Biden unveils ‘tech hubs’ in 32 states, Puerto Rico

President Biden on Monday announced 31 new regional tech hubs across the United States to focus on growing industries including semiconductors, clean energy, critical minerals, and artificial intelligence.

The Regional Innovation and Technology Hubs, also known as Tech Hubs, are designed through the Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration.

They aim to grow industries that are “critical to economic growth, national security, and job creation, and will help communities across the country become centers of innovation critical to American competitiveness,” according to the White House.

Biden announced the tech hubs designated in 32 states and Puerto Rico at an event Monday alongside Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. He hailed the work as “transformational.”

“We’re doing this from coast to coast, in the heartland, in red states and blue states, small towns, cities of all sizes,” Biden said. “All this is part of my strategy to invest in America and invest in Americans. It’s working—we’re creating good jobs in communities all across the country.”

The funding for the grants to designate the tech hubs comes from the CHIPS and Science Act, which the president signed into law last year.

“Under Bidenomics, we’re going to make sure America’s future is made in America,” Biden said, referring to his economic plan to build the economy from the middle out and the bottom up.

The hubs include Heartland BioWorks in Indiana, which aims to develop central Indiana into a global leader in biotechnology and biomanufacturing, Baltimore Tech Hub in Maryland, which aims to develop innovative predictive healthcare technologies by applying artificial intelligence to biotechnologies, and the Gulf Louisiana Offshore Wind Propeller in Louisiana, which aims to transition Louisiana’s energy economy from its legacy of oil and gas to offshore wind and renewable energy.

This story was updated at 3:48 p.m.