The envisioned Spokane-Coeur d'Alene aerospace tech hub has received $48 million in federal funding, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration announced today.

More than $2 million in private and industry investments also were announced today by the Inland Northwest consortium that created the tech hub proposal and applied for the federal funding.

The funding will go toward the American Aerospace Materials Manufacturing Center, making it a testbed for advanced aerospace materials in the Inland Northwest.

The manufacturing center is located at the 386,000-square-foot former Triumph Composite Systems Inc. building, at 1514 S. Flint, in West Spokane.

In a prepared statement, the Spokane-Coeur d'Alene tech hub’s consortium says it looks forward to "filling this building with equipment unlike any of its kind in the world, bringing our top industry and NASA engineers together under one roof, and ensuring the pipeline of aerospace talent stays in the Pacific Northwest."

The Spokane tech hub is one of six in the country to be selected in the new round of funding and was awarded the highest dollar amount.

“America is handing the baton to Spokane, establishing it as an innovation testbed for high-rate aerospace materials manufacturing,” says U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell in a press release. “We’re betting on Spokane’s leadership and manufacturing base to solve the aviation challenges America faces. This important R&D mission will help ensure our nation’s future aerospace leadership.”

In October 2023, the advanced aerospace manufacturing center was among the 31—out of 387 nationwide—proposals to be designated as a tech hub, enabling the Inland Northwest consortium to pursue up to $70 million in federal funding.

Last July, however, it was announced that the Spokane-Coeur d'Alene tech hub wasn’t one of the 12 projects to receive a portion of the $504 million that was allotted in that round of funding.

Advocates for the tech hub told the Journal in July that efforts would continue to seek federal funding, despite missing out on that round of funding.

The new funding is the result of the EDA’s Regional Technology and Innovations Hub program, which was enacted as part of the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022.

The tech hub program is intended “to scale up the production of critical technologies, create jobs in innovative industries, strengthen U.S. economic competitiveness and national security, and accelerate the growth of industries of the future in regions across the U.S.,” according to today's EDA press release.

The Inland Northwest consortium that created the tech hub proposal and applied for the funding is made up of about 50 public- and private-sector organizations. It is led by Gonzaga University and Lakeside Cos., the latter of which owns the former Triumph building.

The consortium also includes about a dozen aerospace manufacturers and other large corporations, for example Boeing Co., Lockheed Martin Corp., and Avista Corp. 

Five labor and workforce organizations and two venture development companies also are participating.

In addition to Gonzaga, 10 universities, community colleges, and school districts are involved, as are 16 local governments, tribes, and business organizations. NASA and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are listed as working “in partnership” with the consortium.

Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown says in a press release, “We will benefit tremendously from the business expansion and good jobs that will result from this unprecedented federal investment."