The Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), a program of the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), announced the results of its fiscal year 2021 manufacturing client survey. It also revealed the impacts of Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) funding through January 2022.
The survey is conducted annually by an independent third party to document the economic impact of services provided by MEP National Network experts.
According to the survey, for every dollar of federal investment in FY 2021, the MEP National Network generated $26.20 in new sales growth and $34.50 in new client investment.
This translates into $14.4 billion in new and retained sales for U.S. manufacturers. The network also created or retained one manufacturing job for every $1,193 of federal investment.
Almost 9,000 MEP Center manufacturing clients completed the FY 2021 survey, which shows these services helped U.S. manufacturers to create or retain 125,746 jobs and to realize:
- $5.2 billion in new client investments.
- $1.5 billion in cost savings.
CARES Act Impacts
In 2020, NIST MEP awarded a total of $50 million in federal funds authorized by Congress under the CARES Act to the MEP centers. Award amounts were determined by a formula based on each state’s population of manufacturers and ranged from $91,000 to $6.1 million.
NIST MEP was able to make the awards in record time so centers could quickly implement critically needed COVID-19-related projects.
According to CARES Act project clients surveyed, through January 2022, MEP Centers served more than 5,300 companies with more than 7,300 CARES Act-funded projects, resulting in nearly 18,000 jobs created or retained.
CARES Act funding expanded the reach of the MEP Centers, enabling them to serve more than 2,200 new manufacturing clients. Additional impacts of CARES Act funding include:
- $1.4 billion in new and retained sales.
- $480 million in new client investments.
- $175 million in total cost savings.
MEP Centers in every state are helping companies in new and different ways that include helping protect their workforce during the pandemic, finding sources of capital, stabilizing their supply chains and protecting manufacturers from cybersecurity threats.
CARES Act funding has enabled MEP Centers to provide manufacturers with additional services such as:
- Rethinking and retooling service delivery.
- Helping manufacturers pivot operations to produce personal protective equipment, medical supplies and medical devices.
- Implementing supplier databases for searching and matching.
- Tailoring services for operating in the post-pandemic environment.
