Two struggling local economic development groups, the Pittsburgh Digital Greenhouse and the Robotics Foundry, are expected to announce a merger next week.

Neither of the nonprofits, which are charged with expanding and promoting the region's microchip, software and robotics industries, would confirm the merger. They acknowledged only that they were discussing the possibility of a partnership.

"We're still in the process" of talking, said David Ruppersberger, chief executive officer of the Downtown-based Digital Greenhouse.

With both organizations struggling to realize their goals, a merger could provide a charge that neither alone has seemed to achieve.

"Robotics is a natural extension of what the Digital Greenhouse does," said Eric Close, CEO of Homestead-based RedZone Robotics, which emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy a year ago. "I think it's a neat merger in the sense that firms like ours will get introduced to larger companies that may not be in robotics."

Launched five years ago, the Greenhouse undertook the challenge of boosting the number of local computer-chip design companies, creating jobs and putting Pittsburgh on the map in the world of semiconductors.

But despite $27 million in support from the state, the Greenhouse fell far short of then-Gov. Tom Ridge's pledge in 2000 that it would create 1,500 jobs by 2003. The number of jobs reached a high of close to 670 in 2002; the nationwide collapse of the tech industry trimmed it down to 230 currently employed in 47 local chip-design companies.

Likewise, the city has failed to live up to the name of "Roboburgh" that the Wall Street Journal gave it in 1999. But the Lawrenceville-based Robotics Foundry did recently lure a San Diego-based research and engineering firm, Scientific Applications International Corp., to locate research and development facilities in the region.

The merger is expected to be announced at the Digital Greenhouse's annual meeting next Wednesday, where the two organizations will unveil a refurbished, combined organization, complete with new name and logo.

It is unclear what role Ruppersberger and Robotics Foundry President William Thomasmeyer will play in the new organization.

Combining the two groups makes sense, Ruppersberger and Thomasmeyer have said in past interviews, because some of their programs already overlap.

"The notion of a merger was floated in the summertime," Thomasmeyer said. "There's an opportunity for some shared programs and technical synergies."

For the Robotics Foundry, the merger would reduce costs by letting it share offices and staff with a bigger organization that already had staff and programs in place.

The Greenhouse offers a package of programs that fund research and development and assist with employee recruitment to growing local chip and software firms and that provide office and consulting services to start-ups. The Robotics Foundry offers similar assistance as well as access to 66 local and national robotics-related companies.

By joining forces, both groups hope to strengthen their efforts to attract capital and boost awareness of fledgling local industries. Access to larger firms can lead to partnerships that can expand his business, said RedZone's Close.

Jorgen Pedersen, whose Lawrenceville-based robotics firm, re2, has been a Robotics Foundry member since its inception in April 2003, said that his firm will benefit from the same advantages that come from working with a larger organization. "The Greenhouse has a lot of experience already," he said.

Thomasmeyer and Ruppersberger said they are taking their time to formalize the partnership because they want to make sure they get it right. "The key question is how could a robotics cluster be accelerated and opportunities increased by such a merger," Thomasmeyer said.

"It's always better to have a larger presence -- it has more power," Kerien Fitzpatrick, CEO of Strip District software firm Hyperactive Technologies, said of a Greenhouse-Foundry merger. "Bringing them together bring a lot more to show nationally."