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The Department of Defense recently awarded six Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program (DMCSP) grants totaling approximately $30 million from the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation (OLDCC). The DMCSP invests long-term in critical skills, facilities, workforce development, research and development, and small business support to strengthen the national security innovation base.

The Department of Defense announced yesterday that it issued $238 million from "Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) and Science Act" funding for the establishment of eight Microelectronics Commons (Commons) regional innovation hubs. With $2 billion in funding for Fiscal Years 2023 through 2027, the Microelectronics Commons program aims to leverage these hubs to accelerate domestic hardware prototyping and "lab-to-fab" transition of semiconductor technologies. The hope is this will help mitigate supply chain risks and ultimately expedite access to the most cutting-edge microchips for U.S. troops.

The Department of Defense (DOD) receives about $95 billion annually to support research and development efforts. But some members of Congress feared that requesting and allocating those funds took too long. It usually takes two years, which hinders response to evolving threats. The Senate addressed this issue in the Senate Report on the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022, calling for the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to review DOD research funding flexibilities. GAO reports that service officials responsible for R&D efforts were not familiar with all of the flexibilities available to them.

The U.S. Department of Defense’s Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation (OLDCC) recently announced the six winners under the Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program (DMCSP), with funding of approximately $30 million. Each organization received close to $5 million for long-term investments in critical skills, facilities, workforce development, R&D, and more with the goal of strengthening the national security innovation base. The six awards are listed below, while more information can be found on the OLDCC’s website.

On Tuesday, the Senate passed a bill to extend the SBIR, STTR and related pilot programs through Sept. 30, 2025. The House is expected to act on the legislation next week, just ahead of the current expiration at the end of this month. In addition to reauthorizing the programs, the legislation makes changes to performance standards for companies with numerous awards, foreign risk management, topic solicitations, and requires several new reports by SBA and the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

In response to an executive order signed last year by President Biden to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in the federal workforce, many federal organizations are evaluating the resources and opportunities available to minority groups. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) are taking steps to grow strong relationships with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) to provide more opportunities for students and faculty members and promote diversity in the federal workforce.

The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) National Defense Education Program is seeking to strategically fund science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education at 2-year institutions and community colleges through a consortium approach. DoD is planning five awards ranging between $5 million to $11 million with an aim to enhance the STEM workforce through regional consortia that will develop and encourage STEM ecosystems between 2-year institutions and/or community colleges and 4-year institutions, industry, local education agencies, and others in STEM education.

The Department of Defense is seeking comments and information on President Biden’s Executive Order, “America’s Supply Chains,” which directs several federal agency actions to secure and strengthen the country’s supply chains. The U.S. Department of Commerce is also seeking public input on a licensing or other pre-clearance process for entities engaging in certain information and communications technology and services transactions (ICTS Transactions).

Each year more than half of the discretionary portion of the federal budget is spent by the Department of Defense (DOD). In FY 2019, the DOD figure is estimated to be $712.5 billion and 77 percent of it was spent in the 50 states and District of Columbus, based on a new report from the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation (OLDCC) — formerly the Office of Economic Adjustment. The report outlines those DoD personnel and contractual expenditures in each state for the year. The nature and importance of defense spending varies widely by state, as the following SSTI chart and the original DOD report reveal.

Six organizations — including SSTI members Catalyst Connection and the Ohio Development Services Agency — have been designated to lead the new defense manufacturing community consortia. The Office of Economic Adjustment (OEA) has announce that these organizations are now eligible to enter the next phase of development and submit their requests for technical assistance, grants, and other support services. The Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program (DMCSP) was authorized in the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act as a new program offered by OEA. It is designed to make long-term investments in critical skills, facilities, research and development, and small business support in order to strengthen the national security innovation base by designating and supporting consortiums as defense manufacturing communities. Click here to view the list of designees and the fields/industries they intend to develop in their communities.