President Obama in Cleveland with Manufacturing Announcements Today!

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MEP Center Staff,

Today President Obama will travel to Cleveland, OH and make a major announcement about investing in manufacturing.  He will first tour our local affiliate, MAGNET located on Cleveland State University’s campus and then make a speech at the City Club of Cleveland.  The President will tour MAGNET around 1:20pm today and then begin his speech around 2:55pm. The event will be streaming live on the White House site if you are interested in watching. 

There are three main items that will be highlighted during his remarks today (see below).  The second bullet is focused on the latest round of the MEP state competitions. Read full White House Fact Sheet.

Investing Nearly $500 Million to Strengthen U.S. Advanced Manufacturing

• More than $150 Million in Public-Private Investment through a New Manufacturing Innovation Institute Competition

  • Today, the Department of Defense is launching a competition for leading manufacturers, universities, and non-profits to form a new manufacturing hub focused on revolutionary fibers and textiles technologies. The $75 million federal investment will be matched by more than $75 million of private sector resources.

  • This is the ninth competition for a National Network for Manufacturing Innovation institute, and the first of eight new institutes that the President’s budget proposes to fund by the end of 2016. Returning to sequestration levels for appropriations, as the House Republican Budget proposes, would put this expansion at risk.

  • The first institute awarded is in Youngstown, Ohio. Only in its third year, it is already drawing investment to Ohio—including a $32 million job-creating investment in the region from GE—and advancing research that will help accelerate the speed of 3-D printing in metals by a factor of ten.

• $320 Million Competition to Strengthen Small Manufacturers in 12 States

• Non-profits in 12 states will compete for $158 million in Federal funds matched by $158 million or more in private investment over five years to provide technology and engineering expertise to small manufacturers through the latest round of competitions to strengthen the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP)’s network of centers in these states.

• Today, the President will tour MAGNET’s Manufacturing Innovation Center at Cleveland State University, the Ohio Manufacturing Extension Partnership affiliate.

• In contrast, the House Republican Budget proposes to end funding for the MEP, dealing a blow to the 30,000 small manufacturers the program serves, including the more than 450 Ohio manufacturers served by MAGNET, the Ohio MEP affiliate, in recent years.

• New White House Supply Chain Innovation Initiative

• The President will unveil a White House Supply Chain Innovation Initiative focused on building public-private partnerships to strengthen the small U.S. manufacturers and a new report on the need to further strengthen small manufacturers that form the backbone of America’s supply chains and play an increasingly important role in creating and retaining manufacturing jobs and investment in the United States.

We know that there may be some questions that will come because of this announcement and the $320 million referenced above.  That amount comes from the current MEP Federal Funding Opportunity for MEP center proposals in 12 states.  The funding amount is just under $32 million per year across those 12 states.  Awards will be for up to five years, with a potential total of $158M over that period, contingent upon performance and the availability of continued appropriations at the current FY2015 level.  The federal funding in addition to the non-federal cost share totals approximately $320 million in support to small and medium-sized manufacturers. 

We are very excited about this announcement and the opportunity to have President Obama visit our local affiliate, MAGNET in Cleveland.  Congrats to Dan Berry and his team!

If you have any questions about this announcement, please contact Kari Reidy at kari.reidy@nist.gov or 301-975-4919.