Trump Eliminates Funding to 10 Manufacturing Extension Partnerships

A previous, nonpartisan effort to make American manufacturing great again (that in lower case) apparently is being phased out, as the Trump administration on April 1 did not renew contracts providing federal support for 10 Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) programs.

The cancellation of funding to MEPs in Delaware, Mississippi, Hawaii, Nevada, Iowa, New Mexico, Kansas, North Dakota, Maine and Wyoming appears to be start of the elimination of the entire program, which focused on improving the manufacturing competitiveness of smaller companies.

There are MEPs in all 50 states and Puerto Rico, with groups of them having renewal dates coming in July and October this year and January and March of 2026. So, within a year, the entire network could be defunded.

“There are a lot of challenges right now in manufacturing,” says Rebecca Singer, CEO of Ohio’s CIFT, formerly standing for Center for Innovative Food Technology, part of that state’s MEP network. “Challenges in workforce retention and training, automating, efficiency, and now tariffs. Supply chains are being impacted. It’s a really critical time for the manufacturing sector, not just the food industry. This will have an impact.

“CIFT focuses on food, but not just automation. We’re concerned with training people who can assure food safety and quality and accommodate the new challenges in the supply chain.”

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) administers Dept. of Commerce funds to MEP programs. “The MEP National Network enables U.S. manufacturers to strengthen their competitiveness,” says the NIST website. “Since 1988, the MEP National Network has worked with thousands of manufacturers, leading to an estimated $152.2 billion in new sales and $34.2 billion in cost savings, and has helped create and retain over 1.7 million jobs.”

While there was no formal announcement from Commerce nor NIST about the future of the program, a NIST spokesman told IndustryWeek, our sister publication, “The Dept. of Commerce is evaluating how it can best use the resources provided by Congress to most effectively advance U.S. manufacturing capabilities in alignment with statute and the president’s priorities for U.S. leadership in critical and emerging technologies.”

The federal government provides up to half of the funding that MEPs spend, with the rest coming from states and local governments and sponsors (non-profits and often large manufacturing corporations). Companies that use MEP services also pay a portion of the costs.

It hearkens back to a previous trade war. At the height of the U.S. trade war with Japan in the 1980s, Congress established MEP to advise small American manufacturers on how to survive and grow in that uniquely difficult environment, according to a story in Wired. All of the centers have success stories of the businesses they’ve helped.

In Ohio, Willy’s Fresh Salsa scaled up its recipe and learned how to manufacture its salsa in CIFT’s cooperative kitchen in Bowling Green. Sales grew enough the company built its own plant, but CIFT support did not end there. When the plant opened, “We helped train their people,” says Singer. Now Willy’s salsas are available in all 50 states.

Shelby Joes’ jarred sloppy joe sauce was a favorite among fans in Ohio, but the family-run company wanted to increase both its digital presence and branding to expand its reach to a broader audience. CIFT helped it through a digital transformation that included a new website and ecommerce capability.

CIFT helped Spangler Candy Co., maker of Dum-Dums lollipops and Sweethearts, perform an assessment of its cybersecurity preparedness and develop a response plan. For Gold Star Chili, CIFT provided a suite of services that made more efficient use of their ingredients, improved the supply chain and unlocked manufacturing efficiencies. The assistance saved $500,000 and meant the retention of four employees.

Back on the national front, David Vasko, a retired Rockwell Automation executive and a member of NIST's MEP Advisory Board, told IndustryWeek he and other board members did not receive any advanced warning about the cuts, learning about them only after contract cancellations.

“We’re making this huge push to reshore things to scale up businesses here, and the instrument that we have that's been so successful doing that has been the MEPs,” he said. “They’ve really helped the small and medium manufacturers to go up to the next level.”

Congressional Democrats blasted the decision to defund MEPs, saying the president doesn’t have the authority to rescind funding that Congress had already appropriated. Similar funding fights are taking place throughout the government as Trump’s Dept. of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, slashes contracts and federal spending.

“With these closures, President Trump is packing up our manufacturing jobs and sending them to China,” said a joint statement by Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-California), Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Michigan) and Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Delaware). “The NIST MEP program has had bipartisan support for decades. This network empowers small and medium manufacturers in every single state.”

“Ironically, this news broke just as President Trump was announcing global tariffs to bring manufacturing back to America,” Ethan Karp, a regular IndustryWeek contributor and president/CEO of Cleveland-area MEP Magnet, wrote on LinkedIn. “The problem is, for this to happen manufacturers need to scale up with automation and technology. The MEP program is the key national program designed to help them do this. Cutting MEP now is like building a runway and then grounding the planes.”