Since 2021, money – both Federal and private – for advanced technology investments has been pouring into rural and micropolitan counties identified as "economically distressed" by Federal agencies, according to a new study by Brookings Institution and MIT economists.

Three laws enacted under the Biden administration – the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act – have helped spur the flow through valuable incentives like bonus tax credits, $3 billion in funding for eligible environmental projects, and Department of Energy loan guarantees. The legislation was also designed to stimulate investment in strategic sectors like clean energy, semiconductors and electronics, biomanufacturing and other advanced industries. It seems to have worked.

"Since 2021, private investors have announced $525 billion in private funding in strategic sector investments," the report concluded. "We find that economically distressed counties are receiving a disproportionate share of private sector investment in these strategic sectors relative to their economic output and population. When compared to private investment writ large, these investments are more likely to go to distressed communities."