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RFP for Policy Academy on strengthening your state’s manufacturers

May 02, 2019

NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership program is seeking participants for its second Policy Academy cohort designed to leverage manufacturing growth in your state. Funded by NIST MEP and organized by SSTI and the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness (CREC), the Policy Academy will provide participants with an opportunity to collaborate with other states to identify best practices, partnerships, and policies that will strengthen their manufacturers. The process is customized to build on existing strategies, leverage available resources, and spur creative new ideas about how to address major challenges and build on current opportunities. On May 8, the organizers held an informational conference call to discuss the Policy Academy, which may be accessed here. The downloadable RFP includes application guidelines. The deadline to submit a proposal is June 7, 2019. 

States may choose to focus on a range of issues relevant to manufacturing, including talent and skills, technology adoption and supply chain competitiveness. Selected states will participate in a robust process that will help clarify goals, build action plans, engage appropriate partners, and benefit from expertise shared by leaders in the field. The goal is to help states design or refine their approaches to leveraging opportunities for manufacturing growth. The process is expected to result in new or enhanced initiatives that advance state’s manufacturing agenda.

Up to eight states will be selected to participate in this Policy Academy. All states are eligible to participate in the Academy, except for those that participated in the first cohort (Kentucky, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and Utah) or that have gubernatorial elections in 2019 (Louisiana, Mississippi). All states are required to engage a Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Center on their proposal team.

An independent expert panel will review and recommend which states will be invited to participate in the Policy Academy. The request for proposals includes application guidelines. The deadline to submit a proposal is June 7, 2019, by 5 p.m. EDT.

manufacturing, policy, ssti