Texoma Semiconductor Tech Hub Receives $500,000 from Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration

DALLAS (SMU) – The Texoma Semiconductor Tech Hub has been awarded a $500,000 Consortium Accelerator Award from the Biden-Harris Administration through the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) to continue implementing its strategy focused on increasing semiconductor production in North Texas and southern Oklahoma.

The Tech Hubs Program’s Consortium Accelerator Awards will enable the SMU-led Texoma Semiconductor Tech Hub (TSTH) to continue building momentum in the development of a globally competitive regional industry across 29 counties through technological innovation, workforce development and commercialization efforts.

“We are delighted to accept this award from EDA that furthers the work of the Texoma Semiconductor Tech Hub,” said Suku Nair, vice provost for research and chief innovation officer at SMU. “We continue to expand our consortium by adding new members, and this support from EDA shows that we are headed in the right direction.”

This is the second federal award to TSTH, having received a $400,000 strategy development grant when selected in October 2023 as one of 31 tech hubs nationwide. The heart of the Texoma plan is the deployment of geographically distributed FabletsTM labs across eight community colleges and easily accessible mobile labs for electronic design, semiconductor manufacturing, packaging, and testing.

“The Biden-Harris Administration is working to build world-class ecosystems across the nation that will advance America’s global leadership in technologies of the future, catalyze the creation of good jobs, and strengthen U.S. national and economic security,” said Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development Alejandra Y. Castillo. “These Consortium Accelerator Awards demonstrate the level of excellence every designee embodies and will enable Tech Hubs to not only keep up their momentum, but also leverage their coveted designation to attract additional collaboration and capital.”

Tech Hubs Program Director Eric Smith was in North Texas on Monday for a TSTH site visit, meeting first with workforce and industry consortium members in and around the Sherman area, the site of booming semiconductor manufacturing, then travelling to SMU for further roundtable discussions.

The Tech Hubs program is a flagship initiative of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda, supporting regional efforts to scale up the production of critical technologies, such as semiconductors, quantum computing, autonomous systems, biotechnology, clean energy, critical minerals, innovative materials and advanced manufacturing.

The Tech Hubs Program was authorized by the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act, which President Biden signed into law in August 2022. The statute authorized $10 billion for the program over five years. To date, EDA has been appropriated $541 million for the program. If subsequent funding becomes available, EDA plans to invest in additional Tech Hubs, keeping this innovative program’s momentum going for decades to come. Read more about the Tech Hubs program at TechHubs.gov.

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