Efforts to Accelerate Manufacturer Growth and Job Creation Yield Dynamic Return to Treasury, Community and Families

An April, 2018 analysis by the W.E. Upjohn Institute concluded that the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Program generates an economic and financial return of more than 14:1 on the $128 million annually invested by the federal government.

The Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Program is an initiative of the U.S. Department of Commerce that enables authorized MEP affiliate organizations to provide technical and consultative services to small and mid-sized manufacturers. The Northeastern Pennsylvania Industrial Resource Center (NEPIRC) is the MEP affiliate serving the greater northeastern and northern tier of Pennsylvania communities, which is home to more than 1,000 industrial firms that collectively employ over 46,000 local workers.

By compiling responses from more than 7,200 MEP client surveys, the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research study found that MEP Program economic returns surpassed those reported in similar analyses in prior years. During the 2017 federal fiscal year, companies that utilized MEP Program services attributed $12.6 billion of additional revenue and $1.7 billion of cost savings to their MEP affiliate engagements. They also reported that, as direct results of working with their local MEP, they invested $3.5 billion in new technology, expansion and modernization and were able to create and retain a total of 100,721 manufacturing jobs. Across the same 12-month time period, NEPIRC clients included in the survey process credited their engagements with the realization of $213.8 million of additional revenue, $10.8 million in cost savings and 1,881 new and retained manufacturing jobs.

Through application of internationally-recognized REMI® economic modeling, the Institute asserted that the MEP Program generated a 2017 return of more than 14:1 to the U.S. Treasury by directly or indirectly impacting 219,000 domestic jobs, increasing personal income by $13.76 billion, expanding manufacturer production (or Gross Domestic Product) by $22.01 billion and generating at least $1.86 billion of incremental personal tax revenue.
“This third-party validation of the dynamic impacts the MEP Program has upon manufacturing growth, productivity and employment, and the independent confirmation of the impressive way in which NEPIRC contributes to those national results, goes a long way in shoring up the resources we need to continue to offer services to the often-overlooked small and mid-sized manufacturing community we serve. This report also proves out that our clients earn a quick and quantifiable return on their investment in our services,” said Eric Joseph Esoda, NEPIRC’s President & CEO.

To view the study in its entirety, click here.