Distressed Counties Main Recipients of Advanced Tech Funding

Since 2021, money – both Federal and private – for advanced technology investments has been pouring into rural and micropolitan counties identified as “economically distressed” by Federal agencies, according to a new study by Brookings Institution and MIT economists.

Three laws enacted under the Biden administration – the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act – have helped spur the flow through valuable incentives like bonus tax credits, $3 billion in funding for eligible environmental projects, and Department of Energy loan guarantees. The legislation was also designed to stimulate investment in strategic sectors like clean energy, semiconductors and electronics, biomanufacturing and other advanced industries. It seems to have worked.