SOUTH BEND, Ind. (Feb. 9, 2023) — South Bend – Elkhart region manufacturers received $5.3 million in Manufacturing Readiness Grant funding in 2022, leading to investments totaling $47.5 million. The program, led by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC), in partnership with Conexus Indiana, awarded 186 grants statewide last year, totaling $22.7 million in grant funding, with a resulting $352.7 million in capital investments.
“Our region is a known manufacturing powerhouse with 33 percent of our regional workforce employed in the industry, generating $15.8 billion annually in regional GRP,” said Bethany Hartley, President and CEO of the South Bend – Elkhart Regional Partnership. “This industry is on the precipice of revolutionary change. We appreciate the state’s foresight in preparing Hoosier companies for new technologies and automation. These grants allow our manufacturers to continue to lead their field.”
Indiana’s investment in industry advancement equips the entire state for the economies of the future, enabling more market diversification and supply chain resiliency. Investment in companies, coupled with investment in talent development through re-skilling current workers, on-site training of future workers, and a robust and responsive higher education ecosystem make the South Bend – Elkhart region one that is poised for emerging demands for more on-shoring of production and research. In a fast-changing global environment, the Region’s adoption of new technologies and adaptation to future trends is essential to economic vitality.
Launched in 2020, the Manufacturing Readiness Grants (MRG) program was created to stimulate private sector investments to modernize Indiana’s manufacturing industry. Since then, 384 awards totaling $39 million have been awarded to companies in 69 counties, prompting proposed projects with combined budgets of $484 million.
“Thanks in part to the Manufacturing Readiness Grant program, we are making a multi-million dollar investment into our facility, adding advanced robotics and automated welding systems,” said Phil Smoker, Vice President of Sales at Smoker Craft Inc., an Elkhart County watercraft manufacturer. “The industry has seen plenty of change since my family started this business in 1921, and that change is happening faster than ever before. The Manufacturing Readiness Grants recognize the importance of the manufacturing industry to Indiana and the overwhelming need for businesses to prepare for what’s to come.”
A 2022 Impact Report by Conexus Indiana and the Dauch Center for Management of Manufacturing Enterprises at Purdue University found that the average revenue impact for companies receiving grants was $2.5 million with 37 percent anticipating additional growth of more than 10 percent. Companies also averaged five new positions added per project, with an anticipated wage growth of $196,000 on average.
“There is tremendous interest in these grants across the region,” said Tom Fuja, Notre Dame’s Interim Vice-President and Associate Provost and Dean of the Graduate School and Faculty Director of iNDustry Labs. “Forty-five businesses in the South Bend – Elkhart region received MRG grants in 2022, and iNDustry Labs is ready to help many more prepare their proposals and advance their digital transformation trajectory.”
For more information on Manufacturing Readiness Grants, click here.
To read the full news release visit the South Bend-Elkhart Regional Partnership website here.