PHASE 2 SUBMISSION GUIDANCE FOR COMMITMENTS

As part of the Phase 2 Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the Tech Hubs competition, 

applicants are required to submit Letters of Commitment to substantiate investment, policy, or 

other concrete commitments. As a reminder, commitments should be new, timely, targeted, 

measurable, and meaningful. See the Phase 2 NOFO (e.g., section A.1.b.iv. at p. 8, A.1.c.i(1)

at pp. 11-14, A.1.c.i(5)-(6) at pp.18-19, E.1.a.3. at pp. 34-35) and the Phase 2 Tech Hubs 

Supplemental Guidance on Investment and Policy Commitments for more information and 

guidance.

Applicants are encouraged to submit as part of their Overarching Narrative a single 

Commitments Index summarizing all commitments. A Commitments Index is useful to

effectively organize all commitments akin to an executive summary for the commitments 

detailed in letters.

Regardless of whether an applicant submits the encouraged Commitments Index, all 

commitments (whether policy, investment, or match) must be detailed in signed commitment 

letters and attached to the relevant component project application or to the overarching 

application. The encouraged Commitments Index is intended to serve as a directory that 

organizes and summarizes these commitment letters.

A. Commitments Index (Recommended)

As part of your Overarching Application, applicants are encouraged to submit a Commitments

Index (see Section D of this document for an example), which lists and summarizes all the 

commitments made to your Tech Hub and includes the following information:

1. Type of commitment: Cash Match, In-Kind Match, Policy, or Investment. 

a. Note: If one letter covers multiple types of commitment (e.g., one organization is 

making both Match and Policy commitments), please list each commitment 

separately while referencing the same letter.

2. Entity type—see Section C (“Entity Types”) of this document or the Phase 2 NOFO, 

section A.1.b.iii. at pp. 6-7.

3. Entity name and whether the entity making the commitment is:

a. the Consortium Lead;

b. a Component Project Lead or Co-applicant;

c. a non-lead Consortium Member; or

d. a non-member.

4. Whether the commitment applies to all component projects or to specific component 

projects (if specific, list the applicable projects).

5. The actual or estimated value of the commitment (if applicable).

6. The actual or expected date of delivering the commitment.

7. A summary of the commitment with the following format: “[X organization] commits to [Y 

co-investment/policy changes/activities/etc.] that will achieve [Z outcomes] by [Q time]”.

a. answers to these 5 questions:

i. What are the specific actions or activities that will be taken as part of this 

specific commitment?
ii. Who is responsible for ensuring the commitment is met? Please include 

their name (if staffed) and job title. 

iii. What are the specific metrics of success for this commitment? Note not 

all commitments will have a quantifiable number, but all should have a 

clearly articulated goal.

iv. When will the commitment be completed? What, if any, immediate steps 

were taken during the Phase 2 application period on this timeline?

v. Is this commitment a new activity or a continuation of a previous effort? If 

a continuation, how does this work differ from the status quo?

B. Commitment Letters (Required)

Applicants must submit commitment letters, each signed by the organization making the 

commitment, that detail each commitment or set of commitments. Those commitment letters 

should include answers to the following questions:

8. What are the specific actions or activities that will be taken as part of this specific 

commitment?

1. Who is responsible for ensuring the commitment is met? Please include their name (if 

staffed) and job title.

2. What are the specific metrics of success for this commitment? Note not all commitments 

will have a quantifiable number, but all should have a clearly articulated goal.

3. When will the commitment be completed? What, if any, immediate steps were taken 

during the Phase 2 application period to begin to make progress towards this timeline?

4. Is this commitment a new activity or a continuation of a previous effort? If a continuation, 

how does this work differ from the status quo?

With respect to the Tech Hubs consortium itself, the consortium lead and members must 

also confirm their roles within the consortium in writing. Complete applications must 

include:

1. a letter identifying the lead applicant, its entity type (consistent with types of entities 

eligible for program funding; see below), and its commitment to executing its roles, 

responsibilities, or commitments related to the Tech Hubs effort. In the event the lead 

applicant has changed, a new letter is required from the new lead member describing 

their commitment to leading the effort and administrating the functions described in 

Section A.1.b.iv.; and

2. for all Tech Hubs consortium members, a letter evidencing that each consortium member 

has read the application and is committed to executing its roles, responsibilities, or 

commitments related to the Tech Hubs effort.

C. Entity Types

Below is a list of eligible entity types for EDA’s Tech Hubs Program, as listed in the Phase 2 

NOFO (section C.1. at p. 21).

1. Institutions of higher education, which may include Historically Black Colleges and 

Universities, Tribal Colleges or Universities, and Minority-Serving Institutions;

2. State, territorial, local, or Tribal governments or other political subdivisions of a State;

3. Industry groups or firms in relevant technology, innovation, or manufacturing sectors;

4. Economic development organizations or similar entities that are focused primarily on 

improving science, technology, innovation, entrepreneurship, or access to capital;

5. Labor organizations or workforce training organizations, which may include State and 

local workforce development boards;
6. Economic development entities with relevant expertise, including a district organization;

7. Organizations that contribute to increasing the participation of underserved populations 

in science, technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship;

8. Venture development organizations;

9. Organizations that promote local economic stability, high-wage domestic jobs, and 

broad-based economic opportunities, such as employee ownership membership 

associations and State or local employee ownerships and cooperative development 

centers, financial institutions and investment funds, including community development 

financial institutions and minority depository institutions;

10. Elementary schools and secondary schools, including area career and technical 

education schools;

11. National Laboratories;

12. Federal laboratories;

13. Manufacturing extension centers;

14. Manufacturing USA Institutes;

15. Transportation planning organizations;

16. A cooperative extension services;

17. Organizations that represent the perspectives of underserved communities in economic 

development initiatives;

18. Institutions receiving an award under the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Regional 

Innovation Engines program; or

19. Other (only applicable if the entity is a non-member).

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next page]
D. Example Commitments Index

The below table provides an example Commitments Index format.

Commitment 

Type

Entity 

Type Entity Name

Entity 

Consortium 

Relationship

Associated 

Component 

Project(s)

Commitment 

Value

Commitment 

Delivery Date Commitment Summary

In-Kind Match

Workforce 

training 

organization

Metropolis 

Workforce 

Institute

Consortium Lead Component Project: 

"Workforce Training" $200,000 09/30/2026

ABC University commits to providing $200,000 of in-kind support for operational oversight, 

training, and SME consultations that will result in 300 teleportation technician job placements by 

September 2026.

Investment Industry 

group

Teleportation 

Technology 

Association

Non-Lead 

Consortium 

Member

Component Projects: 

"Wet Lab"; 

"Commercialization 

Accelerator"

$1,000,000 11/30/2025

Teleportation Technology Association commits to provide $1 million in cash to purchase 

equipment and fund construction to retrofit an existing demonstration facility in which Hub 

innovators and entrepreneurs will conduct 50 teleportation demonstrations by November 2025.

Policy, 

Investment

Institute of 

higher 

education

Metropolis 

University

Component 

Project Lead

Component Project: 

"Commercialization 

Accelerator"

$5,000,000 12/31/2027

Metropolis University (in partnership with Clark Startup Labs) will (1) create a Global 

Entrepreneur-in-Residency program to retain three foreign graduates per year to build their 

startups ($2 million for the first five years), (2) standardize tech transfer agreements among 

entities (difficult to estimate value), (3) establish a new Economic Development Director role that 

reports to MU's Chancellor ($1 million for the first four years), (4) build two new off-campus 

“micro-labs” at Clark Startup Labs ($2 million in construction and startup operational costs), and 

(5) begin the University-wide process of including economic development and innovation as 

features of staff and faculty promotions (difficult to estimate value) that will result in 75 new 

biotech startups in the region and increase the survival rate of researcher-based ventures by 15% 

by the end of 2027.

Policy Local 

Government Metropolis City

Non-Lead 

Consortium 

Member

All Component 

Projects 

Difficult to 

estimate value 12/31/2024

The Metropolis City Department of Planning and Development commits to conducting and 

publishing a study on Metropolis zoning reform by the end of 2024 with a stated goal of 1) 

identifying regulatory barriers to the development of affordable multifamily housing and 2) 

proposing solutions which would enable increased development of affordable multifamily 

housing (difficult to estimate value).