Clusterpreneur » EDA http://clusterpreneur.com Sharing news and ideas about cluster development Tue, 04 Oct 2011 01:59:19 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 en hourly 1 President Obama’s request for funding to industry clusters meets resistance http://clusterpreneur.com/2009/12/08/president-obamas-request-for-funding-to-industry-clusters-meets-resistance/ http://clusterpreneur.com/2009/12/08/president-obamas-request-for-funding-to-industry-clusters-meets-resistance/#comments Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:38:36 +0000 admin http://clusterpreneur.com/?p=148 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.

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