Tag: Spokane

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has blocked $48 million in federal funding for an advanced aerospace materials test bed in Spokane, triggering protests from lawmakers.

The decision also affects five other Tech Hub projects around the country that were approved for federal support in the final days of the Biden administration. Lutnick had approved a $220 million loan from the Treasury Department as part of a plan to make funding available for the six projects — but in a statement released May 16, he said he was rescinding the grants.

Lutnick said the process was “rushed, opaque and unfair,” and added that the Economic Development Administration would come up with a new process to select grant recipients by early 2026. The six blocked projects would be allowed to reapply for funding in that selection round. Lutnick’s decision does not affect 12 other Tech Hub projects that were approved last July.

The Biden administration designated 31 public-private consortiums as Tech Hubs in 2023, in an effort to support regional tech innovation. A fact sheet from the EDA said the six awards that were made in January “resulted in some criticism from those Tech Hubs that did not receive awards and their members of Congress.” It said the new selection process would follow the Trump administration’s directives on issues ranging from energy and labor policy to diversity, equity and inclusion.

U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, D-Wash., both objected strenuously to the decision.

“There’s a great future in thermoplastics.”

If anyone ever does a remake of “The Graduate,” that’s how the famous advice given to Dustin Hoffman’s character about the promise of the plastics industry might be updated. And the movie’s locale just might be shifted to Spokane.

At least that’s what a private-public consortium centered in Eastern Washington and North Idaho is banking on. The Advanced Aerospace Materials Manufacturing Center Tech Hub, or AAMMC, sees a great future in the development of thermoplastic composites for aircraft and spacecraft.

Last October, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration designated the AAMMC as one of 31 Tech Hubs based at sites across the country. That status made the Spokane-based group eligible to apply for a $72 million Phase 2 grant.

The first five to 10 recipients of federal funding are due to be announced in late June or early July — and the leaders of the Spokane Tech Hub are hoping to be on the list.

“The Tech Hub designation marks in inflection point for the City of Spokane. While innovative manufacturing and collaborative research are already happening here, the Tech Hub will take the region to new heights by bolstering that work, boosting our local economy, and creating desirable, good-paying jobs,” Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown said in an emailed statement.

What’s the Tech Hub all about? Aerospace companies with a Pacific Northwest presence, from Boeing on down, are already spending billions of dollars on carbon composite materials — so what difference could tens of millions of dollars of federal funding possibly make?