Government Pumps $20 Million into Manufacturing

Yesterday, President Obama’s administration announced grant-winning partnerships designed to “support local efforts to spur job creation, including initiatives that connect innovative small suppliers with large companies, link research with the start-ups that can commercialize new ideas, and train workers.”

Specifically, The Taskforce for the Advancement of Regional Innovation Clusters picked a third round of winners in the Advanced Manufacturing Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge. But they’re getting money, so they probably don’t mind silly names.

The 10 winners are in nine states. New York and Pennsylvania each got two, while Washington and Oregon shared one…

• Arizona: Growing the Southern Arizona Aerospace and Defense Region, a project of the Arizona Commerce Authority. ($1,817,000)
• California: Advanced Manufacturing Medical/Biosciences Pipeline for Economic Development (AM2PED), a project of Contra Costa County, Manex, the University of California-Berkley, Laney College, and the Northern California Small Business Development Center at Humboldt State University. ($2,190,779)
• Michigan: Innovation Realization: Building and Supporting an Advanced Contract Manufacturing Cluster in Southeast Michigan, a project of the Southeast Michigan Community Alliance, the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center, the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences, and Detroit Regional Chamber Foundation. ($2,191,962)
• New York: A Proposal to Accelerate Innovations in Advanced Manufacturing of Thermal and Environmental Control Systems, a project of Syracuse University, NYSTAR, the State University of New York’s College of Environmental Science and Forestry, and Onondaga Community College. ($1,889,890)
• New York: Rochester Regional Optics, Photonics, and Imaging Accelerator, a project of the University of Rochester, NYSTAR, and High Tech Rochester Inc. ($1,889,936)
• Oklahoma: Manufacturing Improvement Program for the Oil and Gas Industry Supply Chain and Marketing Cluster, a project of the Oklahoma Manufacturing Alliance, the New Product Development Center at Oklahoma State University, the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, the Center for International Trade and Development at Oklahoma State University, and the Oklahoma Application Engineer Program. ($1,941,999)
• Pennsylvania: Agile Electro-Mechanical Product Accelerator, a project of Innovation Works, the Catalyst Connection, the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining, and the Westmoreland/Fayette Workforce Investment Board. ($1,862,150)
• Pennsylvania: Greater Philadelphia Advanced Manufacturing Innovation and Skills Accelerator, a project of the Delaware Valley Industrial Resource Center. ($1,892,000)
• Tennessee: AMP! — the Advanced Manufacturing and Prototyping Center of East Tennessee, a project of Technology 2020, the Tennessee Manufacturing Extension Partnership, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Pellissippi State Community College, and the University of Tennessee. ($2,391,778)
• Washington and Oregon: Innovations in Advanced Materials and Metals, a project of the Columbia River Economic Development Council, Impact Washington, Southwest Washington Workforce Development Council, and the Oregon Microenterprise Network. ($1,792,221)