Local business and government leaders received disappointing news Monday when the White House released a list of 12 organizations that will receive millions of dollars to boost aerospace manufacturing, but Spokane was not included.
Aerospace industry leaders, venture capitalists and state, local and tribal governments have been working together as a consortium since last August to compete for federal funding to propel Spokane’s aerospace manufacturing industry onto the global stage.
Following the news, consortium officials issued a public statement warning of a dire future unless reliance on foreign manufacturers was reduced.
“Within a few years, the Inland Northwest Tech Hub could prepare prototypes for highly efficient production and create thousands of domestic manufacturing jobs, reducing our growing reliance on foreign technology and guest workers,” the statement read. “Missing this opportunity would increase our reliance on foreign workers and threaten our national and economic security. We will pursue every possible opportunity to make new American jobs and supply chains a reality.”
The Spokane Consortium, called the Inland Northwest Consortium, included 59 member companies, including Boeing, Lockheed Martin, NASA, the U.S. Air Force, Gonzaga University and the City of Spokane.
The group competed against about 400 other competitors for a chance to win up to $75 million from the U.S. Economic Development Administration as part of the Tech Hub program.
The program was created as part of the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 and authorizes $10 billion to be invested in local economies to drive innovation and strengthen domestic manufacturing, according to a White House publication.
If the deal had been signed, the funds would have been used to build an expansion at the former Triumph Composite Systems Inc. factory at 1514 S. Flint Road.
The 386,000-square-foot facility in West Spokane was known as the American Aerospace Materials Manufacturing Center.
Sen. Maria Cantwell, chair of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, was an early advocate of the Tech Hub program, and in a statement she pledged to aerospace manufacturing in the Evergreen State.
“Spokane, and the entire Pacific Northwest, is leading the next generation of innovation and technology so America can continue to compete internationally,” she said in a statement. “We will continue to work to ensure this technology hub has the resources to expand this facility, and we look forward to working with the American Aerospace Materials and Manufacturing Center to ensure Spokane has access to funding for future opportunities.”
About two months ago, Jacob Bonwell, CEO of ATC Manufacturing, the company leading the competition, spoke at an event about the consortium members’ efforts.
“We’ve spent three months writing a business plan for this, it’s several hundred pages long, and we’re in the waiting stage right now,” Bonwell said. “The deliverables that we’ve submitted to the EDA are very robust, so we think we have a very good chance of winning this deal.”
Another Inland Northwest group also entered the competition and won funding: Missoula-based Headwaters Hub won $41 million to improve its manufacturing capabilities for photonic remote sensors, a technology used for a variety of purposes including topographic mapping and ocean and atmospheric monitoring.
Although the consortium failed to secure government funding, the project may still go ahead, but details are scarce as consortium members are reeling from the losses, consortium spokeswoman Maria Lusardi said.
But there is hope.
According to a release from the Economic Development Administration, the American Aerospace Materials Manufacturing Center will be visited by Under Secretary of Commerce Alejandra Castillo and Eric Smith, program director for the Tech Hub Program.
“I am excited to visit Spokane and see firsthand how this hub will not only strengthen America’s competitiveness, but ultimately ensure that future industries and jobs start, grow and stay in Eastern Washington,” Castillo said in a statement.
