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In the fall of 2023, the South Florida ClimateReady Tech Hub was selected by the Economic Development Administration (EDA) as one of 31 Designated Tech Hubs across the nation as part of Phase 1 of the EDA’s new Tech Hubs Program. Since then, the Tech Hub, a group of 59 businesses, unions, universities, governments, and NGOs across the Compact region, led by Miami-Dade County’s Office of Innovation and Economic Development, has advanced an application focused on amplifying the region’s global leadership in sustainable and resilient infrastructure and scaling up the production and delivery of critical climate technologies that will strengthen America’s clean energy transition and national security. The U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development Alejandra Castillo traveled to Miami on July 2 to announce nearly $20 million in funding to South Florida, one of only 12 hubs awarded across the nation and the only hub in the country focused on climate tech.

South Florida’s ClimateReady Tech Hub application was predicated upon the decade and half of regional collaboration across local government, academia, the private and non-profit communities via the Compact model. Preparation of the application laid the groundwork for a multidisciplinary network of regional partners capable of securing the investment needed to scale a number of market-ready climate technologies, delivering critical climate solutions in one of the most at-risk metro regions in the U.S., and expanding economic development opportunities.

The ClimateReady initiative will create 23,000 new green union jobs (15,000 of which will go towards traditionally underserved communities) with an average base salary of $86,000 over the next five years. Over the next decade, the Tech Hub is projected to generate $41 billion in new revenue putting South Florida on the map for global climate tech. The Hub aims to raise an additional $50 million, having already raised $500,000 thus far from the Knight Foundation, Citadel CEO Ken Griffin, and among others, and will continue seeking federal opportunities.