Blended Impact Announced As Phase 1 Winners of the DOE Make It Prize Strategies Track
April 2024 - In 2023 the U.S. Department of Energy issued a challenge to communities nationwide to coalesce around the goal of American reshoring and manufacturing. Aiming to strengthen our supply chain and create good-paying jobs in critical industries, the initiative is funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Blended Impact answered the call and quickly assembled a ten-party stakeholder group aiming to make the Inland Empire counties of Riverside and San Bernardino eligible to compete over the year and a half competition. To be competitive, teams must secure an MOU with a high-growth manufacturing company with community support at the end of the period. Heavily based around the Justice40 Initiative, Blended Impact will co-design and lead efforts around deep community engagement and robust business attraction efforts targeted to companies manufacturing in the approved sectors.
Partners include California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz), California’s Manufacturing Network (CMTC), Center for Sustainable Energy, County of Riverside Office of Economic Development, Inland Economic Growth and Opportunity (IEGO), Inland Empire Labor Institute (IELI), Riverside College Community District, University of California Riverside Office of Technology Partnerships, University of California Riverside School of Public Policy, and Youth Action Project. The Clean Energy Business Network (CEBN) assisted the team in preparing the proposal.
The MAKE IT Prize was developed by the Office of Technology Transitions (OTT), the Offices of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED), and Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) with the goal of catalyzing the domestic manufacturing of critical clean energy technology components. On April 10th, Blended Impact was announced as one of the 25 winners nationwide to advance to the next phase of the three-phased competition and winning a $50,000 prize. They are the only winners in the Make It Prize Strategies Track to be based in California. Next, the team will be focused on the research and community engagement required in phase two, preparing to submit a synopsis of all work undertaken during the six-month period at the next deadline in November 2024. Of the 25 current winners, only 20 will be invited to advance to phase three past November with a $100,000 prize.