Grants Support Manufacturing

The Obama Administration plans to invest $26 million in grants to support regional manufacturing partnerships that aim to spur job creation. Announced on May 29, the third part of the Jobs & Innovation Accelerator Challenge is the first time that multiple federal agencies have come together to award grants focused on advanced manufacturing, which harnesses new technologies to improve manufacturing processes. The program, which involves 14 agencies, expects to award 12 grants to regional teams that can include businesses, universities, local governments, and other regional partners. NSF’s grantees from its small business programs can get extra funds if they are a partner in a winning project. This is the third round of funding through the program; previous rounds were open to jobs and innovation projects nationwide and those specifically in rural areas.