Partners

MEP’s strength is in its partnerships. Rather than creating products, services, and programs from scratch, MEP works with partners to leverage resources and bring those resources to manufacturing clients. The MEP nationwide network, with its direct reach to the nation’s manufacturers, has proven to be invaluable to numerous federal government partners who utilize the network to distribute valuable, cutting-edge information and resources in areas of workforce, technology adoption, environment and energy, quality, and more.

In addition, using partnerships, MEP leverages the federal government’s investment in other programs through awareness, education, collaboration and implementation.
 
Creatively using existing resources and partnering to extend them through the MEP network to the nation’s manufacturers puts MEP in a unique position to help the nation’s manufacturers access invaluable resources that might otherwise have gone unknown and unutilized.

MEP partnerships typically focus on the following areas:

1. Manufacturing resources and opportunities: Programs in specific areas of interest, including energy and environmental protection and waste reduction, quality, and more.
2. Technology: Partnerships with federal laboratories help to distribute these technologies to companies who can put these applications to use in the marketplace.
3. Workforce: The Department of Labor and other related organizations use MEP’s reach to the manufacturing workforce to provide grants and other support in workforce development.
   
   

MEP partnerships are found in three primary arenas:

1. Federal: MEP is engaged in active partnerships with such agencies as the Department of Defense, Department of Labor, Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Commerce.
2. State: MEP partners with each state in the country and with Puerto Rico to host its local MEP-affiliated center and provide direct assistance to the manufacturers in that state. The state partners with other organizations within the state, including universities, community colleges, and economic development organizations.
3. Associations: MEP partners with many professional and trade associations---among them, the National Association of Manufacturers, the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, the Association of Machining Technologies and Wood Machinery Manufacturers of America.