EDA Supports STEM Technology Development in Puerto Rico Following Irma and Maria

Puerto Rico is known as the Island of Enchantment, a favorite tourist destination revered for its white sandy beaches and cool tropical breezes. Each year, the island welcomes more than 4 million visitors eager to enjoy the sun and surf. Unfortunately, there are more and more unwelcome natural visitors, as climate change continues to increase the frequency and intensity of damaging storms.

In September 2017, the island was hit with back-to-back hurricanes, Irma and Maria. The sister storms destroyed Puerto Rico’s power grid, leaving the entire island in the dark. Several schools and hospitals were permanently closed, and more than 500,000 homes were damaged or destroyed. Most significantly, nearly 3,000 people lost their lives.

There was similar devastation to the island’s economy. Nearly overnight, unemployment rose an additional 4.3 percent while business losses exceeded $2 billion. But for all the devastation they had caused, the storms also inspired Puerto Rico’s entrepreneurial spirit. Today, with assistance from the Economic Development Administration (EDA), the island is positioning itself as a globally recognized center for innovation and opportunity.

The Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research Trust (the Trust) is a non-profit organization founded in 2004. Today, it works to build capacity to continually advance Puerto Rico’s economy and its citizens’ well-being. It does this through innovation-driven enterprises, science, research, public health and technology.

“In the wake of the storms, we recognized that many of our citizens had lost their jobs and were eager to open businesses of their own,” said Lucy Crespo, Chief Executive Officer of the Trust. “We decided to take the initiative and provide those entrepreneurs with the resources they needed to get their businesses off the ground.”

The Trust proposed the development and creation of the Forward Center, a 30,000-square foot STEM facility that will house up to 60 high-tech startups, focusing on science, technology and manufacturing. It will provide space for research and development in these critical industries in a building that is itself disaster resistant.

The center was designed to serve small businesses, entrepreneurs and non-governmental organizations, providing incubation and acceleration space in several key sectors, including information technology, the aerospace industry, and the development of medical devices, an industry that has experienced recent expansion on the island.

To help build the Forward Center, EDA invested $4.4 million in Disaster Supplemental funds in the Trust in 2018. Construction began in June 2021 and was completed earlier this year. Crespo was impressed with EDA’s efficiency and professionalism throughout the process.

“The funds were made available in a short amount of time. I liked the model and the flexibility. Everything worked well and we have stayed on schedule,” Crespo shared.

She also calls the center an ecosystem, emphasizing that all startups are part of a greater facility and that they will always have space to continue their work after they have left the program. She anticipates expansion into other critical industries as well, including cybersecurity, ecommerce, and healthcare, noting than an insulin manufacturer will soon be on site.

The center is also embracing virtual reality technology as well, and they are working with NASA to simulate how rising sea levels will impact San Juan for future generations. The facility is also being used for educational purposes on issues such as health, nutrition, and eating disorders.

“The Trust is working to provide our students with experience using these emerging technologies,” said Crespo. “We are showing them the importance of STEM technology by allowing them to embrace it and by giving them the chance to succeed.”

A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be hosted later this summer.