XLR8X, a local nonprofit that works to stimulate economic development in Hawaii, is receiving $750,000 in federal grant support to address the economic risks caused by the pandemic through entrepreneurship and innovation in the Islands, the United States Department of Commerce announced Tuesday.
XLR8X was one of 44 organizations across the country chosen to receive part of $29 million in federal commerce funding through the U.S. Economic Development Administration's Scaling Pandemic Resilience Through Innovation and Technology — or SPRINT — Challenge. Grant recipients received awards between $200,000 and $750,000, and XLR8X was the only Hawaii organization to receive a grant.
The nonprofit will use the funds to help 125 Hawaii companies "pivot and scale their businesses as they recover from the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic," through its virtual investment readiness and business scaling pilot program, preX, which was started in April 2020 in response to the economic conditions brought on by the pandemic. The preX program works to transform impacted businesses into "agile, resilient organizations reequipped with the business knowledge, technical assistance, professional networks, and support community to handle the pandemic disruption and survive and thrive successfully in a post-Covid-19 world," according to XLR8X's website.
“The SPRINT Challenge builds on EDA’s efforts to work with communities to build strong regional economies,” said Dennis Alvord, Acting Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development, in a statement. “Our grantees’ projects are laser-focused on using innovation to help America overcome the economic, health and safety challenges brought on by the pandemic.”
Projects being led by other SPRINT grant awardees include efforts to scale biotechnology and health security efforts, reopen businesses safely and upskill workers.
“The Biden Administration applauds the SPRINT Challenge awardees’ efforts to pivot to help their communities through difficult times quickly,” said Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo in a statement. “American entrepreneurship and innovation will help our country through this coronavirus pandemic and build back better, stronger, and more resilient.”
