Editor's Note: This story was updated at 10:10 a.m. on Dec. 12 to reflect confirmation the NH MEP recieved that it will be getting its funding.
Since last summer, the NH Manufacturing Extension Parnership (NH-MEP) has been relying on promises of funding. But promises won’t keep the services flowing for the 1,700 small and medium-sized manufacturers with whom the NH-MEP works.
The organization has gone from a staff of more than six to just three in the past few months.
However, hope is on the horizon. On Dec. 10, NH-MEP received word it had received its grant funding. “I signed all the documents, and they are now in process,” Fernandez says. “We received notice back that funds should be available to draw down next week. Once received we can start the rehiring process.”
Last April, $175 million in funding for Manufacturing Extension Partnership centers nationwide was frozen in a temporary administrative shutdown before being restored under congressional pressure. In June, NH’s congressional delegation announced that NH-MEP would receive $925,000.
That restored funding, Fernandez told Business NH Magazine at the time, would help maintain NH-MEPs six staff members and allow work to continue with the state’s manufactures.
However, it has taken months for that funding to comer through and NH MEP was forced to reduce its staff. “We’re a three-person crew at this point,” Fernandez says. “We are just making connections and supporting the supply chain at this point.”
The 51 MEPs across the country are administered by the National Science and Technology Institute (NIST), a federal science and research agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce. Fernandez says NH-MEP’s Federal team continues to reach out to NIST. “They seem to indicate it’s going to happen soon, but it still has not. We are all frustrated,” Fernandez says.
NH-MEP, established in 1994, is part of the MEP National Network, which has worked with more than 150,000 manufacturers since 1988, generating nearly $150 billion in sales, creating or retaining more than 1.6 million jobs, and saving firms nearly $31.6 billion, according to the network.
NH MEP leverages an array of public and private resources and services to assist manufacturers. According to a survey in FY 2024, NH MEP’s assistance helped clients generate $5.2 million in increased or retained sales, retain 48 jobs, secure $2.4 million worth of investments, and save $515,000 in costs.