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Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) announced that the South Florida Climate Resilience Tech Hub, led by Miami-Dade County, has been designated as one of 31 Tech Hubs in the country, selected from a competitive pool of nearly 200 applicants across the United States and its territories. This designation will elevate and accelerate South Florida’s advances in climate action and resiliency, and unlocks access to tens of millions of dollars in potential funding. The Tech Hubs Program is a federal economic development initiative designed to drive regional technology and innovation-led growth by strengthening capacity to manufacture, commercialize, and deploy key climate technologies.
“South Florida’s Tech Hub designation recognizes our region’s global competitiveness in climate tech. This is a generational opportunity that promises to tackle the climate crisis and directly fuel economic development here in South Florida, thanks to the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to climate innovation,” said Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. “Miami-Dade is proud to work in partnership on this initiative with public, academic, and private partners from Broward, Monroe, and Palm Beach counties. And with the help of our federal partners, we’re building a more prosperous, future-ready region.”
Grounded on Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s Future Ready Strategy, the South Florida Climate Resilience Tech Hub aims to meet climate urgency by developing, commercializing, and scaling Sustainable Resilient Infrastructure (SRI) technologies focused on climate adaptation and mitigation, including: coastal resilience and marine infrastructure; clean cement; energy-efficient building operations; and clean energy generation, transmission, and storage.
According to the EDA’s announcement, South Florida’s application “demonstrated the leadership and potential to marshal your region’s assets, talent, and technological expertise to become a world-class, globally competitive technology innovation center.”
The application also received bipartisan support from Members of Congress representing Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, especially from Senator Marco Rubio, Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart, Congresswoman Frederica Wilson, Congressman Carlos Gimenez, Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar, and Congressman Jared Moskowitz who sent a letter of support for the project.
The SRI market is expected to reach $1.3 trillion globally in 2032 and, with the help of Tech Hub initiatives, South Florida is poised to generate $9 billion in new revenue in the next decade while creating around 23,000 good paying local jobs.
Convened by the South Florida Regional Planning Council, the South Florida Climate Resilience Tech Hub is a consortium of local governments, businesses, universities and organizations that also includes Miami-Dade County (lead applicant), City of Miami, 1Print, Blue Frontier, Carbon Limit, MasTec, Titan Florida, Watsco, Southeast Florida Regional Climate Compact, Miami Waterkeeper, Broward County, Monroe County, Palm Beach County, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Miami Dade College, Nova Southeastern, Univ of Miami, Florida Memorial, Northeastern University (Miami), Florida Power & Light, I Squared, Merrimac Ventures, Mission One Capital, Ken Griffin/Citadel, Knight Foundation, Beacon Council, eMerge Americas, Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance, Marine Research Hub, Miami-Dade Innovation Authority, Seaworthy Collective, South Florida Defense Alliance, Techstars, IUOE 487, Miami Tech Works, CareerSource, CodePath, OIC So Florida, among others.
