Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has announced the expansion of the agency’s Regional Innovation Cluster (RIC) network with 14 new awards. These awards are designed to enhance the reach and impact of the SBA’s support for innovative small businesses and entrepreneurial support organizations across the country.

The SBA launched the RIC Initiative in September 2010 to promote and support the development of clusters, which are geographically concentrated groups of interconnected businesses, suppliers, service providers, and associated institutions in a particular industry or field across the country. Clusters act as a networking hub for small businesses, convening several resources to help navigate the funding, procurement, and supply-chain opportunities in a specific industry. They also assist businesses in matching cutting-edge technology to industry needs and increase the number of innovative small businesses and entrepreneurs in the nation’s supply chain.

“For the first time, the SBA is tailoring funding for emerging and mature clusters,” said Bailey DeVries, Associate Administrator for SBA’s Office of Investment and Innovation. “The SBA recognizes innovation clusters across industries and technology verticals are at different stages in their lifespan, and the varied funding levels right-sizes our awards so clusters can grow and improve their support of small businesses and start-ups.”

The 14 new awardees and their areas of emphasis are:

1. AgTech Innovation Alliance will support AgriFoodTech small businesses in California’s Central Valley.
2. Applied Research Institute will support small businesses in the biotech industry across central Indiana.
3. Bounce Innovation Hub will support small businesses developing novel materials for medical devices and wearable sensors in Northeast Ohio.
4. Celdara Medical will support life science small businesses across Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Delaware, and Rhode Island.
5. CleanTech Alliance Washington will support small businesses in the clean technology industry in Washington state.
6. Hyperion Technologies will support small businesses developing clean technologies in the Four Corners region of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado.
7. Integrative Business Services will support artificial intelligence and optics small businesses in Southern Arizona.
8. LSI Business Development will support small, advanced manufacturers in Utah
9. RIoT will support small businesses building internet of things (IoT) and data economy technologies in North Carolina.
10. Shadow Ridge Analytics will support small businesses in the advanced engineering and critical materials industries in Southwest Montana.
11. Southwestern College Foundation will support small businesses in the manufacturing and biotechnology industries in San Diego and Imperial Counties in California.
12. StartUp Junkie Consulting will support small businesses in leveraging Lithium for the clean energy and electric vehicle transition across Northeast Texas, Southern Arkansas, Northern Louisiana, and West Mississippi.
13. The Water Council will support small businesses in the water and resiliency industry in Wisconsin.
14. UpSurge Baltimore will support small businesses in cybersecurity and biotechnology industries across the Baltimore metropolitan area.

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