Support regional innovation clusters

Regional innovation clusters are on their way

Updated: Monday, January 4th, 2010 | By Louis Jacobson

During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama promised to "create a federal program to support 'innovation clusters' -- regional centers of innovation and next-generation industries. This innovation clusters program will provide $200 million in planning and matching grants for regional business, government and university leaders to collaborate on leveraging a region's existing assets -- from transportation infrastructure to universities -- to enhance long-term regional growth."
 
We were initially confused by exactly what "regional innovation clusters" are, but we can now report that they are federally sponsored partnerships designed to boost economic development on a metropolitan-region-wide basis.
 
The Obama administration was quite specific about its interest in promoting this model. Its fiscal year 2010 budget proposal for the Commerce Department's Economic Development Administration said that "special emphasis" will be placed "on two initiatives: 1) support for the creation of regional innovation clusters that leverage regions' existing competitive strengths to boost job creation and economic growth; and 2) support for networks of business incubators that encourage entrepreneurial activity in economically distressed areas and regions. EDA expects that each initiative will receive at least $50 million in funding." (The second of these initiatives is the subject of Promise 35 .)
 
The final appropriations bill for the department signed by the president doesn't specify a dollar amount devoted to regional innovation clusters, but the total allocated to the Economic Development Administration stayed largely intact -- $293 million, compared to the $291 million initially requested. So sticking to the proposed $50 million allotment should be feasible.
 
Meanwhile, a report by House-Senate negotiators on the final bill reiterates their interest in the idea of regional innovation clusters. The lawmakers said they "encourage the use of this approach within existing authorities and funding structure," as long as the administration keeps congressional appropriators well-informed about the program's implementation.
 
Spending $50 million on regional innovation clusters in fiscal year 2010 is not the same as spending $200 million, as the promise suggested. But the Obama team may have meant that it would spend $50 million a year for each of the four years of his first term. Either way, the funding has been allocated to create a program, so we consider this promise to be In the Works.

Sources:

Office of Management and Budget, proposed fiscal 2010 budget for the Commerce Department, accessed Dec. 23, 2009
 
House Appropriations Committee, statement of managers of for Division B--Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies, accessed Dec. 23, 2009
 
Brookings Institution, Budget 2010: A New Embrace of Regional Innovation , May 13, 2009
 
E-mail interview with Linda Knopp, director of news and information with the National Business Incubation Association, Dec. 23, 2009