Governor Ralph Northam announced that six small businesses will receive a total of more than $1 million in funding and services through the 2021 RISE Coastal Community Resilience Challenge. The initiative aims to encourage the development of innovative solutions to combat the impacts of sea level rise and flooding in coastal communities. The winners, selected from nearly 100 applications, will each receive up to $250,000 in a combination of a grant and a loan. The funding will help these businesses to advance and demonstrate their products, contributing to the viability, resiliency, and economic vitality of the coastal communities in Virginia.
Rise Coastal Challenge Winners
Announcement of Winners
RICHMOND—Governor Ralph Northam today announced that six small businesses will receive a total of more than $1 million in funding and services through the 2021 RISE Coastal Community Resilience Challenge. The winners were selected from nearly 100 applications and will each receive a combination of a grant and a loan of up to $250,000 to advance and demonstrate innovative products that help coastal communities adapt to the impacts of sea level rise and flooding.
Importance of the Challenge
“The RISE Coastal Community Resilience Challenge is one important way that Virginia is answering the call to address the growing challenge of extreme weather events, flooding, and sea level rise,” said Governor Northam. “This funding will provide a significant boost to the groundbreaking work of six innovative entrepreneurs focused on creating adaptive, scalable solutions that will ensure the viability, resiliency, and economic vitality of our coastal communities now and for future generations.”
Virginia Coastal Resilience Master Planning Framework
In October 2020, Governor Northam unveiled the Virginia Coastal Resilience Master Planning Framework, which included a series of initiatives the Commonwealth will undertake to bolster Virginia’s resilience to sea level rise and natural hazards to limit the impact of flooding, extreme weather events, and wildfires.
Expansion of the Challenge
“The 2021 Coastal Community Resilience Challenge yielded more submissions than we have ever received,” said RISE Executive Director, Dr. Paul Robinson. “Also going forward, we are going to expand RISE’s Challenge model to other areas in the Commonwealth to include rural regions that experience unique flood hazards and make Virginia the leader in resilience innovation.”
Impact of Sea Level Rise
“Sea level rise is having a sizable impact on our economy, and I look forward to seeing the solutions these six businesses develop,” said Secretary of Commerce and Trade Brian Ball. “This competition is an important mechanism to support growth and success for our small business community as they advance innovations in resiliency for our coastal region.”
RISE’s Contributions
Since its inception in 2018, RISE has deployed more than $4 million in financial assistance and services to support 27 businesses in piloting their technologies in Hampton Roads. Through RISE’s Coastal Community Resilience competitions and the establishment of its Resilience Innovation Hub, the region has become a living laboratory for companies, where the products and services needed to adapt to the impacts of climate change can be demonstrated locally and applied globally.
Future Plans
As part of the Commonwealth’s Coastal Resilience and Adaptation Economy Initiative, RISE will launch a business competition to address rural flooding challenges. The five finalists selected from the competition will receive support from RISE to strengthen their business plans and finalists will have a unique opportunity to test their resilience solutions on coastal properties through the Middle Peninsula Chesapeake Bay Public Access Authority.
Conclusion
Winners of the 2021 Coastal Community Resilience Challenge join projects already underway from four previous challenges, including sensors capturing critical stormwater system capacity data, applications to re-route drivers in real-time to avoid flooded roads, and mobile manufacturing units that produce custom shoreline protection structures to mitigate flooding. In addition to the grant funding, businesses will receive access to other resources from the RISE Resilience Innovation Hub and Testbed such as a business accelerator, co-working office and testing space, real-world pilot sites, and introductions to regional municipalities and other stakeholders.
Question & Answer
1. What is the purpose of the 2021 RISE Coastal Community Resilience Challenge?
The initiative aims to encourage the development of innovative solutions to combat the impacts of sea level rise and flooding in coastal communities.
2. How many small businesses were selected as winners for the RISE Coastal Challenge?
Six small businesses were selected as winners and each will receive up to $250,000 in funding and services.
3. What is the significance of the funding provided to the winning businesses?
The funding will help these businesses to advance and demonstrate their products, contributing to the viability, resiliency, and economic vitality of the coastal communities in Virginia.
