Obama Administration Announces $20 Million in Grants to Support U.S. Manufacturing Clusters

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The Obama administration today announced that 10 public-private partnerships across America will receive $20 million in total awards to help revitalize American manufacturing and encourage companies to invest in the United States.

The 10 partnerships were selected through the Advanced Manufacturing Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge, which is a competitive multi-agency grant process announced in May 2012 to support initiatives that strengthen advanced manufacturing at the local level. These public-private partnerships consist of small and large businesses, colleges, nonprofits and other local stakeholders that “cluster” in a particular area. The funds will help the winning clusters support local efforts to spur job creation through a variety of projects, including initiatives that connect innovative small suppliers with large companies, link research with the start-ups that can commercialize new ideas, and train workers with skills that firms need to capitalize on business opportunities.

The Advanced Manufacturing Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge is a partnership between the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration, the U.S. Small Business Administration, and the National Science Foundation.

“A strong manufacturing base in America is critical to the health of the U.S. economy, and these awards further demonstrate the Obama administration’s commitment to keeping this country on the cutting edge of innovation in manufacturing,” said Acting U.S. Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank. “This investment will help accelerate and unleash the most promising ideas in advanced manufacturing, and bring those ideas to market. This will lead to good jobs for American workers, increase the nation’s competitiveness, and strengthen an economy that’s built to last.”

The awards will help regional clusters grow by strengthening their connections to regional economic development opportunities and advanced manufacturing assets, helping develop a skilled and diverse advanced manufacturing workforce, increasing exports, encouraging the development of small businesses, and accelerating innovation in technology. The 10 winning initiatives will each receive approximately $2 million to fund projects that are expected to train a total of 1,000 workers and help nearly 650 companies leverage a cluster’s resources in their regions and create jobs across the country.

“The SBA pioneered the federal government’s first regional cluster strategy two years ago and we’ve already seen the tangible benefits of these investments including job creation, innovation and increased competitiveness,” said SBA Administrator Karen Mills. “These ten new Advanced Manufacturing Jobs and Innovation Accelerators are proof that we can continue to build on – and complement – the success that we’ve already achieved and support strong ecosystems of small businesses in targeted regions throughout the country and across key industries. Additionally, by supporting our small innovative manufacturing companies, we are fostering the growth of the American supply chain and creating an economy built to last.”

10 Winning Partnerships

The 10 winners announced today are:

• Arizona: Growing the Southern Arizona Aerospace and Defense Region, a project of the Arizona Commerce Authority. ($1,817,000)
• California:Advanced Manufacturing Medical/Biosciences Pipeline for Economic Development (AM2PED), a project of Contra Costa County, Manex, the University of California-Berkley, Laney College, and the Northern California Small Business Development Center at Humboldt State University. ($2,190,779)
• Michigan:Innovation Realization: Building and Supporting an Advanced Contract Manufacturing Cluster in Southeast Michigan, a project of the Southeast Michigan Community Alliance, the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center, the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences, and Detroit Regional Chamber Foundation. ($2,191,962)
• New York:A Proposal to Accelerate Innovations in Advanced Manufacturing of Thermal and Environmental Control Systems, a project of Syracuse University, NYSTAR, the State University of New York’s College of Environmental Science and Forestry, and Onondaga Community College. ($1,889,890)
• New York:Rochester Regional Optics, Photonics, and Imaging Accelerator, a project of the University of Rochester, NYSTAR, and High Tech Rochester Inc. ($1,889,936)
• Oklahoma:Manufacturing Improvement Program for the Oil and Gas Industry Supply Chain and Marketing Cluster, a project of the Oklahoma Manufacturing Alliance, the New Product Development Center at Oklahoma State University, the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, the Center for International Trade and Development at Oklahoma State University, and the Oklahoma Application Engineer Program. ($1,941,999)
• Pennsylvania: Agile Electro-Mechanical Product Accelerator, a project of Innovation Works, the Catalyst Connection, the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining, and the Westmoreland/Fayette Workforce Investment Board. ($1,862,150)
• Pennsylvania: Greater Philadelphia Advanced Manufacturing Innovation and Skills Accelerator, a project of the Delaware Valley Industrial Resource Center. ($1,892,000)
• Tennessee:AMP! — the Advanced Manufacturing and Prototyping Center of East Tennessee, a project of Technology 2020, the Tennessee Manufacturing Extension Partnership, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Pellissippi State Community College, and the University of Tennessee. ($2,391,778)
• Washingtonand Oregon: Innovations in Advanced Materials and Metals, a project of the Columbia River Economic Development Council, Impact Washington, Southwest Washington Workforce Development Council, and the Oregon Microenterprise Network. ($1,792,221)

For more on the manufacturing issues shaping the 2012 election, click here.