Sacramento Congresswoman Doris Matsui is asking the U.S. Economic Development Administration to establish a Regional Technology and Innovation Hub in Sacramento at the California Mobility Center.
The Tech Hubs program is part of the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, for which Congress appropriated $500 million to establish 20 hubs across the country.
"Sacramento’s unique combination of a highly educated workforce, academic institutions, geography and public/private collaboration positions it well to maximize the impact of the Tech Hubs program," wrote Matsui, in a letter to Assistant Secretary of Commerce Alejandra Castillo.
"The Congresswoman is sending the letter to ensure Sacramento is at the forefront of the discussion as the program gets rolled out," said George Hatamiya, communications director with Matsui. "The CMC will be a crucial local partner once the details of the program are finalized."
The details of the federal process are still being developed, he said.
"The key thing is the potential we have at the mobility center at Sac State," said Barry Broome, CEO of the Greater Sacramento Economic Council. "The opportunity here is off the charts."
The California Mobility Center was initiated in 2019 by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, which made an initial $5 million investment and committed to up to another $10 million in matching funds.
"What we need to do is stand up locally and build the $150 million center," Broome said. "We don't need the center in 2030, we need the center in 12 to 20 months to be a leader in the field and draw companies from around the world."
The current California Mobility Center opened in 2020 in 25,000 square feet in Depot Park, a business park on Fruitridge Road in the Power Inn Road area.
From the start, the plan has been to develop a larger center just south of California State University Sacramento as part of the planned 240-acre Sacramento Center for Innovation on Ramona Avenue.
That center would be an asset for — and also supported by — the engineering schools of Sac State as well as the University of California Davis.
That larger center will need the support of SMUD, the universities, local community colleges, the city and others to get it off the ground, Broome said. The Hub effort at the CMC could accelerate the process, but he said the Sacramento community needs to step up now and get it built.
He said Sacramento is positioned to take advantage of California’s momentum in clean mobility, adding that the connection of the engineering schools of the two local universities with the California Mobility Center could be a catalyst to develop carbon-free technologies for the world, along with future jobs and industries.
The Sacramento-based mobility center’s current members include carmakers, technology companies, utilities, electric grid operators, charging companies and a host of startups that access the center’s ramp-up factory.
