Grants to boost Rhode Island jobs

Posted on July 31, 2017

A number of grants are going to boost Rhode Island jobs.

Four small Rhode Island companies have been awarded Innovation Vouchers through the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation. This program is intended to stimulate innovation, facilitate in-state partnerships, and give Rhode Island a competitive edge that will help the state grow and attract business.

“Our Innovation Grants give startups the spark they need to turn their ideas into businesses,” Raimondo said. “Our state is on the move. In part because of our entrepreneurs and small businesses, our unemployment rate is the lowest it’s been since 2001, and lower than our neighbors in Massachusetts. We’ve added nearly 13,000 jobs since I was elected and businesses of all sizes are taking a fresh look at Rhode Island.”

Innovation Vouchers allow eligible Rhode Island enterprises with fewer than 500 employees to fund R&D assistance from a Rhode Island university, research center or medical center on a specific project.

This is the sixth round of grants to be awarded since Gov. Raimondo and the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation in partnership with the General Assembly introduced the Innovation Voucher Program in 2015. This brings the total amount of voucher recipients to 36.

The projects approved in the latest round represent a variety of industry sectors important to the state, including health care, life sciences, textile manufacturing, naval research, and defense.

Innovation Vouchers can be used for: support toward commercializing a new product, process or service; access to scientific, engineering and design expertise that fits an innovation need; technological development and exploration to make an innovation come to life; and/or scale-to-market development of an innovative idea.