The Manchester effort to escalate the mass production of human tissue and organs has been earmarked for $44 million from the federal government, officials announced Tuesday.
Last fall, “ReGen Valley” — the marketing moniker for the Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute (ARMI) — was named one of 12 Tech Hubs by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration.
The designation put the biofabrication project in line for a share of $504 million earmarked for the program. Tuesday’s announcement detailed how much each Tech Hub is expected to receive.
“These Tech Hubs will give regions across our nation the resources and opportunities necessary to lead in the economy of tomorrow while creating good-paying jobs for American workers,” Vice President Kamala Harris said in a news release issued by the Commerce Department.
EDA said it has selected projects for funding in each of the hubs and that the awards would be finalized in the coming months. The announcement marks the federal government’s ongoing investment in the project, which inventor Dean Kamen initiated in the Manchester Millyard in 2017.
In May, ARMI officials confirmed that the Department of Defense has committed $100 million over the next 10 years to the project. That funding is an extension of the original $80 million secured from the Department of Defense in 2017. Other major awards include $44 million from the Economic Development Administration as part of the Build Back Better Regional Challenge in 2022.
The regional effort, which also includes Nashua, is estimated to create several thousand jobs in the years ahead, says organizers, who cite workforce development, the high cost of housing and a shortage of child care services among the greatest challenges the project faces.
ReGen Valley to receive $44 million through federal Tech Hubs program
