Federal Announcements

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for 14 Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Centers to improve U.S. industrial competitiveness by helping small and medium-sized manufacturers adopt advanced manufacturing technologies.

The Department of War's Economic Defense Unit (EDU) in partnership with the Office of the Under Secretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment (OUSW(A&S)) announced a $25 million investment with ReElement Technologies Corp. to expand domestic refining capacity for rare earth elements and other defense-critical minerals at the company's Marion, Indiana facility. This investment will strengthen the U.S. industrial base.

The Office of Advanced Manufacturing (OAM) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has issued a notice of intent (NOI) that it will announce a competition for Manufacturing USA Institutes to develop roadmaps for transitioning technologies to market.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) has issued notice that it will announce a competitive pilot program for existing MEP Centers to accelerate the adoption and commercialization of advanced manufacturing technologies that enhance the competitiveness of the domestic industrial base in the critical sectors of advanced manufacturing for aerospace components, and the domestic critical minerals supply chain.

STRIDE Ventures – a joint effort between the U.S. National Science Foundation Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (NSF TIP) and the Start2 Group to rapidly fund U.S. innovation – recently launched the AI Efficiency Challenge. The challenge invites proposals that accelerate the commercial adoption of translation-ready solutions to dramatically improve the efficiency of at-scale AI/Machine Learning systems and data centers.

The DoW announced today the latest in a series of investments in the solid rocket motor industrial base: an April 20, 2026, investment of $27.3 million in DPA Title III funds to Pacific Scientific Energetic Materials Company (PacSci EMC), in Chandler, Arizona. It supports DoW's objectives to expand the munitions industrial base, bolster supply chain resiliency, and increase domestic production in strategic priority areas.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth will travel to Denver, CO, to visit True Anomaly and Sierra Space. He will also administer the oath of enlistment to the next generation of American warfighters at Buckley Space Force Base. The Arsenal of Freedom tour's call to action to revitalize America's manufacturing might is aimed at ensuring the United States dominates not only on land, sea, and air, but in the future of warfare, space.

The Department of War (DoW) announces the February 19 groundbreaking on the Munitions Campus in Bloomfield, Indiana. This public-private partnership is designed to expand domestic munitions and energetics production and strengthen the resilience of the U.S. defense industrial base. The groundbreaking is an important milestone for the Munitions Campus, for which the DoW announced in September 2023 the award of $75 million in Defense Production Act Title III funds to ACMI Federal (ACMI).

The Department of War (DoW) announced today a January 30, 2026, investment of $11.8 million in Defense Production Act (DPA) Title III funds to Umicore Optical Materials USA Inc (UOM). UOM will establish new capability in Quapaw, Oklahoma, for processing materials needed for critical optical applications.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth is continuing on the nationwide "Arsenal of Freedom" tour, a call to action to revitalize America's manufacturing might and re-energize the nation's workforce. The tour's message will emphasize that our national security and the peace of the world move at the speed of our Defense Industrial Base (DIB) and rely on the hard work of our American workforce.