WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) announced $2.5 million has been awarded to the City of Akron by the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) to build the Bits and Atoms Innovation Center. The center, an accelerator-incubator hybrid, will create opportunities for collaboration among northeast Ohio entrepreneurs. The total project cost is $4.5 million.

“This is great news for Akron,” Brown said. “This federal investment will help northeast Ohio businesses compete on a global scale but this is only a first step. It’s critical that we enact polices – like the Revitalize American Manufacturing and Innovation Act – that support collaboration between businesses and leverage their resources to spur innovation.”

Revitalize American Manufacturing and Innovation Act (RAMI) – which passed the House of Representatives this month – would bring together industry, universities and community colleges, federal agencies, and all levels of government, to accelerate manufacturing innovation in technologies with commercial applications. RAMI would create thousands of high-paying, high-tech manufacturing jobs while enhancing the United States’ role as the world’s leader in advanced manufacturing.

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