Semiconductors, commonly known as chips, play a crucial role in both the economic and national security landscape of the United States. These minuscule electronic devices power a wide range of applications—from basic household tools like light switches to advanced technologies such as fighter jets and smartphones—while serving as the foundation for emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and clean energy initiatives.
But despite the United States’ leadership in semiconductor design and research, its manufacturing capabilities have lagged. With the most advanced logic and memory chips being produced overseas, their supply chain has become vulnerable to disruption.
To address these challenges, President Biden signed the bipartisan CHIPS (Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors) and Science Act of 2022 into law. This legislation allocates $50 billion to the Department of Commerce for initiatives aimed at enhancing semiconductor research, development, and manufacturing in the United States. With such a significant amount of funding—and the opportunity to involve your locality in the push towards technological growth—this provides a great chance to develop your community and local economy.
How to find a CHIPS and Science Act grant
However, finding grant funding, especially of this nature, is not exactly an intuitive process. Sometimes it’s hard to know what types of grants are even out there. While the CHIPS and Science Act stands out in its importance, opportunities to participate in the program can be easily overlooked due to the sheer volume of grants available in general. Add to this the wide variety of websites and sources applicants can use to find and apply for grant funding, and the process becomes even more confusing.
Since the first step to securing funding is finding the grant, investing in a tool to streamline this process is incredibly important. Euna Grants, powered by eCivis, is a platform designed to streamline workflows across all stages of the grants lifecycle, including pre-award, post-award, and subrecipient modules. Offering a database to search for Federal, Foundation, and State level opportunities, it also includes summarized research and a library of previously funded applications for reference.
One of the key aspects of Euna Grants’ solution is the professionally curated Grants Network. Featuring only grants that have been deemed useful by agency feedback and industry leaders, the higher quality of searchable opportunities available on the database ensures that you can avoid irrelevant grants and find the funding that suits your goals.
The quality of Euna Grants’ Grants Network, coupled with the user-friendly nature of the solution, helps distill the funding process and arms your team with the ability to discover the right opportunities for you.
CHIPS for America: How to use funding for innovation
Federal funding for innovation plays a pivotal role in driving economic growth, technological advancement, and national competitiveness in America.
The CHIPS for America program leverages grant funding to drive innovation and bolster local communities across the nation. With a focus on research and development, the program is utilizing the CHIPS for America Defense Fund, which allocated $2 billion to the Department of Defense.
Aiming to establish and operate a “Microelectronics Commons,” the funding hopes to reduce the country’s reliance on foreign microelectronics while safeguarding national security from supply chain risks.
Significant funding has already been allocated to establish regional innovation hubs across the country. In 2023, $238 million was awarded for the creation of eight hubs including California, Arizona, and North Carolina. Going forward, they’ll collaborate with member organizations to develop the physical, digital, and workforce infrastructure necessary to support microelectronics R&D, particularly in defense applications.
Overall, the CHIPS for America program is not only driving innovation in semiconductor technology, but also fostering economic growth and job creation in local communities across the United States. The far-reaching and future-focused implications of this work are an opportunity for the long-term development of regional economies.
How Euna Grants helps communities find and manage funding
Investing in a comprehensive tool, like Euna Grants, can help your community get involved and drive the country’s expansion. Euna Grants assists communities in effectively finding and managing grants, supporting the entire lifecycle process. Using collaboration tools, management functionality, integration with other systems such as ERPs, and baked-in security and compliance monitoring, Euna Grants makes the grants process easier to navigate and proactively audit-proofs your team. By leveraging these features, communities can manage their funding more effectively, ensuring that the funds are used to drive impactful projects and foster innovation.
To learn more about how Euna Grants can revolutionize your grants management process, book some time for a demo today.