GENEDGE Receives $2 Million in Federal Funding to Support Smart Manufacturing at Small and Medium-Sized Facilities

Funding Will Support State Efforts to Improve Manufacturing Processes to Create New Good-Paying Jobs, Cut Costs, and Combat the Climate Crisis

MARTINSVILLE, VA, USA, September 29, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ -- GENEDGE, Virginia’s best public resource to help existing manufacturing and industry innovate, compete, and grow, will receive $2,000,000 from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), funded by the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The announcement was made on September 27, 2023, by the Biden-Harris Administration, of $22 Million to Support Smart Manufacturing at Small- and Medium-sized Facilities Across the Nation.

“America’s manufacturing sector is the backbone of our nation’s economy, and President Biden is laser-focused on ensuring this industry—and the workforce it supports—prospers well into the 21st Century,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm, in the official press release.

This significant funding will be used by GENEDGE to accelerate deployment of smart manufacturing technologies (SMT) with Small and Medium Manufacturers (SMMs) in Virginia. The Virginia SMART Manufacturing Accelerator (VSMA)s program, led by GENEDGE Alliance, Virginia’s NIST MEP Center, will accelerate deployment of smart manufacturing technologies with SMMs in Virginia, to digitally connect and manage manufacturing systems in their facilities and supply chains to work together continuously, and to democratize the use of Commonwealth high-performance computing (HPC) assets to enable SMMs to utilize modeling, simulation, and big data. The HPC will enable SMMs to obtain better capital return on investment using digital twin simulation-based decision making, improve manufacturing line performance, increase energy efficiency, cut emissions, and design and deliver more sustainable products.

GENEDGE Executive Director Bill Donohue said “We are so pleased to have had the support of the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of Labor that enabled the Governor’s office to select GENEDGE as the lead for this effort. Without the support of each partner, we could not have made this happen.”

Through workshops, webinars, smart manufacturing assessments, and technology implementation, GENEDGE will collaborate with a range of local community organizations, academic institutions, and technical partners to support over 200 SMMs during the project.

Key partners for this initiative include Virginia Tech, the Virginia Department of Small Business & Supplier Diversity, Virginia Department of Labor & Industry, DHCD - Go Virginia Economic Development, Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia State University, Old Dominion University – Maritime Industrial Base Ecosystem, the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing, and the Virginia Community College System.

For inquiries, please contact GENEDGE Executive Director Bill Donohue at bdonohue@genedge.org.

Jeanette Stevens - Cunningham
GENEDGE Alliance
+1 804-613-8677
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