The U.S. Commerce Department announced Monday that St. Louis is in the running for a grant that could fund a proposed advanced manufacturing innovation center.
A coalition led by Greater St. Louis Inc. is one of 60 finalists for $1 billion in grants authorized under the American Rescue Plan legislation that President Joe Biden signed in March. The Commerce Department plans to award between 20 and 30 grants next spring, worth up to $100 million each.
The grants are for projects that strengthen regional industry clusters, create good-paying jobs and enhance U.S. competitiveness.
calls for creating a "technology triangle" based on advanced manufacturing, biosciences and information technology. It would include a manufacturing innovation center that regional leaders want to build on the city's near north side, near Ranken Technical College and the Cortex innovation district.
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Jason Hall, chief executive of Greater St. Louis, called the finalist designation "a huge win for regionalism." He said business and political leaders from throughout the St. Louis area threw their support behind the grant application. "It took an extraordinary amount of work to get to this point," Hall said.
A planning document for the manufacturing center, published last year, envisions an initial 80,000-square-foot building as part of an eventual 100-acre campus. The center would be patterned after a facility in Sheffield, England, where Boeing and other firms collaborate with academic researchers on new technologies and processes and worker training.
The 60 grant finalists were chosen from among 529 applicants.