Senate: $106 million for MEP

Manufacturing News, Source : The Manufacturer US
Published : 23 Dec 2005 14:57

GOVERNMENT: MEP gets more money for manufacturers

The US Senate approved H.R. 2862 in November, through which the NIST Manu-facturing Extension Partnership will receive $106 million in federal funding for fiscal year 2006. The legislation provides the same amount of funding, but represents a significant increase above the Bush administration-proposed $46.8 million.

The Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) is a network of 59 centers, with nearly 400 locations across the country and in Puerto Rico, providing technical assistance and business support services to America’s small manu-facturers. The public/private program, which serves roughly 14,000 businesses annually, has helped manufacturers create or retain more than 50,000 jobs, create or retain over $4.1 billion in sales, generate more than $686 million in cost savings, and invest more than $912 million in modernization in fiscal year 2003 alone.

“The fiscal year 2006 appropriation will allow the NIST MEP program to continue to serve the thousands of the nation’s manufacturers that contribute to maintaining and improving this nation’s economic vitality,” said Mike Coast, chairman of the American Small Manufacturers Coalition and president of the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center, the Michigan NIST MEP affiliate. “ASMC and its members greatly appreciate the tremendous Congressional support for the MEP program and hope that together, ASMC, MEP and Congress can work to restore and enhance the US-based manufacturing community in the future.” The American Small Manu-facturers Coalition, the trade association of NIST MEP Centers, has advocated for Congressional support of the program through its members and manufacturing clients.

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