Some Good News for Michigan Manufacturers

PLYMOUTH, Mich., June 25 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Michigan's hard-hit
manufacturing sector got a big boost today, for a change. The House
Appropriations Committee marked up the Commerce, Justice, and State
appropriation bill to include $122 million in funding for the Manufacturing
Extension Partnership (MEP) program. MEP helps fund 59 centers around the
county that assist small and medium-sized manufacturers preserve and win new
orders, improve quality, and reduce cost and lead time. In Michigan, the
MEP program helps support the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center
(MMTC), which has offices in Plymouth, Grand Rapids, Flint, Saginaw,
Traverse City, and Marquette.

In recent years, the Administration has sought to defund MEP, but Congress has
insisted on supporting it, citing the fact that it is the only federal program
aimed directly at preserving onshore manufacturing. Both nationally and in
Michigan, MEP has enjoyed broad bipartisan support. For fiscal year 2009, the
President's budget proposed less than $5 million for MEP, far below the $106
million it has received in recent years. In FY 2008, MEP was funded by
Congress at $89.6 million, a 15% cut from the year before and well below the
$122 million called for in the America COMPETES Act that passed last August.

Until today, it looked as if MEP would continue to get less than full funding,
which would have meant cuts in the services available to smaller
manufacturers. But House appropriators were convinced by Michigan Cong. Joe
Knollenberg, a longtime champion of the program, to set the mark for MEP at
$122 million. "With the Senate having already marked at $110 million, this is
great news for small and medium-sized manufacturers around the nation
and here in Michigan," said Mike Coast, MMTC's president. "Now the MMTC can
deliver even more services and achieve even larger impacts," Coast
explained. A third-party survey that goes to MEP clients around the
country found that in the most recent survey year MMTC customers credited
their projects with having created or retained $100 million in sales and 956
jobs, and with reducing costs by $18.3 million.

MMTC is particularly pleased that, in his remarks to the Appropriations
Committee today, Cong. Knollenberg illustrated MEP's important work by
citing the successes of two MMTC clients, Total Door in Pontiac and
Universal Tube in Rochester Hills. According to Total Door's general manager,
Patricia Yulkowski, "volume is up 9.8% and we added $514,000 to the bottom
line ... It is exciting to come to work." MMTC's Coast said, "Instead of going
out of business or laying people off like so many companies in Michigan have
had to do, both Total Door and Universal Tube have improved processes, cut
costs, gone after new business, and kept their people
working." With a fully funded MEP program, Coast concluded, "we
can help even more companies do the same."

About MMTC

Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center (MMTC) provides Michigan's small to
medium size manufacturers with operational assessment, technical assistance,
training and mentoring services, and market diversification counsel. MMTC is
the Michigan affiliate of Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership through
the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Clients of the MMTC
reported during the most recent full year survey sales gains of $38.6 million,
with retention of $61.7 million in sales, investments of $30 million, cost
savings of $18.3 million and 956 jobs created or retained as a direct result
of their work with MMTC. Headquartered in Plymouth, the MMTC has five
affiliate offices around the state (Grand Rapids, Flint, Saginaw, Traverse
City and Marquette) to serve Michigan manufacturers. Find out more at
www.mmtc.org.

SOURCE Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center

Michael J. Coast, President, Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center (MMTC),
+1-888-414-6682, mcoast@mmtc.org