Senior U.S. Department of Commerce Official Visits the Intermountain-West Nuclear Energy Corridor in Idaho Falls, Idaho

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Eric Smith, Director of National Programs, performing the duties for the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy, at the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA), visited the Intermountain-West Nuclear Energy Corridor (INEC), a Tech Hub that serves Idaho and Wyoming. The Biden-Harris Administration, through the EDA, designated INEC, a coalition led by the Idaho Advanced Energy Consortium, as a Tech Hub in October 2023. 

INEC highlights the region’s role as an emerging global leader in small modular reactors (SMR) and advanced nuclear energy to contribute to a cleaner energy future. While there, Mr. Smith and the Tech Hubs Program leadership worked with the Tech Hub to strengthen their strategy to advance the region as a global leader to enable the commercialization of advanced nuclear reactors by developing co-location collaboration hubs, incubators and testbeds for nuclear start-ups, and nuclear industry workforce development programs.

The Tech Hubs Program is a flagship initiative aimed at advancing U.S. leadership in technologies and industries critical to national security. The designation of INEC as a Tech Hub is a strong endorsement of the region’s plan to supercharge its critical technology ecosystem and become a global leader in nuclear small modular reactors and microreactors over the next decade, advancing U.S. national security and global competitiveness.   

“INEC embodies the spirit and potential of the Tech Hubs Program to take centers of excellence and make them world-class tech ecosystems through targeted investments,” said Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “That’s precisely why I’ve asked Eric Smith to travel to Idaho with a team to meet with leadership and provide technical assistance on their strategy. The Tech Hubs Program is crucial to ensuring tech industries vital to U.S. economic and national security start, stay, and grow in the U.S., and that’s why I’m committed to future rounds of funding and working with lawmakers to support additional federal resources to support all of our designees.” 

The Tech Hubs Program, authorized for $10 billion in the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act, is designed to increase the capacity and pace with which Americans make, deliver, and deploy innovative technologies, creating new, growing companies and new, good jobs.  

Read more about the Tech Hubs program at TechHubs.gov. 

About the U.S. Economic Development Administration (www.eda.gov)  
The mission of the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) is to lead the federal economic development agenda by promoting competitiveness and preparing the nation’s regions for growth and success in the worldwide economy. An agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce, EDA invests in communities and supports regional collaboration in order to create jobs for U.S. workers, promote American innovation, and accelerate long-term sustainable economic growth.