Milwaukee Water Council wins $500,000 federal grant for innovation from US SBA

The Water Council of Milwaukee has received federal designation as a Water Technology Cluster and funds of $500,000 from the US Small Business Administration (SBA).

SBA administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet said: "Clusters are public-private partnerships that are driving innovation and job creation in our most promising regional hubs for innovation."

Four such regional innovation clusters were awarded by the SBA on the basis of their innovation and high-performance networks across the country.

The federal grant will be used by the council to establish a Center of Excellence for Freshwater Innovation and Small Business Development in Milwaukee.

The center will be located in the Global Water Center on Freshwater Way in the Walker’s Point neighbourhood and is expected to offer small business services, such as technology transfer, counseling, acceleration and mentorship.

Water Council co-chairman and co-founder Rich Meeusen was quoted by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel as saying: "This contract by the SBA will allow the Water Council to invest in building support systems that will increase small water cluster businesses’ access to these critical resources, enabling them to grow faster, employ more people and have a greater economic impact on their surrounding community."

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said: "The Milwaukee region has quickly become recognised as a world hub for water research, education and economic development."

The water technology cluster from Milwaukee won the grant amidst 40 odd applicants from around the world, along with three other clusters, Marine Industries Science and Technology Cluster (Louisiana-Mississippi-Alabama-Florida), Autonomous and Unmanned Systems Cluster (south-eastern New Mexico), and Retail, Supply Chain and Food Processing Cluster of the Ozarks Region (north-west Arkansas, north-east Oklahoma and south-west Missouri).