KC Biohub leader bullish on Tech Hubs funding after region missing from latest grants list

Kansas City is still in the running for a chunk of the remaining $280 million in expected funding for federal Tech Hubs implementation grants, said Melissa Roberts Chapman, emphasizing the region remains primed and competitive in the process despite the KC BioHub not being among the latest awardees announced by the program.

Six other projects — including $29 million for a critical mineral processing effort led by the University of Missouri System — were awarded shares of $210 million Tuesday through the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA)’s Tech Hubs initiative — a flagship program of the Biden-Harris Administration aimed at advancing U.S. leadership in technologies and industries critical to national security.

“While this is a disappointing development for the KC BioHub, it does not change our belief that our work will be in the top tier of competitiveness when we are given an opportunity to revise it,” said Roberts Chapman, president and regional innovation officer for KC BioHub, in a message to supporters of the regional biotech campaign.

KC BioHub aims to strengthen the domestic production of critical vaccines and preventative technologies while nurturing collaboration across various sectors. This effort will position the Kansas City region as a leader in biologics and biomanufacturing, ensuring the U.S. plays a vital role in global health security, according to the initiative.

“[Tuesday’s announcement] does not change our knowledge that this work is worthy of many different kinds of support, including Tech Hubs funding,” Roberts Chapman added.

The EDA designated the KC BioHub — a coalition led by the BioNexus KC — as a Tech Hub in October 2023. Groups backing the initiative joined forces this spring to submit a $75 million funding proposal via the Tech Hubs program. While the plan failed to gain traction in Washington, D.C., the KC BioHub in July was awarded $500,000 in federal dollars to keep the effort moving forward.

A revised KC BioHub proposal was submitted to the EDA in late 2024, but the latest round of funding announced Tuesday was based on submissions from applications nearly a year ago, said Roberts Chapman, meaning KC BioHub is still in consideration for future awards.

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Melissa Roberts Chapman, president and regional innovation officer for KC BioHub, center, discusses Kansas City economic opportunities during a September 2024 Back2KC event; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News

Because regional leaders incorporated the EDA’s feedback into the KC BioHub’s late 2024 proposal, she continued, Roberts Chapman is confident their previous concerns have been addressed, positioning the application for success.

“The EDA will run another call for proposals later this year — open to designees that have not yet received implementation funding — to deploy the remaining $280 million in expected funding,” she said. “We are working extremely hard to be among the awardees announced at that time.”

The KC BioHub also is moving aggressively to ensure that its work is funded more broadly than by the Tech Hubs competition alone, Roberts Chapman added.

“While it’s OK to be disappointed by this setback, we are all in control of what happens next,” she continued. “We can choose to stay focused, keep working hard, and stay optimistic about the future, as I truly am. Our region and our country need our efforts to succeed, and we have a lot more work to do.”