Federal Announcements

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the selection of Arizona State University to lead the seventh Clean Energy Manufacturing Innovation Institute. EPIXC will mobilize a coalition of private companies, National Labs, universities, labor unions, and community partners and will allocate up to $70 million in federal funding over the next five years* for research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) projects to electrify process heating and decarbonize the industrial sector.

In celebration of National Small Business Week and in recognition of the critical role that small manufacturing businesses play in the economy, the White House released a report detailing how the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda is providing critical support for small businesses in manufacturing industries, including through the State Small Business Credit Initiative.

The U.S. Department of Energy announced $52 million for 19 selected projects, including $10 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, to strengthen America’s domestic solar supply chain, and $30 million in funding for technologies that will help integrate solar energy into the grid. The research, development, and demonstration projects aim to enhance domestic solar manufacturing, support the recycling of solar panels, and develop new American-made solar technologies.

As part of President Biden’s Investing in America the U.S. Department of Energy, today announced a $250 million funding opportunity to accelerate electric heat pump manufacturing in America. This is the first funding opportunity announcement stemming from DOE’s new authorization, invoked by President Biden last summer, to utilize the Defense Production Act (DPA) to increase domestic production of five key clean energy technologies, including electric heat pumps.

HHS is announcing the “HHS Bridge Access Program For COVID-19 Vaccines and Treatments Program’ to maintain broad access to COVID-19 vaccines for millions of uninsured Americans. The program will create a unique $1.1 billion public-private partnership to help maintain uninsured individuals’ access to COVID-19 care at their local pharmacies, through existing public health infrastructure, and at their local health centers.

The National Center for Defense of Manufacturing and Machining and America Makes announced a new directed project call funded by the Air Force Research Laboratory worth a total of $3.2M. The objective of the Delta Qual project call is to establish a qualified AM process, rapidly and affordably, allowing for changes in key AM process, post-processing, and/or material feedstock variables while efficiently validating a qualified AM material through statistical analysis.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced five competitively selected higher education institutions to serve as Centers of Excellence for DOE’s Industrial Assessment Centers (IAC) Program and will receive a combined $18.7 million in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Over more than four decades, the IAC Program has provided more than 20,000 assessments at small- and medium-sized manufacturers (SMMs), which comprise more than 90% of the nation’s manufacturing base.

The U.S. Department of Energy announced $50 million in funding from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for states to ensure that smart manufacturing technologies and high-performance computing are more accessible by domestic manufacturing firms. The State Manufacturing Leadership Program aims to remove existing barriers that prevent innovative, data-driven tools and technologies from being used by small- and medium-sized manufacturers.

The Department of Defense released its Biomanufacturing Strategy, a document that will guide research efforts, industry partnerships, and relationships with allies in a rapidly developing technology field with significant implications for national security and economic competitiveness.

President Biden signed an Executive Order (E.O.) to advance biotechnology and biomanufacturing innovation for a sustainable, safe, and secure American bioeconomy. Today’s announcements in response to the President’s E.O. will help strengthen America’s bioeconomy, rebuild our supply chains here at home, and support the nation’s innovation ecosystem. They will also help ensure we can make in the United States all that we invent in the United States.