The article details the significant impact of defunding the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) program, a decades-long initiative supporting American manufacturing.
The program, receiving under $200 million annually from NIST, is largely responsible for providing essential aid to small manufacturers across various states and Puerto Rico. The sudden cessation of funding threatens the sustainability of the centers and the businesses they support.
The article highlights states significantly affected by the cuts, including Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, and Wyoming. Many centers, operated by universities, government agencies, or nonprofits, faced unexpected funding losses, and there is concern about the difficulty in replacing federal funding, particularly in smaller states.
Businesses rely on MEP for consulting services, assistance with issues like cybersecurity and supply chain resilience, and workforce development. The loss of funding is expected to negatively impact manufacturing ecosystems, and limit access to crucial resources and training, particularly in the adoption of new technologies.
The article includes a statement by U.S. Representative Sarah McBride, criticizing the decision and expressing her intent to fight the cuts. This underscores the political implications of the funding cuts, emphasizing the jobs and economic opportunities at stake.
Case studies from NIST showcase the program's positive impact on businesses, such as Dot's pretzels and Purina, emphasizing the value of MEP's technical assistance and resource connections. The article also features a case study of Pertech Industries, highlighting how MEP helped find skilled workers through training program connections.
NIST spends under $200 million annually on the MEP program, with most of the money passed on to states and Puerto Rico in batches of payments. The congressional aides tell WIRED that they expect all remaining centers will lose their funding over the next year or so, as their next checks come due.
Depending on the state, centers are operated by universities, government agencies, or independent nonprofits. States also help pay for the MEP program, but the congressional aides believe it would be difficult in many states—especially smaller ones—to make up for the loss of federal funding.
Carrie Hines, president and CEO of the American Small Manufacturers Coalition, which represents all of the state help centers, says businesses pay market rates for the personalized consulting they offer. “This is not a handout,” she says. Traditional consulting firms may not be able to assist these small businesses or even exist in some regions, she adds. “We fill that unique void of technical assistance, with boots on the factory floor,” Hines says.
Wyoming’s help center, known as Manufacturing Works, was among the organizations that on Tuesday did not receive some $700,000 in funding it had been expecting from NIST. The other states affected include Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, and North Dakota. “Those 10 centers were blindsided,” Hines says.
Jodie Mjoen, CEO and president of North Dakota’s MEP center Impact Dakota, says he’s begun working with partners on finding new ways to support its 21 current projects across 93 manufacturers. These companies, according to Mjoen, are trying to contend with tariffs and other regulations, deploy more AI and automation, and introduce new skills to their employees. “This is what it’s all about,” he says. “Implementing innovative emerging technology solutions” and keeping the “US manufacturing supply chain thriving and expanding.”
Sinsabaugh of New Mexico MEP says the cuts “will have real and lasting negative impacts on the manufacturing ecosystem, both in our state and nationally.”
Officials for centers in the other states did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
US representative Sarah McBride, a Democrat from Delaware who also sits on the science committee, tells WIRED that “Trump is ripping opportunity away from Delaware’s working families, and I’ll fight with everything I have to reverse this reckless and cruel decision.”
Case studies published by NIST and state partners show that advisers associated with the help centers have walked businesses through how to adopt cybersecurity measures and build more resilient factory lines, or simply get executive teams to align on company priorities. Popular brands featured on NIST’s website that say they have benefited from the help centers include Dot’s, a maker of pretzel snacks owned by Hershey, and Purina, a dog food division of Nestlé.
The help centers also link businesses to other resources. In the case of Pertech Industries, a Riverton, Wyoming-based manufacturer of specialized printers that struggled to find workers skilled at soldering, the local MEP office connected it to a training company that later started offering a soldering program. The office helped the training firm pay for it with state funding. Pertech did not respond to a request for comment.
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