NAMII Named Among Top 'Innovations to Watch'
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- The National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute, the newly launched initiative to exploit opportunities resulting from 3D printing, today was named as one of the top 10 “Innovations to Watch” by The Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program and The Rockefeller Foundation. NAMII is housed in the Youngstown Business Incubator.
The list recognized initiatives that "show the most promise for creating jobs, growing regional economies, and boosting global competitiveness in 2013," according to The Brookings Institute.
“The Youngstown Business Incubator is proud to be both a partner and home to the NAMII, and we congratulate the project manager, the National Center of Defense Manufacturing and Machining and all the other partners on the recognition,” said Barb Ewing, chief operating officer of the YBI. "Having such prestigious organizations as Brookings and Rockefeller recognize the importance of this project really drives home how catalytic this project can be for the region," she added.
Here is the news release issued by Brookings and The Rockefeller Foundation:
This year’s list of “Innovations to Watch” represents the most forward-thinking and effective solutions that are now being implemented by America’s states and metropolitan areas in the arenas of low carbon, exports, human capital, innovation, and governance. The innovations are part of the Brookings-Rockefeller Project on State and Metropolitan Innovation, which presents fiscally-responsible state policies and practical metropolitan-led solutions that leaders can use to move toward the next economy.
“While partisan politics continues to paralyze Washington, leaders in states and municipalities across the country are moving forward with innovative solutions that address the many economic challenges we will face in the coming years,” stated Bruce Katz, vice president at Brookings and co-director of Metropolitan Policy Program.
“As we prepare for the presidential inauguration next week and look at the tough legislative battles ahead, it’s important to recognize where the real governing is taking place – not in Washington but by state, city, corporate, civic, university and environmental leaders all over the country,” added Katz.
“America is renewing itself from the bottom up. As we’ve seen before, times of great challenge often result in great innovation, and this list highlights the smart, pragmatic, and bi-partisan solutions now being implemented on the ground that will grow a skilled workforce, double exports, and bolster advanced industries,” stated Judith Rodin president of The Rockefeller Foundation.
“These ten innovations represent extraordinary examples of how communities are building on their distinctive advantages to better position themselves in a global marketplace that is fiercely competitive and undergoing massive change,” Rodin added.
The top ten innovative initiatives this year are in the metropolitan areas of Portland, Ore; Chicago, Ill; Youngstown; San Antonio, Texas; Los Angeles; and statewide in Florida, California, Massachusetts, Kansas, Washington and Oregon. (See below for more details.)
All 10 initiatives embrace a vision of economic growth that is productive, sustainable, inclusive, and globally oriented. They are imaginative in design; advanced by networks of leaders who cross jurisdictional, ideological and political lines; and can be easily replicated in other jurisdictions.
For example, San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro and local business and civic leaders championed a ballot initiative, which passed in November, to provide $31 million per year in new sales tax revenues to build city centers in which thousands of pre-K children will be educated mostly for free. The long-term goal: build a more skilled workforce for the region.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott is building on the state’s smart decisions to prioritize investments in the Port of Miami, which carries fully one-third of US trade with Latin America, to prepare for changing dynamics in global trade, such as the expansion of the Panama Canal.
To reduce the skills gap, Kansas is incentivizing college students to pursue technical education at local technical colleges, providing free tuition for technical education classes, and awarding each school district $1000 for every student who graduates with an “industry-recognized credential.”
California has instituted a new cap-and-trade system to lower carbon emissions and further demarcate that state as the center of the American clean economy.
Top 10 State and Metropolitan “Innovations to Watch”
Exports
Metro – Portland, Ore: Metropolitan Export Plan – An ambitious strategy to help business and distinctive clusters of firms access global markets.
State – Florida: Office of Freight Logistics and Passenger Operations – A new department to coordinate and prioritize freight and port strategies and investments.
Low Carbon
Metro – Chicago: “Retrofit Chicago” – Leveraging private investment in a new Infrastructure trust for the energy retrofit of public buildings.
State – California: Cap-and-Trade – The launch of a carbon trading system to lower carbon emissions and further demarcate the state as the center of the American clean economy.
Innovation
Metro – Youngstown: National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute – A new regional manufacturing initiative to exploit the full opportunities brought by 3D printing.
State – Massachusetts: Top-USA Massachusetts – A research exchange between Boston-area and Brazilian research institutions.
Human Capital
Metro – San Antonio: Pre-K Expansion – A commitment to expand pre-k education to give every student a strong start on the path to secondary and post-secondary success.
State – Kansas: Career and Technical Education Initiative – State incentives for enrollment in and completion of local technical education and community college classes.
Governance
Metro – Los Angeles: America Fast Forward – Metro-federal partnership in accelerated build-out of transit expansion.
State – California, Washington, Oregon: West Coast Infrastructure Exchange – Three-state initiative to coordinate cross-state infrastructure investments.