Last October, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration announced that Nevada was named one of 31 inaugural Regional Tech Hubs across the country for its role in producing electric vehicle batteries,
Tuesday, the Tech Hub received a major boost in the form of a $21 million allocation by the Economic Development Administration. The funding was announced by Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen in a press conference in Reno.
The Nevada Tech Hub program is led by the University of Nevada, Reno, and includes all of Nevada outside of Clark County. It aims to complete the “lithium loop” by building a self-sustaining and globally competitive full lithium lifecycle cluster that includes mining, processing, manufacturing, and recycling.
Nevada’s Tech Hub is a network of 75-plus public-private partnerships collaborating to lead the state into a new era as a globally competitive innovation center. The University is working in concert with Nevada Tech Hub Consortium members, including the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, Nevada Battery Coalition, and the Nevada Mining Association.
Nevada is the largest source of lithium in North America. Two major lithium projects are underway at Thacker Pass and the Ioneer project near Rhyolite, and several companies process and recycle lithium batteries.
The Tech Hubs program, created as part of the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, is an economic development initiative designed to drive regional innovation and job creation by strengthening a region’s capacity to manufacture, commercialize, and deploy technology that will advance American competitiveness. The program invests directly in regions with the assets, resources, capacity, and potential to transform into globally competitive innovation centers in approximately 10 years, while catalyzing the creation of good jobs for workers at all skill levels.
It is expected to create an estimated 50,000 new jobs across the 16 included counties within five years.
Nevada’s Tech Hub was one of 12 projects across the country to receive the latest round of funding totaling $504 million.
On Feb. 8, the State Legislature’s Interim Finance Committee approved a $7.5 million match for a $75 million application to the U.S. Economic Development Administration for Nevada’s Tech Hub.
That approval by the Interim Finance Committee was required as part of the Tech Hub Phase 2 Grant, which will provide funding for the implementation of programs designed to supercharge the technology and its commercialization.
“Northern Nevada is uniquely positioned to lead the region in lithium battery development and help power our nation’s clean energy future,” Rosen said. “I partnered with my colleagues across the aisle to ensure the University of Nevada, Reno would be selected as a Tech Hub, which will spur economic development and create tens of thousands of good-paying jobs.”
UNR president Brian Sandoval said the funding announced Tuesday, combined with the funding from the Interim Finance Committee, will focus on two projects, one of which is the Nevada Native Nations Center project, led by the University’s Office of Indigenous Relations. This project will provide a nationwide model, with direct input and consultation with Tribal communities, addressing workforce barriers and inequities while providing career pathway opportunities for Nevada’s Native American, Tribal, and Indigenous peoples in the lithium batteries and electric vehicle materials industries.
“We are very proud of the Nevada Native Nations Center as it is the only EDA Tech Hub-funded project that focuses on education and workforce development for Native American and Indigenous peoples,” Sandoval said. “While Nevada is known as the Silver State, it may soon be known as a global leader in energy technology, and we look forward to working with our many partners to evoke that generational shift in our state’s economic future.”
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