MEP Innovation Services / Training – 2013

Calling Small Business Exporters- Tell Us Your Story

New state export data

Bringing "Made in America" Back to American Innovation Webcast

What's Happening Around MEP

MEP in the NEWS

Calendar of Events

Make it in America Manufacturer of the Week!

View eblast from March 1, 2013

 NIST MEP is pleased to announce continuing support of the Black Belt training in 2013. We have heard from many that you are anxious to get back on your journey to become Black Belt certified or begin your training. As you may remember, we sent out a communication at the end of December 2012 detailing some of the changes to the Innovation Engineering training. Please read the updated policies, procedures and FAQs that are posted on MEIS. This document explains the changes and updated policies to the Black Belt certification program.

Below are the dates for 2013 training.

• March 25 - 29
• April 15 - 19
• May 13 - 17
• June 9 - 13 (location: University of Maine - open to all)
• July 22 - 26
• August 19 - 23
• September 23 - 27
• October 21 - 25
• November 11 - 15
• December 9 - 13

If you have any questions about the policies, about Black Belt certification, or to schedule training, please contact Kari Reidy at Kari.eidy@nist.gov| (301) 975-4919

The Small Business Administration and VISA are sponsoring an export video contest. For those centers participating in ExporTech, this could be an excellent opportunity for some of your clients that had great success with the program. Submissions are due by April 5, 2013. Please feel free to share with your clients.

If you have a success story to tell about the goods or services you sell around the world and have used a federal government program or assistance to get there, the U.S. Small Business Administration and Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) are cosponsoring the “2013 SBA-Visa Export Video Contest” where your company will have the chance to win up to $10,000 just by sharing your story with other small business exporters on http://exportvideo.challenge.gov/.

Participating in the contest is easy and free: Among other requirements, the company must be a small business as determined by SBA’s size standards, have successfully completed at least one export transaction and used at least one federal program or service to support such transaction. In order to participate, contestants must register and create an account with www.challenge.gov, the contest portal that also will serve as repository for the video entries. For information on SBA size standards for small businesses, visit http://www.sba.gov/content/summary-size-standards-industry.

The videos must meet several criteria that include duration no longer than three minutes and a high-resolution format. Content must be educational, not promotional. A panel of judges chosen by SBA will select five videos to be awarded cash prizes directly by Visa, Inc.
The prizes are:

• First place - $10,000
• Second place - $8,000
• Third place - $6,000
• Fourth place - $4,000
• Fifth place - $2,000

The contest is open from Feb. 25 to April 5 to small businesses in the U.S. and its territories, including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam. Winners will be announced no later than May 31, 2013. For more information, submission procedures and requirements please visit Challenge.gov website or contact Kari Reidy at kari.reidy@nist.gov.

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U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank earlier this week announced new state export data that shows 29 states set new records for export sales in 2012. In total, 35 states achieved merchandise export growth in 2012, and 20 of those states experienced growth of at least five percent or more.

Total merchandise exports from all 50 states helped contribute to the record-setting value of goods and services exports in 2012, which reached $2.2 trillion. Nationally, jobs supported by exports increased to 9.8 million in 2012, up 1.3 million since 2009. This puts us ahead of schedule to meet the President’s goal of adding two million export-supported jobs by the end of 2014.

For more information about individual state contributions to national exports, or to view individual fact sheets for all 50 states please visit the the International Trade Administration’s Office of Trade and Industry Information web page.

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Webcast: Edison Nation® Bringing "Made in America" back to American Innovation

Join us in a webcast on Tuesday, March 26, at 2:00 pm EDT to learn more about the Edison Nation®Made in America program and what it can do for your manufacturing clients. The retailers participating in this program are Belk, Bob Timberlake, Snapware, Pyrex, Worx, Chicago Cutlery, ToyQuest, and Corelle who are looking for U.S. based manufacturers that are capable of and interested in making production quantities for new product ideas.

This is a great opportunity for U.S. based manufacturers to bid on making products with a guaranteed large distribution channel. The product idea request for quotes and bid packages will be sent mid to late March through MEP Connect.

Webinar Details
Webinar Link
Meeting Password: welcome

For questions, please contact Dave Cranmer (David.Cranmer@nist.gov | 301-975-5753) or Caroline Ranghel Ashley (Ranghel@rti.org | 919- 541-6822)

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Good Jobs, Green Jobs 2013 Conference
April 16-17, 2013
Washington Hilton Hotel - Washington DC

The 2013 Good Jobs, Green Jobs National Conference will bring together manufacturers, business owners, community leaders, labor union members, environmentalists and elected officials from across the country together in one place for one of the country’s largest discussions on how to build a cleaner, more efficient American Economy.

The 2013 conference will focus on how to grow the clean economy to scale, the role of strategic partnerships between the public and private sectors in solving the country’s pressing economic and environmental challenges, creating new markets and how people in every part of the U.S. are working collaboratively to build an economy with good jobs.

CEMC and NIST MEP will be hosting three of the sessions:

• Sustainable Growth through E3
• Manufacturing Opportunities in Clean Energy Markets
• Solar Energy Manufacturing Supply Chain Opportunities (live version of February Webinar)

The 2013 Good Jobs, Green Jobs conference has over 90 sessions. To get a glimpse of the agenda, attain more infomation, or to register please visit the Good Jobs, Green Jobs Conference Website or contact Linda Nielson at lindan@bgafoundation.org

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•  Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Patrick D. Gallagher will provide the keynote address for the The first annual Advanced Manufacturing Conference Hosted by Center for Automation Technologies and Systems (CATS) and the Center for Economic Growth (CEG), MEP Center of New York, the conference themed “Think Smart, Make Value,” will bring together leaders from industry, government, and academia to address challenges facing regional manufacturers.Read Article

• 101MFG forming partnership with Manex to find solutions for employers The first North Bay Manufacturing Trade Fair and Jobs Expo, held on Feb. 20 at the Sequoia Business Center, attracted more than 340 attendees, including 100 high school students and dozens of candidates looking for jobs.Read Article

• Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership will be presenters for The Innovation Management workshop in March The workshop is designed to help manufacturing companies put a process around innovation practices. Participants will learn how to develop, funnel and test ideas that are low cost and low risk in order to grow their businesses. Read Article

• MEP Success Story: Manufacturing Resource Center (MRC) and Dynalene Inc Manufacturers may be successful in developing and creating new products, but they also need to stay on top of the non-technical side of the business. That’s where organizations such as Manufacturers Resource Center come into play. Whether a CEO has questions about patents, funding or taxes, MRC has experts who train top executives in the manufacturing field on these and other issues through seminars and training programs. Read Article

• Minnesota-based Center to Help Communities, Businesses Seeking to Grow Clean Energy Manufacturing Building on the ever-increasing opportunity the clean energy economy presents to manufacturers in the U.S. — and the renewed national push from President Obama in his State of the Union Address to create, retain, and re-shore manufacturing jobs — the BlueGreen Alliance Foundation today is announcing the expansion of its Clean Energy Manufacturing Center (CEMC). Read Article

• One of Magnet's Incubator client, Cleveland Whiskey, has finally finished all the regulatory hurdles and began selling its product Cleveland Whiskey Flies Off Store Shelves: Earlier this year, we told you about a Cleveland businessman who was making his own unique brand of aged bourbon right here in Northeast Ohio. The locally made whiskey was shipped to stores on Friday and it’s now flying off the shelves. What’s in a name? Apparently a lot when you combine it with aged bourbon. Read Article

• IMC Announces New Executive Director/CEO Lauren Bryson has been named Executive Director/CEO for IMC based in Williamsport, PA. IMC’s Board of Directors conducted a national search to fill this position to lead the non-profit organization focused on growing manufacturing in the twelve-county Central Pennsylvania region. IMC is one of seven Industrial Resource Centers in Pennsylvania and one of sixty Manufacturing Extension Partnerships in the nation. Read Article

• MRC Director, Jack Pfunder, becomes Chair of the Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce, Manufacturing Council The council's mission is to elevate the importance of manufacturing in the Lehigh Valley keeping established manufacturers local, while encouraging new manufacturers to move to the Lehigh Valley. On January 13, 2013 The Manufacturing Council hosted it's first Manufacturing Summit. More than 200 manufacturers turned our for the event. See Photos from the event

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