Gov. Tony Evers, together with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. (WEDC), submitted a request to the Republican-controlled Joint Finance Committee (JFC) requesting the release of $7.5 million to BioForward Inc. to establish the state’s U.S. Regional Tech Hub, as provided by 2023 Wisconsin Act 96, according to a recent press release.
This comes as last week, Gov. Evers and U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin announced that Wisconsin has officially been selected as a U.S. Regional Tech Hub by the U.S. Economic Development Administration. The designation unlocks $49 million in federal funding that will advance research and innovation in Wisconsin, grow the state’s economy, and boost American competitiveness in a cutting-edge industry.
Over the first 10 years, the Tech Hub designation is projected to create more than 30,000 jobs in the personalized medicine sector and over 111,000 indirect jobs attributable to the Tech Hub in Wisconsin. Additionally, the Tech Hub is projected to create $9 billion worth of economic development in Wisconsin within the first decade.
The $7.5 million requested to be released to BioForward Inc., which leads the Wisconsin Biohealth Tech Hub Consortium, will establish the state’s Tech Hub and grow the state’s personalized medicine and biohealth technology sector, expanding lab space, increasing coordination and collaboration across the industry, boosting the supply chain, and developing apprenticeship programs to bolster the industry’s workforce.
A copy of the request submitted by WEDC to JFC is available here.
