In his fifth State of the Union address, President Obama announced education and immigration reform as core issues for his second term and laid out a plan for innovation and job creation policies that would be fundamental drivers for broad-based, long-term economic growth. While acknowledging the need for entitlement reform and deficit reduction, President Obama held firm in his conviction that public investment is necessary to ensure that the United States remains an economic superpower in the 21st century.

In partnership with local manufacturing firms, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) announced that it is accepting applications for the Michigan Advanced Technician Training (MAT²) program — a pilot program for high school seniors that will combine paid work experience with an associate's degree in the field of mechatronics.

Following up on President Obama's advocacy of American manufacturing in the State of the Union address, the White House has released a document detailing the administration's manufacturing strategy. The strategy includes the formation of a new national network of Manufacturing Technology Acceleration Centers (MTACs), which will focus on moving technology into the products and processes of small- and medium-sized manufacturers. The National Institute of Standards and Technology's Manufacturing Extension Partnership program would oversee the initiative.

Americans need to rethink their view of manufacturing and the role it plays in regional economies across the country, according to a new report issued by a special Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) commission on innovation. The MIT commission found that many U.S. policymakers and citizens still view manufacturing as a small group of traditional, shrinking industries.

As the additive manufacturing (3D printing) industry rapidly matures across the country, city governments and civil society leaders are advocating for the creation of makers spaces in their communities that offer open access to 3D printing technologies. This minimal investment in community infrastructure has the potential to generate diversified sources of locally-based economic growth.

Last week the Obama administration launched a new Clean Energy Manufacturing Initiative housed within the Department of Energy. The initiative will use public-private partnerships to drive an open-source, "smart" manufacturing network that will help U.S. clean energy manufacturing firms reduce costs, increase competitiveness, and boost productivity.

Each year, SSTI provides Digest readers with a comprehensive review of technology-based economic development spending in the the president's federal budget request. The year's edition includes proposed FY14 spending on R&D, STEM education, manufacturing, broadband, small business support, technology transfer, entrepreneurship, innovation workforce initiatives and more.

The full report is available for download in pdf format (626 kb).

To encourage communities to strengthen their industrial ecosystems, the U.S. Department of Commerce has announced it will make awards to up to 25 communities to launch implementation strategies. The solicitation for the awards will be released in May, and awards of up to $200,000 each will be issued by the end of September. The awards are one part of a four–phase plan announced by Deputy Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank last week that also includes listening sessions and a proposal to award five to six communities $25 million each.

NASA, USAID, the State Department and Nike have partnered to issue an innovation challenge for inventors to develop new, sustainable materials and methods for manufacturing fabric. The winners will have their technology presented at NASA's 2013 LAUNCH System Challenge Forum in Pasadena, CA. The LAUNCH Forum is directed by a council of entrepreneurs, scientists, government, academia, and business leaders and is used by NASA to promote sustainability initiatives, including projects related to global health, renewable energy, and agriculture.

The Obama administration will commit $200 million from five federal agencies to create three new manufacturing innovation institutions in 2013. Building on the Additive Manufacturing pilot initiative launched in Youngstown, OH, last year, the Department of Defense will lead two new institutes focused on Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation and Lightweight and Modern Metals Manufacturing. A third institute, led by the Department of Energy, will focus on Next Generation Power Electronic Manufacturing. Competition for these new institutes is open immediately.

Manufacturing creates more high-value jobs than any sector in the global economy and is essential to sustainable economic growth in both the developing and developed world, according to the Manufacturing for Growth – Strategies for Driving Growth and Employment from the World Economic Forum (WEF). Written in collaboration with Deloitte LLP, the three-volume series of reports examines key trends, effective strategies and best practices related to the global manufacturing sector in three key areas:

Last week, the Obama administration announced that it would commit $200 million to establish three new manufacturing innovation institutions in 2013 (see the May 8, 2013 issue of the digest).

On Thursday, the Obama administration announced it had selected the TechBelt region, encompassing northeast Ohio, western Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia, to host the pilot institute of the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI). The new National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute (NAMII) will operate as a partnership of more than 60 companies, research universities, community colleges and nonprofit organizations from the region.

As U.S. politicians turn their eyes towards this year's election season, governments around the world continue to focus their efforts on increasing national global competitiveness. Over the past couple months, Australia, China and New Zealand have announced government initiatives to spur innovation, revitalize domestic manufacturing and support R&D.

The Department of Labor announced over $175 million in new funding for community colleges to grow and enhance their manufacturing education and training programs through partnerships with local employers. Part of the $500 million Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) initiative, the grants are intended to promote skills development and employment opportunities in advanced manufacturing.

U.S. economic policy will require a renewed focus on production and globally traded sectors in order to restore U.S. competitiveness, according to a new report from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF). Furthering the argument laid out in the recently published book Innovation Economics: The Race for Global Advantage and in last year's report "The Case for a National Manufacturing Strategy", ITIF's Stephen J. Ezell and Robert D. Atkinson present 50 recommendations for federal reform to restore the U.S.' competitive edge.

The U.S. economy is poised to create up to five million new manufacturing jobs by 2020 due to increasing demand for U.S. exports, according to new research from the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Since 2006, U.S. exports have risen by 30 percent — far outpacing the growth in gross domestic product (GDP). BCG senior partner, Harold L. Sirkin, projects that the demand for U.S. exports will continue to grow, leading to an American Manufacturing renaissance between 2015 and 2020.

Though innovation and entrepreneurship was notably absent from Wednesday's presidential debate on domestic policy, presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Barack Obama have acknowledged the importance of technological innovation in stimulating the economy and bolstering U.S. competitive capabilities in the global economy.

The White House announced the Make it in America Challenge, a $40 million multi-agency initiative to help regions across the country provide the critical infrastructure, strategic planning, capacity building, technical assistance and workforce development resources necessary to foster insourcing by U.S. firms. Led by the Economic Development Administration, an interagency panel will make up to 16 awards to projects that encourage businesses to bring production back to or expand their operations in the United States.

The Obama administration announced winners of the Advanced Manufacturing Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge on Tuesday. The challenge — publicized earlier this year — is one of the key initiatives of the interagency Taskforce for the Advancement of Regional Innovation Clusters and is sponsored by a partnership between the U.S. Department of Commerce, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Departments of Energy and Labor, and the Small Business Administration.

Manufacturers across the nation celebrated National Manufacturing Day on Friday and the topic on many people's minds was reshoring.

The Air Force Research Laboratory announced that it will commit up to $2.2 million, plus up to an additional $2.2 million in matching funds collected by the recipient organization, to establish a National Nano-Bio Manufacturing Institute for Defense Aerospace, a virtual public-private partnership to spur collaborate research in industrially-relevant nano-bio manufacturing technologies and establish developmental roadmaps for the aerospace manufacturing community. Existing or near-established nonprofit organizations, including institutions of higher education, are eligible to apply.

The answer may not be clear, but both sides can agree the U.S. skills gap will continue to deepen if changes do not occur. In the U.S. manufacturing sector, the skills gap may be less pervasive than many believe, according to a report from the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). BCG researchers estimate the U.S. is short 80,000 to 100,000 highly skilled manufacturing workers.

In the aftermath of an election cycle in which manufacturing emerged as a key point of contention in many races, several groups are taking stock of the state of U.S. manufacturing competitiveness. The 2012 edition of the Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index, based on a survey of senior manufacturing executives, projects that the U.S. will fall from third most competitive nation to fifth over the next five years. In order to stave off declining competitiveness, authors of a McKinsey Global Institute report suggest that manufacturing be viewed as a critical driver of U.S.

A new report released by Deloitte on "U.S. Public Opinions on Manufacturing" reveals that a strong majority of Americans consider manufacturing to be the most important industry in the country. But while nearly two-thirds of Americans (64 percent) believe our manufacturing industry can be globally competitive in the 21st century, most Americans (46 percent) see the manufacturing sector getting weaker or at best staying the same (32 percent).