NIST Awards $500,000 to the MEP Center in New York

The U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) has made one cooperative agreement award totaling $500,000 as part of its 2021-NIST-MEP-CAP-01 Notice of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs). This funding opportunity is available for MEP Centers to add capabilities to the MEP program including developing projects to solve new or emerging manufacturing problems that are not already provided for under a Center’s base MEP award. Project themes for these awards include Industry/Manufacturing 4.0; manufacturing workforce services to include employee recruitment, retention and employee development; supply chain management and resiliency; and artificial intelligence application.

New York State Department of Economic Development/Empire State Development Division of Science, Technology & Innovation (NYSTAR/NYMEP)
NYSTAR/NYMEP, the NIST-designated MEP Center in New York, will continue and further the work of the MEP National Advanced Tech Team and meet the increasing demand for assistance with MEP advanced manufacturing projects from across the country. The MEP Advanced Tech Team assists MEP Centers (particularly field staff) when their client(s) ask for advanced manufacturing expertise that exceeds current service offerings. The Team coordinates with and works through the Centers to deliver value to small and medium sized manufacturers (SMMs) by facilitating advanced manufacturing relationships to address challenges and drive SMM growth. By connecting SMMs to resources at Manufacturing USA, Federal Labs, and other institutions; the MEP Advanced Manufacturing Team can anchor MEP’s position as trusted advisor for the current wave of technological change. NYMEP will partner with the MEP Center in Tennessee and (through a New York-managed contractor) with the MEP Center in Washington state to expand the project’s reach and impacts. The project period of performance is 10/1/2022 to 9/30/2023 totaling $500,000 in federal funds.