President Obama’s request for funding to industry clusters meets resistance

Earlier this year, President Obama requested US$50 million for Economic Development Administration (EDA) that should be matched 50% by regional economic development authorities towards cluster development - totaling the dedicated funding for cluster development to US$ 100 million . This funding is further detailed in  ’A Strategy for American Innovation‘ a white paper published in August of this year.

Currently, both the House and Senate are refusing the funding, where the House only allocates US$ 10 million to the dedicated cluster program.

In these dire economic times, a fresh take on innovation and economic development in the US would likely have been a breath of fresh air.  A dedicated cluster development effort from EDA will be a great opportunity to test a new approach to engage regional stakeholders to drive local/regional innovation and economic development

Even the proposed  US$ 50 million by itself seems like a measly amount for US nation-wide cluster development effort. If this is reduced to as little as US $10 proposed by the House of Representatives it is one step forward and two steps backward in an effort to bring a new cluster driven innovation policy forward.

We will keep our eyes open.