MEP Announces Recompetition of 13 MEP Centers, Regional Forums for Next Round

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced a recompetition of Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) centers in 12 states and Puerto Rico including: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Utah, and Vermont. The objective of the MEP Center program is to provide business and technical services to small- and medium-sized manufacturers within the state of operation.

These cooperative agreement awards will provide half of each center's first-year operating funds, which the centers must match with funding from nonfederal sources. MEP anticipates awarding a total of nearly $39 million for up to 13 centers in these locations. For interested parties, NIST will host information webinars some time in February with dates for those webinars are still to be determined. Applications are due April 25, 2016. More information is available at: https://www.federalregister.gov/agencies/national-institute-of-standards-and-technology.

MEP announced it will host another round of cooperative agreements for the recompetition of MEP Centers in 11 states in July of 2016. State MEP Centers eligible for recompetition include: Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, New Mexico, Nevada, North Dakota, South Carolina, and Wyoming. To assist potential applicants for the fourth round of recompetition, MEP will conduct three regional forums to provide interested entities more information about the MEP program, the state competition, answer any questions regarding this funding announcement and also offer potential applicants the chance to sign up for a one-on-one meeting with NIST MEP representatives. The three regional forms include:

• Washington, DC – May 13, 2016;
• Denver, CO – May 24, 2016; and,
• Chicago, IL – June 7, 2016.

To register for one or more of the regional forums, email mepffo@nist.gov. For more information on the Regional Forums: http://nist.gov/mep/ffo-regional-forum-state-competitions-04.cfm.