Grants

MadREP & Partners Steer the State’s Tech Transformation, Achieving Regional Tech Hub Designation

Jessica Reilly · Oct 24, 2023 ·

In a historic move underscoring Wisconsin’s prowess in the realm of biohealth technology, the Biden-Harris administration, through the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) designated the state as a Regional Technology Hub (RTH). This monumental achievement was celebrated by an array of key figures, including the Madison Region Economic Partnership (MadREP), who were acknowledged alongside Exact Sciences, Governor Tony Evers, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin, and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC). Together, we continue to champion Wisconsin’s leadership in personalized medicine and biohealth technology.

Governor Evers noted, “Wisconsin’s designation as a Regional Tech Hub is a testament to the strength of our state’s biohealth and personalized medicine industry. As this sector continues to grow, it will mean more high-paying jobs and economic growth for our state, as well as innovations that will transform the future of medical care for people in Wisconsin and around the world.”

Senator Baldwin, a staunch advocate for Wisconsin’s tech industry, emphasized the state’s rich tradition of innovation and the transformative potential of the Tech Hub program. She highlighted the significance of fostering collaboration and creating opportunities, sentiments echoed and amplified by MadREP.

“I’d like to congratulate our partners in this endeavor, especially BioForward Wisconsin, Exact Sciences and Senator Tammy Baldwin. To be part of the coalition that came together to form the Wisconsin Biohealth Tech Hub Consortium is an experience I, along with the rest of my team at MadREP, won’t soon forget,” said Jason Fields, CEcD, CFEI, CCRS, President and CEO of the Madison Region Economic Partnership.

“The future of Wisconsin’s personalized medicine tech hub will spur growth throughout our key industry sectors in southcentral Wisconsin. I’d also like to thank our friends at EDA. It’s an honor to work with them daily on initiatives like this one to advance economic growth and equity in the Madison Region. In fact, they recently asked our organization to pursue the Economic Development District (EDD) designation on behalf of the Region to expand opportunities to do just that!”

At the heart of this transformative journey lies the Wisconsin Biohealth Tech Hub Consortium, a collaborative effort bringing together 15 public and private partners, including esteemed entities like GE HealthCare, Rockwell Automation, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. This coalition, uniting educational institutions, biohealth companies, precision manufacturers, and investors, aims to enhance collaboration and secure the coveted RTH designation.

The RTH designation holds the promise of transformative change, promising shared data systems, streamlined supply chains, improved access to capital, and equitable opportunities for all Wisconsinites. With Madison, Dane County’s vibrant economic epicenter, at its core, the RTH initiative is poised to not only bolster the local economy but also create a ripple effect felt across the entire state.

A cornerstone of the consortium’s vision is personalized medicine, a field poised to revolutionize healthcare. By tailoring treatments to individual patients’ specific medical needs, this approach promises faster healing, reduced reliance on chronic care, minimized side effects, and equitable healthcare access, aligning perfectly with MadREP’s vision of a thriving and healthy community.

“The Regional Tech Hub designation confirms what we already know about Wisconsin: when it comes to bringing together the best in research and development, cutting-edge manufacturing, highly skilled and educated workers, and a commitment to relentless improvement, no state is better prepared to lead the way, said Missy Hughes, secretary and CEO of WEDC. “This is a huge win in creating an economy for all, where everyone has the opportunity to live healthy, prosperous lives.”

Wisconsin’s designation as a Regional Technology Hub marks a pivotal moment in the state’s history. It signifies not just progress but a testament to the power of collaborative vision and dedicated leadership. As Wisconsin steps into this new era of innovation, it does so leading the charge, inspiring other regions and states to dream big, collaborate fervently, and, above all, believe in the transformative power of united effort.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee’s Water Council lands $1 million grant to create regional water resiliency solutions hub

Jessica Reilly · May 18, 2023 ·

Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A Milwaukee hub for water technology, management and conservation is one of 44 organizations nationwide to receive a $1 million planning grant from the National Science Foundation’s Regional Innovation Engine program.

The Milwaukee-based Water Council and its partners will use the grant to focus on developing what NSF calls an “innovation engine,” a network of universities, two-year colleges, small and large businesses, utilities, non-profits and investors, to address the challenges of water-dependent industries and utilities in the face of climate change and increasing water scarcity, said Dean Amhaus, the Water Council’s president and CEO.

The result, he said, is expected to be a long-standing, multi-disciplinary network spanning eastern Wisconsin and parts of Illinois that can quickly take ideas for water-use management, conservation and stewardship from the academic sphere to practical, marketable solutions.

“What the goal is, and this was really the intent of NSF, is to get all those moving parts together so that it is literally working as a fine-tuned engine — and we need to be able to have all those different components together to make that engine work,” said Amhaus said.

The program dovetails with the Water Council’s mission since 2009 of bringing together the Milwaukee-area’s large, established water engineering companies, its academic and research campuses, startup companies and others focus on water issues and business development.

The grant program, created under the federal CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, is a first of its kind effort to leverage regional academic and business expertise to develop solutions and technology to address critical environmental, social and economic challenges.

The goal of the NSF Engines planning grants is to create hubs of knowledge and expertise to find innovative solutions to regional and national isses, develop and bring to market solutions to address those challenges, spur economic development and job growth, and to develop a diverse workforce.

A second round of NSF grants could provide up to $160 million in ongoing funding for that work.

Amhaus said winning the planning grant “speaks volumes of what we have in the eastern side of Wisconsin — that we can be extremely competitive when it comes to that water energy nexus.”

“It’s the combination of the businesses that are already here and have been here for decades, it’s the universities, the utilities — it’s all here, and pulling them all together as a region we believe can be a solution that not only the country needs, but the world needs around this resiliency,” he said.

The MKE Tech Hub Coalition, Wisconsin Technology Council, Marquette University, Wisconsin Center for Manufacturing and Productivity, and Madison Region Economic Partnership partnered with The Water Council to prepare the grant application.

Article originally published on jsonline.com

Wisconsin Inno: Two Wisconsin groups win NSF grants to plot innovation hubs that could land $160 million

Jessica Reilly · May 16, 2023 ·

Source: Wisconsin Inno

Similar to the way in which Silicon Valley is synonymous with information technology, Wisconsin could eventually be known for water innovation or sustainable agriculture.

At least, that’s what two new Wisconsin groups are working toward.

The two separate teams led by The Water Council and WiSys each recently received a $1 million federal grant to plan innovation hubs around water and sustainable agriculture. Each group has two years to assemble a proposal for how they would use $160 million to make those hubs a reality.

The money comes from the U.S. National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Regional Innovation Engines program. The two Wisconsin teams are among 44 U.S. teams to land a $1 million, two-year development grant. Five of those teams will each win a 10-year, up to $160 million grant to establish their regional innovation hub.

“Through these planning awards, NSF is seeding the future for in-place innovation,” NSF director Sethuraman Panchanathan said in a statement earlier this month. “This will unleash ideas, talent, pathways and resources to create vibrant innovation ecosystems all across our nation.”

The Regional Innovation Engines program was authorized in the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act of 2022. It’s designed to increase commercial investment in research and development outside of traditional U.S. tech hubs and create thriving companies focused on emerging technologies that solve national and societal challenges.

Water and energy resilience

One of Wisconsin’s regional innovation teams is focused on water and energy resilience for manufacturers and utilities. It’s led by The Water Council, which has its headquarters in Milwaukee.

Other partners include the MKE Tech Hub Coalition, the Wisconsin Technology Council, Marquette University, the Wisconsin Center for Manufacturing and Productivity and the Madison Region Economic Partnership.

The partners are taking an industry-led approach, involving companies including A.O. Smith Corp., Rockwell Automation and WEC Energy Group. Their goal is to spur job creation and water innovation by connecting companies, universities, governments and other stakeholders to quickly scale solutions that help manufacturers and utilities adapt to the effects of climate change.

“We have industry strengths already around water technology,” Water Council president and CEO Dean Amhaus said. “Can we become that water energy hub that people are attracted to and be able to grow those businesses?”

Sustainable agriculture

Wisconsin’s other regional innovation engine team is focused on advancing sustainable agriculture. It’s led by WiSys, a Madison-based nonprofit that supports technology transfer for the University of Wisconsin System.

Other partners include all 13 University of Wisconsin institutions, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Research Foundation and the Wisconsin Technology Council.

The group’s objectives include translating research into industry collaborations, supporting sustainability tech startups and attracting investment to fund sustainable agriculture.

“This NSF Engine could be a key economic driver for Wisconsin,” WiSys president Arjun Sanga said in a May 11 statement. “Just as a public-private partnership turned Wisconsin into the ‘Dairy State’ in the last century, this potential engine’s public-private partnership could have a profound impact on the future of the state and the world.”

Article original published on bizjournals.com

WaterWorld: Wisconsin partners receive $1M NSF award to address water, energy resiliency

Jessica Reilly · May 16, 2023 ·

Source: WaterWorld Magazine

The Water Council announced that it and its partners have received $1 million from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) to plan a Regional Innovation Engine in eastern Wisconsin. The NSF Engine will help address water and energy resilience for utilities and manufacturers.

The Water Council applied for the two-year grant with its lead partners MKE Tech Hub Coalition, Wisconsin Technology Council, Marquette University, Wisconsin Center for Manufacturing and Productivity, and Madison Region Economic Partnership.

“We know businesses and communities are desperately in need of solutions to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change. With its strong water and energy solution companies and leading research universities, Wisconsin is uniquely positioned to provide those solutions,” said Dean Amhaus, president and CEO of The Water Council. “This Resiliency Engine could be a true game-changer in terms of local economic development and assisting companies here, across the U.S. and globally adapt to the realities of climate change and the growing nexus of water and energy challenges.”

The grant is awarded through NSF’s Regional Innovation Engine program, meant to advance critical technologies; foster partnerships across industry, academia, governments and nonprofits; promote and stimulate economic growth and job creation; and more. At the end of the two-year Development Award, the Engine team will apply for a Launch Award of up to $160 million over 10 years.

“These NSF Engines Development Awards lay the foundation for emerging hubs of innovation and potential future NSF Engines,” said NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan. “These awardees are part of the fabric of NSF’s vision to create opportunities everywhere and enable innovation anywhere. They will build robust regional partnerships rooted in scientific and technological innovation in every part of our nation. Through these planning awards, NSF is seeding the future for in-place innovation in communities and to grow their regional economies through research and partnerships. This will unleash ideas, talent, pathways and resources to create vibrant innovation ecosystems all across our nation.”

The primary region for the aspiring Engine – from Milwaukee west to Madison and from northern Illinois to the Fox Valley and Green Bay – already boasts many of the necessary resources, including research universities, energy and water technology companies, and a strong manufacturing sector. The goal of the Engine is to align these resources around the theme of water and energy resiliency while ensuring the area offers a strong innovation pipeline and diverse, trained workforce to identify needs and quickly move solutions from the laboratory to the factory floor.

“Working with water is imbedded in Wisconsin’s DNA,” said Tom Still, president of the Wisconsin Technology Council. “Those same roots run deep in manufacturing and its relationship to energy and water use. The nexus of the three will result in innovation that can address climate change, confront rising energy prices, create efficiencies and encourage private investment. As a partner in the Resiliency Engine, the Wisconsin Technology Council will work to lever related resources across the state.”

Article originally published on waterworld.com

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Water and energy resilience

Sustainable agriculture

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