U.S. DOE Awards $50,000 to Evansville Clean Energy Manufacturing Initiative
Evansville nonprofit Circular Venture Lab and The University of Evansville’s Center for Innovation & Change announce the $50,000 award from the United States Department of Energy (DOE) to activate initiatives in clean energy manufacturing.
The energy sector is rapidly evolving to meet the growing demand for clean energy, which creates an opportunity to invest in the U.S. manufacturing base and strengthen the country’s energy supply chains. Resilient, secure, and diverse supply chains and domestic manufacturing capabilities will help maximize the benefits of federal investments in climate and clean energy and provide economic opportunity for all Americans.
The U.S. DOE has announced 13 Phase One winners of the inaugural ‘Manufacture of Advanced Key Energy Infrastructure Technologies’ (MAKE IT) Prize Strategies Track. Winners include a manufacturing-based collaboration between Evansville nonprofit 501(c)(3) Circular Venture Lab (CVL) and The University of Evansville’s Center for Innovation & Change (CIC).
The MAKE IT Prize is a multiphase prize aimed at catalyzing domestic manufacturing of critical components for the clean energy infrastructure. The Strategies Track supports communities developing roadmaps for bringing vibrant manufacturing activities to their regions. The selected teams will participate in Phase 2, for the chance to earn an additional $100,000, while developing a final roadmap and engaging in discussions with manufacturers about establishing clean energy manufacturing facilities.
The funds awarded will be used to support the Evansville Energy Nucleus project. Led by Logan Jenkins, Executive Director of CVL, and supported by ChangeLab teams from the CIC, the Nucleus will highlight specific resources for manufacturers and their employees considering a move to the region, and how they can work with UE students to achieve those goals. With Evansville’s blend of manufacturing infrastructure, incentives, expertise, and student innovation power at the University of Evansville (Indiana’s only Ashoka Changemaker Campus), the Nucleus will be an asset for Executive teams of relocating or expanding companies. It will also serve as an additional resource for our regional economic development teams.
The Evansville team is preparing a credible road map to support clean energy manufacturing activity, with a particular focus on how it can be beneficial to residents in the Evansville Promise Neighborhood and other underserved communities. This investment will propel our community’s ability to harness its manufacturing and changemaking strengths for the benefit of the environment, and allow Evansville to play a pivotal role in shaping the future landscape of sustainable manufacturing processes.
The team invites industry partners, policymakers, and the public to participate in the future of clean energy manufacturing. Interested parties can contact CVL at hello@circularventurelab.org or the CIC at centerforinnovation@evansville.edu.
The MAKE IT Prize was developed by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Technology Transitions (OTT), in partnership with its Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) and its Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), and is administered by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
