Economic Impact

Bolstering the U.S. economy

The Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 allocated $300 Million from the Public Safety Trust fund to NIST PSCR to perform critical public safety communications R&D during a 10-year period. PSCR implemented numerous research mechanisms to support the development and deployment of the Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network: grants, Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contracts, prize challenge competitions, and internal research. While the ultimate impact of these research mechanisms is the increased safety of first responders and their communities through improved communications technologies, PSCR was interested in better understanding how their R&D investments to date result in economic impacts that ripple outward to state economies.

An independent analysis was conducted to demonstrate how PSCR’s deployment of the $300 Million from the Public Safety Trust Fund  translated into broader impacts to the United States, including jobs, earnings, value added, and total economic output. As of 2022, PSCR investment has resulted in economic output in 33 of the 50 states. Results of the analysis are presented here per state. Click on a state to view its corresponding economic impact report.

Read the full report

View our one-pager on PSCR's nationwide economic impact, totaling $807.1 million in total economic activity. And read the original PSCR economic impact report here.