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.