MEP Centers continue to deliver consistent ROI to nation

Despite facing enormous challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, manufacturers and Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Centers continued to deliver a “consistent and significant return on investment to the nation,” in FY 2020, according to a new analysis from the W.E. Upjohn Institute. MEP Centers deliver technical assistance to primarily small- and medium-sized manufacturing establishments to help them improve their productivity and competitiveness. The research team models different scenarios to estimate the broader economic effects of the collective activities of its MEP Centers on the U.S. economy, and found that the federal investment of $146 million into MEP Centers yields a return to the Treasury of about $1.99 billion, for a return of 13.6:1 according to one estimate.

Using a conservative, firm-based scenario, MEP and its centers contributed to the addition of an estimated 252,631 jobs to what was an uneven economy. In addition, the study notes that the combined efforts added just over $39 billion in output, an additional $21 billion in gross domestic product (GDP), and more than $15 billion in personal income to the economy in FY 2020. The study also found that the percentage of those who said MEP services helped create jobs was about 5 percentage points lower in FY 2020, but other outcomes were generally consistent between FY 2019 and FY 2020.

The analysis relies on self-reported survey results of manufacturing clients who provide estimates of the effect of MEP services and activities on their establishments with respect to jobs, sales, investments and cost savings. The study is available for download here.