BBBRC is the marquee program of the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s American Rescue Plan. It is a $1 billion grant competition to boost economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and rebuild American communities through investments in regional industry clusters. The program set out to distribute awards of up to $100 million each to fund strategic projects across the nation. In fall 2021, 529 proposals were submitted in Phase 1 of the competition, from which 60 were advanced to Phase 2 in December 2021. In September 2022, 21 awardees were announced.

In September 2022, the Biden-Harris Administration announced the Southwestern Pennsylvania New Economy Collaborative as one of the 21 winners. The Collaborative received $62.7 million to build the region’s robotics and autonomy cluster. The award will fund five regional projects to provide long-term opportunities in the burgeoning robotics and autonomy industry for individuals, businesses and communities in southwestern Pennsylvania. 

These projects include:  

1. Small & Medium Enterprises Robotics Adoption, led by Catalyst Connection 
2. Robotics Manufacturing Hub, led by The Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Institute 
3. Expanded Pathways to New Economy Careers, led by Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission 
4. Robotics Startup Factory, led by Innovation Works 
5. Expanded Pathways to Entrepreneurship, led by InnovatePGH 

Our region’s assets and growing robotics and autonomy sector have uniquely positioned the region to revolutionize industries as varied as agriculture, manufacturing, healthcare, energy, logistics and retail. The infusion of the Build Back Better Regional Challenge funding will drive inclusive economic growth for the broader region. Considered one of the next great “general purpose technologies,” robotics and autonomy will increase economic productivity, spur job growth and integrate with other major, crosscutting business trends, such as digitalization, cloud computing and open-source software. 

Southwestern Pennsylvania possesses unique strengths in robotics and automation innovation and is a globally recognized leader. Our assets include:  

• World-class research and development organizations. 
• Strong, highly networked and collaborative educational institutions, training providers, and unions.  
• Organizations poised to advance regional equity through proven models.  
• Effective entrepreneurial support networks.  
• Engaged cluster of technology and innovation firms.  
• Long-standing, public, private, nonprofit and philanthropic sector engagement and cooperation. 

One of the projects, Expanded Pathways to New Economy Careers, led by the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, is focused on establishing a highly coordinated, regional upskilling system serving both robotics technology developers and adopters in the long run, offering various training options outside of traditional four-year and advanced degrees and ensuring that programs evolve based on industry needs. 

Adopting more robotics and autonomy into our region’s industries will provide an opportunity to establish a more resilient workforce through training. While it will replace or reduce the need for some jobs, it will also create new ones and provide an opportunity for workers to shift away from more dangerous roles and toward skilled operations that earn family-sustaining wages without requiring an advanced degree.  

Local case studies of small and medium sized businesses show that greater productivity from adopting technology leads to an increased (not decreased) workforce. An analysis conducted during the application process estimated that the growing sector could result in more than 14,500 workers across our region.  

Organizations chosen for funding had to meet federal requirements, including qualifying nonprofit status, audit history, capacity, experience and the ability to reach the required federal matching fund contributions. Next, organizations submitted proposed scopes of work with detailed budgets and staffing breakdowns. Lastly, organizations were analyzed and chosen based on their unique role, footprint and impact on the communities they aim to serve. 

As currently structured, the lead organizations for each of the five projects, as well as project subrecipients, receive funding from the grant. Direct funding from the federal government will go to the recipients, and the figures for project totals are agreed upon after negotiations with the Economic Development Administration.

Project 1: Small & Medium Enterprises Robotics Adoption – $4.8 million 

• Project lead: Catalyst Connection 
• Project subrecipients: 
  • Digital Foundry at Penn State New Kensington
  • University of Pittsburgh 
  • Carnegie Mellon University 
  • Johnstown Area Regional Industries (JARI) 
  • Pittsburgh Technology Council 

Project 2: Robotics Manufacturing Hub – $14.2 million 

• Project lead: Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Institute 
• Project subrecipients:  
  • Regional Industrial Development Corporation 
  • Community College of Allegheny County 
  • The Pennsylvania State University on behalf of Penn State New Kensington 
  • Westmoreland County Community College 
  • IUP Research Institute, Indiana County Development Corporation (ICDC), Armstrong County Industrial Development Council, MADE, JARI

Project 3: Expanded Pathways to New Economy Careers – $24.8 million 

• Project lead: Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission 
• Project subrecipients: 
  • Allegheny Conference on Community Development
  • Butler County Community College 
  • Community College of Allegheny County 
  • Community College of Beaver County 
  • Westmoreland County Community College 
  • Partner4Work 
  • Southwest Corner Workforce Development Board 
  • Tri-County Workforce Investment Board 
  • Westmoreland-Fayette Workforce Investment Board 
  • Indiana University of Pennsylvania 
  • Pennsylvania State University – New Kensington, Beaver and Greater Allegheny Campuses 
  • Robert Morris University
  • Pittsburgh Technical College 
  • UMWA Career Centers 
  • Carnegie Mellon University 
  • University of Pittsburgh 
  • BotsIQ 
  • Pittsburgh Robotics Network  

Project 4: Robotics Startup Factory – $12 million  

• Project lead: Innovation Works 
• Project subrecipient: Pittsburgh Robotics Network

Project 5: Expanded Pathways to Entrepreneurship – $6.9 million  

• Project lead: InnovatePGH 
• Project subrecipients: 
  • Riverside Center for Innovation 
  • Women in Tech PGH 
  • Carnegie Mellon University 
  • University of Pittsburgh
  • The | Equity Impact Center