure like equipment, space, and talent in ways that maximize regional efficiency and increase firm productivity. This mode of targeting the co-location and creation of like-minded firms in a close geographic area was pioneered by Michael Porter, the father of modern competitive strategy. The CHIPS+ investment puts an exclamation point on an ongoing narrative–that the federal government has effectively declared cluster development to be the dominant way in which Washington thinks about supporting local economic development efforts.
But as regional innovation ecosystems and cluster development efforts become the dominant mode of economic development strategy, we would do well to consider the degree to which these efforts drive broad wealth creation, creating inclusive opportunity in our communities.īut this bill’s least-discussed impact will likely be its most transformative. Both legislation and the zeitgeist dictate that these investments will be distributed across the country, virtually guaranteeing geographic inclusion.
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These three new programs, NSF Engines, Tech Hubs and Recompete, plus existing programs like BBBRC and GJC, represent a massive proposed investment in building regional innovation clusters.
These contemporary programs include the Economic Development Administration’s Build Back Better Regional Challenge and Good Jobs Challenge, which represent a combined $1.5 billion in appropriations.ĬHIPS+ also includes an additional authorization (if not funding) for the EDA’s work to develop regional innovation capacity across the country, including two major elements: a $10 billion regional tech hub program with outposts in every EDA region and a $1 billion tech hub development program intended “distressed communities” (originally included in the Recompete Act).
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The NSF Regional Innovation Engines Program (colloquially called NSF Engines), now officially authorized by Congress, joins a series of aggressive investments in regional cluster development programs at other agencies. The long list of new programs funded and authorized in CHIPS+ includes a flagship program of the National Science Foundation’s Technology Innovation and Partnerships Directorate (NSF TIP), the first new Directorate to be created at the NSF since the C+C Music Factory was topping the charts. And yes, it represents an investment slightly larger than the Apollo Program, in real terms. The passage of the much-discussed “Chips and Science Act” (CHIPS+) promises an injection of more than $50 billion to energize the U.S.
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