NIST Awards More Than $30 Million for MEP Centers in 11 States and Puerto Rico

GAITHERSBURG, Md. — The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has awarded more than $30 million for 12 centers to help small and medium-sized manufacturers increase the adoption of advanced manufacturing technology including AI, robotics, automation and additive manufacturing. The competitively awarded funding will help support Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) centers in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Utah and Vermont.

“This funding will help to ensure that our country’s small and medium-sized manufacturers increase their industrial competitiveness through advanced technology,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Arvind Raman. “These MEP centers can help drive successful technology adoption at scale and support critical long-term partnerships that will strengthen domestic supply chains around key industry sectors.”

The selected awardees and their funding amounts are:

• Alabama Training Network: $2,191,702
• Arkansas Division of Workforce Services: $1,291,618
• Georgia Tech Research Corporation: $3,227,001
• Louisiana Department of Economic Development: $1,537,719
• Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership: $2,959,870
• The Curators of the University of Missouri: $2,656,601
• Montana State University: $839,900
• The Ohio Manufacturers Association (OMA) Educational and Industrial Development Institute: $6,076,983
• Pennsylvania IRC Network: $6,110,684
• Puerto Rico Manufacturing Extension Inc.: $939,133
• University of Utah: $1,492,598
• Vermont State Colleges: $812,300

Selected applicants must secure nonfederal matching funds of at least 50% (or cost-share) and will enter into a cooperative agreement with NIST. The centers are part of the MEP National Network™, which comprises MEP centers across the U.S. The network includes nearly 1,400 trusted manufacturing advisers and experts at more than 450 MEP service locations, with oversight provided by the MEP program at the federal level.

Awardees will sign a cooperative agreement for an initial performance period of up to five years. This award provides funds for the first year of the project, and future-year funding will be based on the availability of funding, successful annual performance reviews, and the continued alignment of the project to MEP, NIST and Department of Commerce priorities. The agreements call for the development of metrics for technology adoption that will be shared across the network, as well as active engagement with flagship manufacturers in priority sectors identified by each center.

The competition was open to all eligible parties, including those that had previously operated centers. New awardees were selected in Louisiana, Missouri and Ohio, while the remaining new center awards were made to incumbent organizations.

The original funding opportunity called for applications from 13 states and Puerto Rico; however, no selections were made for centers in Alaska or California. NIST plans to accept applications for these two states in the next competition, scheduled for early 2027, with cooperative agreements anticipated to begin on April 1, 2027.

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