Programs

The Department of Commerce’s mission is to create the conditions for economic growth and opportunity for all communities. Through its 13 bureaus, the Department works to drive U.S. economic competitiveness, strengthen domestic industry, and spur the growth of quality jobs in all communities across the country. The Department serves as the voice of business in the Federal Government, and at the same time, the Department touches and serves every American every day.

 The Department hosts the Advanced Manufacturing National Program Office at NIST, an interagency team with participation from federal agencies that oversees the planning, management, and coordination of the Manufacturing USA Program. By supporting public-private partnerships, the Department helps to accelerate technology development and commercialization, and strengthen the Nation’s position in the global competition for new products, new markets, and new jobs.

The Department of Defense (DoD) requires a mechanism for shaping and developing the domestic design and manufacturing industrial base in support of national security needs. The Manufacturing Technology (ManTech) Program was established in 1956 to advance the maturity of manufacturing processes in order to bridge the gap from research and development to full-scale production and aid in the economical and timely acquisition of weapon systems and components.

The DoD Manufacturing Innovation Institutes, a key investment strategy for the DoD and ManTech program, are designed to overcome many of these challenges by advancing manufacturing innovation for specific, focused technology area manufacturing ecosystems.

The Department of Education (DoEd) supports education at all levels with across-the-board relevance to the knowledge and skill needs of the economy. Programs and initiatives focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields, which are especially important in building the technically skilled workforce needed by the advanced manufacturing industry. Most significantly, DoEd administers funds that support career and technical education programs in local education agencies and community colleges across the nation. Further, DoEd conducts leadership and technical assistance activities to promote quality career and technical education programs that are well articulated between secondary and postsecondary levels, and lead to successful careers. A particular focus for leadership and assistance programs is on advanced manufacturing, and DoEd is supporting federal efforts to revive this sector through its support for the technical skills agenda.

The Department of Labor's mission is to foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers, and retirees of the United States; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for profitable employment; and assure work-related benefits and rights. In alignment with its mission, the Department of Labor administers several grant programs that seek to increase the number of skilled workers in the high-demand manufacturing field.

MEP is a public-private partnership with Centers in all 50 states and Puerto Rico dedicated to serving small and medium-sized manufacturers.  Through its collaborations at the federal, state, and local level, MEP Centers work with manufacturers to develop new products and customers, expand and diversify markets, adopt new technology, and enhance value within supply chains. The MEP Program serves as a bridge to other organizations and federal research labs that share a passion for enhancing the manufacturing community.

Manufacturing USA® was created in 2014 to secure U.S. global leadership in advanced manufacturing by connecting people, ideas, and technology. Manufacturing USA institutes convene business competitors, academic institutions, and other stakeholders to test applications of new technology, create new products, reduce cost and risk, and enable the manufacturing workforce with the skills of the future.