WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) announced that the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has awarded $5,246,822 to the State of Ohio, Development Services Agency to operate the Ohio Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Center in Columbus.
“Manufacturers are the backbone of Ohio’s economy,” said Brown. “The MEP program helps ensure that American workers and businesses can successfully out-compete and out-innovate the rest of the world.”
Brown has been a strong supporter of the MEP, which provides approximately $5 million a year to Ohio’s seven MEP centers. These centers help small and medium-sized manufacturers increase sales and achieve cost-savings.
This project is funded under the Ohio Manufacturing Extension Partnership Program, through which NIST will award funds in an effort to advance the competitiveness of U.S. manufacturers by providing a wide range of services to small and medium-sized manufacturers through five-year funding agreements that support Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Centers.