Raimondo Details Creation of RI "Innovation Campuses"

Gov. Gina Raimondo on Tuesday announced the creation of three new "innovation campuses" in Kingston and Providence to promote academic research and business development, using $12 million in proceeds from a bond issue Rhode Island voters approved in November.

The three campuses are expected to attract more than $120 million in private investment -- 10 times what the state is putting in -- and create hundreds of jobs in growing fields of cybersecurity, data analytics and agricultural technology.

"These three innovation campuses will strengthen our economy and position Rhode Island to lead a new industrial revolution in advanced industries," Raimondo said in a statement. "Not only will these projects result in hundreds of good-paying high-tech jobs, thanks to our partnership with URI it will also ensure that Rhode Islanders are set up to compete for those jobs."

Raimondo was joined in the announcement by David M. Dooley, president of the University of Rhode Island.

"The university's research capacity, intellectual talent, and business engagement are critical to the economic growth of the state," Dooley said. "The university looks forward to working on these exciting new partnerships with the private sector and other higher education institutions to fuel the innovation economy."

The three projects taking shares of the $12 million are:

1) The University of Rhode Island and Arizona State University Innovation Hub

URI and ASU, joined by Cisco Systems Inc., will collaborate on an innovation hub focused on cybersecurity, big data analytics and the "Internet of Things." The hub will have two locations, one at a central Innovation and Entrepreneurship space on the URI Kingston Campus, and the second in Providence serving as an industry gateway and incubation space. The state will contribute $5.5 million to the $11 million project cost.

2) The Rhode Island "iHub"

A startup incubator and accelerator conceived by a partnership between The University of Rhode Island, Brown University, IBM and MassChallenge, located in the Providence Innovation and Design District. The total project investment in iHub is expected to be approximately $8.7 million with the bond proceeds accounting for $2.5 million.

3) The Rhode Island Agricultural Innovation & Entrepreneurship Campus

URI and RI Agricultural Technologies, a partnership of Rhode Island Mushroom Company and American Ag Energy Inc., will create the Rhode Island Agricultural Innovation & Entrepreneurship Campus in West Kingston. The project will be located on 50+ acres adjacent to the URI Kingston Campus and include over 25 acres of greenhouses adjacent to a 15,000+ square foot Agriculture Innovation Center. The state will contribute $4 million of the $115 million total project cost.

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