WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Small Business Administration is awarding more than $7 million to establish nine regional innovation clusters, including a biotechnology initiative serving Pennsylvania and neighboring states, as the federal government seeks to expand domestic manufacturing capacity and connect small businesses with defense and commercial supply chains.
The awards will increase the SBA’s Regional Innovation Cluster network to 12 locations nationwide, targeting biotechnology, defense, advanced manufacturing and transportation.
Philadelphia’s University City Science Center is among the nine recipients. Its biotechnology cluster will serve the Mid-Atlantic region, encompassing Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Washington, D.C.
The initiative will connect entrepreneurs and smaller companies with business development resources, potential customers, research institutions and capital providers.
Participating businesses will have access to services including business acceleration, market research, customer discovery and assistance pursuing government and commercial contracts.
The program is designed to help companies move technologies toward commercial production while improving their ability to compete for procurement opportunities.
SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler said the expansion is intended to strengthen domestic industrial capabilities in sectors considered important to national security and economic competitiveness.
“By expanding and modernizing our nationwide network of Regional Innovation Clusters, the SBA is supercharging production capacity in communities across the country and helping small businesses bring critical technologies from the drawing board to the factory floor,” Loeffler said.
Regional Innovation Clusters organize businesses, suppliers, manufacturers, research institutions, buyers and investors around specific industries within defined geographic markets.
The structure is intended to reduce barriers between smaller technology developers and the larger manufacturers, contractors and commercial customers that could purchase their products.
Defense-related initiatives account for five of the nine new awards.
C4 Holding Co. LLC will operate a defense cluster in Southern California, while EndRun will serve Arizona and Precision Platform Solutions will support Louisiana.
Traverse Connect will establish a defense-focused cluster in northern Michigan, and the University of Central Florida Research Foundation will serve central and southern Florida.
The remaining awards include Blackberg Group, which will lead a biotechnology cluster in the Tampa Bay area, and Hyperion Technologies, which will support advanced manufacturing businesses in the San Antonio and Austin regions of Texas.
StartUp Junkie Consulting will operate a transportation-focused cluster covering the Ozarks region of Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri.
The University City Science Center’s selection establishes a regional biotechnology component within the expanded federal network, connecting businesses across five Mid-Atlantic jurisdictions.
The program’s emphasis on biotechnology, defense and manufacturing reflects the SBA’s focus on industries where smaller suppliers and technology developers can contribute to domestic production and supply-chain capacity.
With the latest awards, the SBA’s 12-cluster network will support regional initiatives across advanced manufacturing, biotechnology, critical minerals, defense and transportation.
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