For the time being, the Trump administration appears to have changed its mind about cutting Delaware’s government-funded manufacturing assistance program.
In early April, the Trump administration defunded the Delaware Manufacturing Extension Partnership, joining eleven other Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership agreements nationwide.
Congress created the Reagan-era initiative in 1988 in response to mounting worries about industrial production decreases, with the goal of bolstering manufacturing jobs.
On April 8, U.S. Representative Sarah McBride of Delaware led 86 other lawmakers in their first legislative letter to the U.S. Department of Commerce, encouraging the administration to change its direction.
In a separate letter the same week, Sens. Lisa Blunt Rochester and Chris Coons joined more than a dozen other Democrats in demanding answers on the cancelled funding.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology, a federal agency, informed Delaware of this on April 15.
The government verified that all impacted centres would receive renewed funding through the end of the fiscal year, according to McBride’s office, citing “further review and ongoing evaluation.”
Therefore, it might be put on hold until this autumn.
Ten centres in Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, and Wyoming were also informed of funding lapses, and approximately 25% of all MEPs were due for renewal this month.
McBride and National Institute of Standards & Technology data show that since its start, MEPs have collaborated with over 154,000 manufacturers to assist generate or retain over 1.6 million jobs.
Delaware saw that as a threat to a program run by Delaware Technical Community College.
In a written statement released on April 9, Lora Johnson of DelTech stated that the cooperation “plays a vital role in supporting our state’s manufacturers, and has a significant impact on our state’s economy.”
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The chair of the program’s fiduciary board and vice president of the George campus stated that the college was still evaluating the impact on its work, of which around 95% pertains to small and medium-sized Delaware manufacturers.
This network of public-private partnership centres offers “tools, training, and expertise” to small and medium-sized enterprises to enhance their staff, boost capacity, and optimise processes.
The majority of the initiatives support smaller businesses and have their roots in rural areas.
According to documents from the federal institute, Delaware’s program alone is credited for generating or keeping 423 employment in the past year, as well as increasing or keeping $34.3 million in sales, $42.5 million in new client investments, and $6.4 million in cost savings.
Digital forensics firm SUMURI, based in Magnolia, informed McBride’s team that the training helped them expand nationally and increase their revenue.
Co-founder Steve Whalen stated in a press release that “we would have imploded without support.”
