NIST announces awards to manufacturing centers in Kentucky, Nebraska, Rhode Island and South Dakota

GAITHERSBURG, Md. — Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is announcing cooperative agreement awards totaling nearly $19.8 million to four organizations to operate Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Centers in Kentucky, Nebraska, Rhode Island and South Dakota. The MEP Centers will be operated by the four awardees, the University of Louisville Research Foundation, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the University of Rhode Island Research Foundation, and South Dakota’s Lake Area Technical College, and will provide services to small and medium-sized manufacturers in their states.

“These MEP Centers in Kentucky, Nebraska, Rhode Island and South Dakota help manufacturers address challenges and leverage opportunities in the critical areas of supply chain, workforce, technology innovation and much more,” said NIST Associate Director for Innovation and Industry Services Mojdeh Bahar. Among other things, Bahar said, “the centers will use the new?Job Quality Toolkit, which is rooted in the?Baldrige Excellence Framework, to provide guidance on expanding opportunities for high-quality jobs.”

NIST’s?Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership?program strengthens U.S. manufacturing by supporting 51 centers across the 50 states and Puerto Rico. Through this program, more than 1,400 manufacturing experts provide hands-on technical expertise that addresses the critical needs of manufacturers in their states.

The total anticipated funding over five years to each awardee is:

• Kentucky: $6,217,500
• Nebraska: $3,978,500
• Rhode Island: $6,021,500
• South Dakota: $3,561,000

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