Federal Announcements

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration is awarding a $2.5 million grant to North Baldwin Utilities in Bay Minette, Alabama, for water infrastructure upgrades to support a new aluminum manufacturing facility and create jobs in the region.

The Clean Energy Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute (CESMII), part of the Manufacturing USA network, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NIST MEP) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) aimed at strengthening the competitiveness of U.S. manufacturers.

The U.S. Department of Commerce and the Semiconductor Research Corporation Manufacturing Consortium Corporation (SRC) are entering negotiations for the Department to provide SRC $285 million to establish and operate a Manufacturing USA institute headquartered in Durham, North Carolina. The new institute, known as SMART USA (Semiconductor Manufacturing and Advanced Research with Twins USA) will focus on efforts to develop, validate, and use digital twins.

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration awarded a $600,000 grant to the Maui Economic Development Board, Inc., in Kīhei, Hawaii, to support advanced manufacturing and increased economic capacity. This grant will support an assessment of the existing advanced manufacturing infrastructure in Maui, the creation of workforce development programs, the promotion of technological innovation, and job creation. This EDA investment will be matched with $150,000 in local funds

The United States and the U.S. Department of Defense, with the help of its industry and academia partners, strive to remain the leader in chip research and design, prototyping, manufacturing and production at scale. Leading this charge is the Microelectronics Commons, which has over 1,200 member organizations, having more than tripled in size, in just 12 months.

For small businesses that may not be able to meet cybersecurity requirements on their own, the Army is planning to launch a pilot program called the Next-Generation Commercial Operations in Defended Enclaves, or NCODE, which essentially provides a cyber-secure enclave in a secure environment for small businesses to participate in where they can collaborate, share information, and do their own work.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced the expansion of SBA’s Regional Innovation Cluster network with 14 new awards. These awards aim to enhance the reach and impact of the SBA’s support for innovative small businesses and entrepreneurial support organizations across the country. Awardees will serve as hubs for local economies in biotech, cybersecurity, smart manufacturing, and agriculture.

The Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration is investing $9 million in the state of Kentucky to boost the automotive manufacturing sector and promote small business development in the region.

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration is awarding a $2 million grant to the city of West Lafayette, Indiana, for wastewater treatment infrastructure improvements to support semiconductor manufacturing in the region.

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) is awarding a $3.6 million grant to the city of Harbor Beach, Michigan, for water infrastructure improvements to boost manufacturing growth in the region. This grant will construct a higher capacity watermain to serve the regional water system and large industrial users in a region affected by the declining use of coal.