Trump's New Budget Eliminates MEPs; Eight States Without Contracts

Despite bipartisan support for Manufacturing Extension Partnerships,  President Donald Trump’s administration appears determined to eliminate the 40-year-old government program that helps small- and medium-sized manufacturers in all 50 states.

Trump’s budget request for 2027 calls for “eliminating the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, an underperforming and unnecessary program that has failed to accelerate America’s manufacturers’ ability to compete in the 21st Century and instead turned its attention to promoting DEI as a solution to the decline in American manufacturing,” according to the budget proposal.

Meanwhile, nine state MEPs with an April 1, 2026, deadline for contract renewals or new contracts have not yet received those finalized contracts from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce. These missed contracts can hold up federal and state funding for the MEPs, as funds are typically released when the contracts are in place. Congress has already allocated the funds for these programs.

States with delayed contracts are Delaware, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Carolina and Wyoming. Nevada and Hawaii are the only state MEPs with an April deadline to receive a contract.

Carrie Hines, president and CEO of the American Small Manufacturers Coalition, said the DEI remarks in the president's budget were way off. "I think that reasoning was written by someone who doesn't understand what MEP is or does and is simply not serving the president well," Hines said in an email.

"I honestly don't know what 'promoting DEI as a solution' is," she added, quoting from Trump's budget document. "MEP provides technical assistance to manufacturing clients including advanced technology adoption, AI and cyber security services, workforce training, quality and lean implementation to name just a few."

Administered by NIST, Manufacturing Extension Partnerships are nonprofits that assist small- and medium-sized manufacturers with process improvement, workforce outreach and training, technology adoption, business growth and innovation. Large manufacturers depend on these smaller firms in the U.S. supply chain to do machining, tooling, specialized components manufacturing and innovation that they are unwilling or unable to take on themselves.

Trump's proposed $175 million elimination of the MEP is part of $993 million in proposed cuts to NIST overall. NIST's Circular Economy Program, which "leverages expertise in measurement science, standards, and technology to support stakeholders in addressing circular supply chain challenges," would also be eliminated.

NIST has been contacted for comment and this story will be updated if they respond.