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Central Virginia’s pharmaceutical hub received a federal designation that could lead to millions in federal funding in the future, while a 3D printing consortium in the New River Valley and Danville won a $500,000 federal grant, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced Monday.
A group of public and private sector partners conducting pharmaceutical research and development in Richmond and manufacturing in Petersburg have been designated one of 31 tech hubs across the United States. Dubbed the Advanced Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (APM) Tech Hub, the group will be led by the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing and focuses on manufacturing drug ingredients domestically to avoid supply-chain vulnerabilities caused by reliance on ingredients made overseas. The 31 designated tech hubs can now apply for $40 million to $70 million each in federal funding, which will go to three to eight hubs selected by the U.S. Economic Development Administration.
Also, the Virginia Additive Manufacturing and Applied Materials Strategy Development Consortium — a group of partners in Danville and the New River Valley, led by the New River Valley Regional Commission — received a strategic development grant of $500,000 through the Tech Hubs program, one of 29 programs that received a grant. Congress’ $280 billion CHIPS and Science Act helped fund the project, according to an announcement from U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner.
APM’s designation builds off of $52.9 million awarded by the U.S. EDA in 2022 to the Alliance for Building Better Medicine to spur advanced manufacturing and biotechnology. As a designee, the APM hub, which was one of nearly 400 applicants for Tech Hub status, is now eligible to apply for up to $70 million in implementation funding under phase two of the program.
The federal designation “supports our plan to bolster this critical technology ecosystem and will build on the success of the Petersburg community to become a global leader in the pharmaceutical field,” Gov. Glenn Youngkin said in a statement. “Becoming an internationally competitive high-tech hub for pharmaceuticals will provide lasting and resilient economic development to the residents of Petersburg and the commonwealth of Virginia.”
The Virginia Additive Manufacturing and Applied Materials Strategy Development Consortium won its $500,000 grant to develop and launch technologies for additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, for heavy industry to draw manufacturing to the U.S. and strengthen the supply chain. The consortium includes more than 15 partners, among them Virginia Tech, Danville-based Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Christiansburg-based Meld Manufacturing, which builds large scale, metal 3D printers.
“This is exciting news and a testament to our region’s burgeoning prowess in additive manufacturing and applied materials,” New River Valley Regional Commission Executive Director Kevin Bird said in a statement. “This award will accelerate our work to help small- and medium-sized manufacturers adopt and implement these new technologies, grow their business and create jobs at all skill levels.”
The awardees were among several in the state that had applied for hub status, including the Richmond Technology Council and the Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance.