Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand today announced critical investments in manufacturing and job training programs that she successfully fought to secure in the final National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) passed by both the House and Senate. The NDAA will now go to the President’s desk to be signed into law.
“These critical investments in manufacturing and job training will help create more opportunities for New Yorkers to get good-paying jobs,” said Senator Gillibrand, Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee. “We have the most talented workforce in the country, along with an unparalleled entrepreneurial spirit that can launch a new wave of manufacturing companies. I was proud to fight for these programs and am pleased they will become law. I will continue to do everything in my power to make sure our entrepreneurs can start and expand their businesses and that New Yorkers have access to good-paying jobs wherever they live in our state.”
The NDAA includes critical support for small manufacturers to expand their operations and innovate to strengthen the nation’s ability to manufacture the technologies and other products needed by our men and women in uniform. Specifically, the NDAA invests in programming provided by the Manufacturing USA institutes, such as AIM Photonics, located in Upstate New York, and the nation’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) network, which has a center in each region of New York State. MEP’s statewide center, FuzeHub, helps small and mid-sized manufacturers improve their businesses to succeed and create jobs. This legislation also continues a program that Gillibrand established in the 2014 NDAA to turn more Department of Defense (DoD) research and technology development into new companies. New York University’s MD5, which is a national security technology accelerator, is an active partner in the DoD’s work to support entrepreneurs.
“This will support greater MEP engagement with the defense industrial base and give our network the capacity to magnify the technological impact of the Manufacturing USA institutes on small manufacturers’ competitiveness,” said Elena Garuc, Executive Director of FuzeHub, the Statewide New York Manufacturing Extension Partnership Center.
“NYU has been thrilled to partner with Senator Gillibrand and the Department of Defense on the further development of MD5, which successfully utilizes Brooklyn’s emerging technology and entrepreneurship sector to enhance the U.S. military’s capability and readiness needs,” said Paul Horn, Senior Vice Provost for Research, New York University.
Below is a description of Gillibrand’s manufacturing and job training programs that were passed in this year’s NDAA:
- Helps Manufacturing Companies Expand and Create Jobs: The NDAA increases capital through the Defense Production Act programs for entrepreneurs and small businesses focused on making products in the United States. Many small businesses looking to grow their manufacturing operations don’t have access to the capital they need, which can force them to move jobs overseas in order to continue growing.
- Invests in Training the Next Generation of Manufacturing Workers: The NDAA invests $9 million in training at universities across the country to help give students the skillset necessary to succeed in the high-tech manufacturing workforce. As part of this program, universities compete for grant funding that would give them the resources to specialize their programming to meet the needs of manufacturing companies throughout the U.S.
- Invests in Manufacturing Innovation: This bill directs $10 million for the “Manufacturing USA” institutes, eight of which are overseen by the DoD, and focuses on advancing manufacturing in America and training workers for high-tech, good-paying manufacturing jobs. Rochester, NY, is home to one of the eight institutes, AIM Photonics, and could benefit from this provision’s recommendation that the DoD use the institutes for research and development.
- Helps Small Manufacturers Compete: This bill provides $17.5 million for the federal Manufacturing Extension Partnership to provide small manufacturing companies with the resources and opportunities they need to get more of their products in the U.S. DoD supply chain.
- Helps Create New Companies: The NDAA directs the DoD to continue an existing successful, cost-effective public-private partnership that connects the government, universities in New York and across the country, and private companies to support entrepreneurs in launching companies and creating innovative, high-tech national security jobs in areas such as advanced manufacturing, biometrics, cyber and information security, sensors and remote sensing, and space systems for the military.