Manufacturing Extension Partnerships Regain Funding, for Now

The Trump administration is restoring funding to Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) programs that it canceled at the beginning of this month, reversing a decision that drew widespread condemnation from the manufacturing community.

At the end of March, funding for 10 state MEP initiatives expired, and the government’s controlling agency, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, chose not to renew them, a move that took those state agencies and national groups by surprise. Other MEP leaders said they believed the March funding cuts were only the first and that all MEP programs would lose funding as their contracts expired.

Today (April 18), a spokesman said, “After further review and consideration, NIST has determined it will renew the funding for these 10 centers through the end of the fiscal year as NIST and the Department continue to evaluate plans for the program.”

See the longer story on our sister publication IndustryWeek.