“I commend President Obama's announcement today of a new National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI) institute. These institutes are designed to foster pre-competitive collaboration among manufacturers, academics and non-profits in cutting-edge technologies. Such innovation is exactly what we need to maintain America's global competitiveness, grow our economy, and create jobs."
Following a successful NNMI pilot institute in Youngstown, Ohio, President Obama announced the launch of competitions to create three new manufacturing innovation institutes in May 2013 with a federal commitment of $200 million across five federal agencies – Commerce, Defense, Energy, NASA, and the National Science Foundation. The President has also called for building out the initial network of 15 manufacturing innovation institutes to 45 over the next 10 years.