Industry can work with NIST in several ways. Companies can join research consortia, cooperative research and development agreements, or sponsor guest researchers in NIST labs. Less formal collaborations between NIST researchers and their peers in industry, academia, and other government agencies are also common. For information, visit Working with NIST.

Small manufacturers wishing to modernize, improve productivity, and increase efficiency can seek assistance through NIST's nationwide Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership program. NIST MEP and its partners assist manufacturers throughout the United States and Puerto Rico with a variety of technical and business problems.

NIST manages the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, which recognizes performance excellence and innovation among U.S. manufacturers, service companies, educational institutions, health care providers, and non-profit organizations. The Baldrige National Quality Program has given guidance to thousands of organizations seeking to improve their performance.

NIST's Technology Innovation Program (TIP) was established by the 2007 America COMPETES Act to support, promote, and accelerate innovation in the United States through high-risk, high-reward research in areas of critical national need. The merit-based competitive program can fund cost-shared R&D projects by single small-sized or medium-sized businesses and joint ventures that also may include institutions of higher education, non-profit research organizations, and national laboratories.