Minnesota is home to manufacturers across a range of products from food to vehicles to medical devices – and just about everything in between. Manufacturing accounts for 13% of Minnesota Gross Domestic Product and employs more than 325,000 people who earn an average annual wage of $76,950, which is 10% higher than the state’s overall average private sector wage. Continuing to attract new manufacturers and encouraging cutting edge production are key ways to ensure the future vitality of Minnesota’s dynamic manufacturing sector. Earlier this week, the White House designated 31 Regional Innovation and Technology Hubs (Tech Hubs) in communities across the country to help spur innovation and create jobs in the industries that are concentrated in these areas. One of these hubs is in Minnesota.
The Minnesota MedTech Hub 3.0 is among the newly designated innovation and technology hubs. It aims to position Minnesota as a global center for ‘Smart MedTech’ by integrating artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science into medical technology development and production, according to the White House announcement. Minnesota and other designated Tech Hubs are now eligible to apply for the next phase of the Tech Hubs Program that will invest between $50-$75 million in each of 5-10 designated hubs.
The 31 Tech Hubs focus on 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 up to $75 million implementation grants to further make transformative investments in innovation, supply chain resilience, and job creation.
The Tech Hubs will catalyze investment in technologies critical to economic growth, national security, and job creation, and will help communities across the country become centers of innovation critical to American competitiveness. The $500 million Tech Hub program is funded as part of the $10 billion federal CHIPS and Science Act passed in 2022 to stimulate investments in new technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing and biotech. The Tech Hub Program is aimed at expanding tech investment that is currently concentrated in a few coastal metropolitan areas.
