Acting Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development Matt Erskine today joined U.S. Small Business Administration Associate Administrator for Entrepreneurial Development Michael Chodos, U.S. Department of Labor Deputy Assistant Secretary of Employment and Training Gerri Fiala, National Science Foundation Division Director for Industrial Innovation and Partnerships Grace Wang, and National Institute of Standards and Technology Associate Director for Innovation and Industry Services Phil Singerman in hosting a teleconference to unveil the $26 million Advanced Manufacturing Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge, a multiagency competition to strengthen advanced manufacturing and clusters and to create jobs across the nation.
“Advanced manufacturing is critical to the health of the national economy and provides essential goods and equipment directly to consumers as well as to a wide range of industries,” said Acting Assistant Secretary Erskine. “This competition will help foster innovation-fueled job creation through public-private partnerships that catalyze and leverage private capital, build entrepreneurial ecosystems, and promote cluster-based development in regions across the United States.”
Approximately 12 projects are expected to be chosen through a competitive interagency grant process. The deadline for applications is July 9, 2012, and guidelines for submissions are accessible here.
Overall, manufacturing accounts for 70 percent of private-sector R&D and 60 percent of U.S. exports—including a record $1.3 trillion in goods exported in 2011. After a decade in which the United States lost nearly 6 million manufacturing jobs, there is now positive momentum. Over the past 25 months, manufacturers have created nearly half a million jobs—the best streak since 1995. The Jobs Accelerator Challenge is designed to assist the development and implementation of regionally-driven economic development strategies that will support advanced manufacturing and cluster development.
The Advanced Manufacturing Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge is a key component of President Obama’s plan to ensure we build products here and sell them everywhere. In June 2011, the president announced the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership and, this year, a $45 million pilot program aimed at promoting collaboration between government and industry in order to encourage innovation in manufacturing. The White House launched the Taskforce for the Advancement of Regional Innovation Clusters a few years ago to accelerate cluster growth, particularly in manufacturing.
