For companies that come to the state to invest in that space, a key ask is whether the state has the workforce to help build out the sector, said Christian Cowan, the executive director of Polaris MEP, an entity that is under the University of Rhode Island Research Foundation and works with policymakers and state agencies to help improve and develop the manufacturing workforce.

“The workforce request is number one in all of those companies that are coming into region,” he told the Globe in an interview.

That effort got a boost this week after the US Commerce Department awarded Cowan’s organization nearly $4 million to beef up the development of workers in the ocean technology industry in Rhode Island and southern Massachusetts, a key part of the effort to transform the region’s blue economy.

“Blue economy is the chance for exponential economic growth in the region,” Cowan told the Globe. “We’ve seen a lot of new companies coming into the region from New Bedford all the way down to Westerly. And they all have the same need, which is workforce.”

Asked what relevance a blue economy is to ordinary people, Cowan said that it was about being able to use the state’s water resources to create jobs for communities.

“It’s really focused around the geographical features…around our ocean assets in order to create new opportunities, based on jobs around those ocean assets,” he said.

The funding that The University of Rhode Island Research Foundation and Polaris MEP received will be dedicated to the Ocean Tech Works program. They will collaborate with 46 partners including higher education and research institutions, state entities and labor organizations with the goal of helping to meet the workforce needs of companies investing in the area.

The cash will finance the training of robotic technicians, metal machinists, machine maintenance technicians, and other “employee-driven training” for nearly 300 roles in the ocean technology sector, Cowan said.

The $4 million award was the second phase of funding of the Good Jobs Challenge initiative, which provided a total of $25 million to organizations across the country, all tasked with fortifying efforts to shore up what the Biden administration describes as the economy of the future.

“The Good Jobs Challenge is expanding into more communities across the country with a focus on industries that will define the 21st century economy,” Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, the former governor of Rhode Island, said in a statement.

“These investments will train American workers for industries of the future, empower them with the tools they need to secure good-paying jobs, and lift up communities in Rhode Island and Massachusetts that have too often been overlooked or left behind,” she said.

Cowan said that Rhode Island has in recent years attracted companies that are developing underwater drones, electric powered ocean vehicles, sea floor mapping firms and submarine builders.

“Those companies are all setting up here because they have access to Narragansett Bay to test and develop their products very, very quickly with really important partners,” he said.

“We continue to see more and more interest of companies setting up facilities in Rhode Island to take advantage of our geographical features,” Cowan added. “That’s the reason that we really built a coalition for this application to make sure we’re meeting all the current workforce needs and are meeting with companies that are talking about coming into the region to open more facilities.”