The U.S. Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology awarded more than $30 million to 12 manufacturing extension centers across 11 states and Puerto Rico to help small and medium-sized manufacturers adopt advanced technology, NIST said.
The competitively awarded funding will support Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) centers in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Utah, and Vermont. The grants will help manufacturers increase adoption of advanced technologies including artificial intelligence, robotics, automation, and additive manufacturing, according to NIST.
Arvind Raman, Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director, said in a statement: "This funding will help to ensure that our country's small and medium-sized manufacturers increase their industrial competitiveness through advanced technology. These MEP centers can help drive successful technology adoption at scale and support critical long-term partnerships that will strengthen domestic supply chains around key industry sectors."