SBA Awards $50 Million to Technical Schools and Community Colleges in Support of Small Manufacturers
Competitive E2G Grants Target Key Areas for Reindustrialization
WASHINGTON, Aug. 05, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced it has awarded $50 million in grants to 11 organizations that will provide training and technical assistance to support small manufacturers in SBA’s Empower to Grow (E2G) Program. The Manufacturing in America E2G Grant Initiative will enable these organizations to deliver hands-on training that builds technical proficiency, helping small manufacturers in critical industries strengthen America’s industrial dominance.
“As part of the Trump SBA’s efforts to support the return to Made in America, the agency is empowering 11 technical schools to offer training for small manufacturers to accelerate our nation’s industrial comeback,” said SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler. “These new E2G manufacturing grants build on our existing programs for small manufacturers, which make up 98% of all producers in America, creating a powerful network of advisors to rebuild our industrial leadership across critical industries while supporting our national and economic security.”
Through E2G, eligible U.S. small businesses will receive a comprehensive package of free courses, practical workshops, and one-on-one advising designed to expand their operations, workforce, regulatory compliance, and competitiveness in government contracting.
The E2G Program manufacturing grant recipients are:
Fletcher Technical Community College
Geographic Scope: Southeast Louisiana shipbuilding corridor of Terrebonne, Lafourche, Assumption, St. Mary, Iberia, and St. Martin.
Total Proposed Budget: $4.99 million
Description of Training Services: Fletcher Technical Community College will provide hands-on, in-person technical bootcamps in the core shipbuilding trades of ship fitting, pipefitting, pipe welding, and marine electrical and build business-side capacity through hands-on, manufacturing-specific instruction in federal contracting, system registration, financial management, and capability development. Fletcher puts its existing manufacturing and business assets to work for the small firms that supply the region’s shipbuilding industry.
Iowa Valley Community College District (IVCCD)
Geographic Scope: Hardin, Marshall, Poweshiek and Tama Counties
Total Proposed Budget: $5 million
Description of Training Services: IVCCD will provide hands-on, in-person training and technical assistance in robotics, automation, industrial software, advanced manufacturing, welding, machine tool competencies, industrial maintenance, and related workforce pathways, and will build on training already delivered through Iowa Valley Business and Community Solutions. It will also expand capacity through the Robotics and Automation AAS program launching at Marshalltown Community College (MCC) in the Fall, and will draw on MCC’s existing Advanced Manufacturing, welding, machine tool, and electromechanical instructional foundation.
Lehigh Carbon Community College (LCCC)
Geographic Scope: Lehigh, Carbon, and Schuylkill counties in eastern Pennsylvania
Total Proposed Budget: $1.43 million
Description of Training Services: LCCC’s Customizable Mobile Training (CMT) program will provide industry-standard employee training directly to small-to-mid-sized manufacturers in Lehigh, Carbon, and Schuylkill counties in eastern Pennsylvania. By delivering customizable training in areas such as advanced manufacturing, mechatronics, electrical and mechanical systems, programmable logic controllers, electronics, smart manufacturing, and maintenance fundamentals, LCCC will improve small manufacturers’ efficiencies and productivity. Conducting training on site at manufacturers’ facilities will reduce interruptions in workflow, allow for smaller and more focused training cohorts, and ensure employees are obtaining relevant industry-recognized credentials.
Maine Community College System (MCCS)
Geographic Scope: Maine
Total Proposed Budget: $5 million
Description of Training Services: MCCS will provide existing, employer-validated Manufacturing Technician Training (MTT), Advanced Manufacturing Technician Training (AMTT), Computer Numerical Control (CNC) Precision Machining, MIG and TIG Welding, Foundations of Machining, Maritime Pipefitting and Marine Machine Mechanic, Industrial Welding, and Introduction to Quality Assurance (QA) training curricula to employees and prospective hires of E2G-eligible small manufacturers across Maine, providing hands-on instruction in fabrication, machining, welding, blueprint reading, QA and advanced manufacturing technologies. MCCS delivers hands-on manufacturing training to small businesses statewide through its colleges, the Maine Quality Center, and the Harold Alfond Center for the Advancement of Maine's Workforce.
Mott Community College
Geographic Scope: Flint and Genesse County regions of Michigan
Total Proposed Budget: $3.75 million
Description of Training Services: MCC will provide training that strengthens the operational capacity, financial viability, and contract readiness of small manufacturing businesses in the Flint/Genesee County region. This initiative accelerates professional certification in high demand fields, including welding, multi-skilled robotics, CNC machining, CDL, information technology, and public works. MCC's project will achieve the following four primary goals: modernize and optimize the shop floor operations and technical proficiencies of small manufacturers to eliminate production inefficiencies and mitigate local labor shortages; build a robust commercial and federal procurement infrastructure for participating employers, expanding their access to diversified supply chain and capital; establish replicable technical assistance model within MCC corporate services that permanently bridges the gap between small manufacturers and industry needs; strengthen the workforce of participating small manufacturers by delivering talent acquisition services and direct training pathways.
Mid-State Technical College
Geographic Scope: Central Wisconsin - Wisconsin Rapids, Stevens Point, Marshfield, Plover, Adams, and surrounding rural manufacturing communities
Total Proposed Budget: $5 million
Description of Training Services: Mid-State Technical College will provide a comprehensive portfolio of workforce development and manufacturing technical assistance services designed to strengthen both individual workforce capabilities and small business competitiveness. Training offerings are organized into five stackable certificate pathways that allow participants to build foundational manufacturing skills while advancing into specialized areas of quality management, manufacturing engineering, advanced manufacturing, supply chain development, and workforce leadership. Courses include hands-on instruction in manufacturing operations, industry-recognized certifications, environmental health and safety, quality systems, lean manufacturing, process improvement, supplier quality, advanced manufacturing technologies, workforce development systems, and program management practices.
Nassau County Board of Cooperative Educational Services
Geographic Scope: Long Island Defense Industrial Base Companies
Total Proposed Budget: $5 million
Description of Training Services: The Long Island Defense Manufacturing Resilience Initiative has two integrated components, workforce development and technical assistance. It will provide upgraded hands-on training in welding, advanced electrical, and industrial piping, delivered through modernized labs and two Festo-built mobile VR/AR training vehicles. This is a business service that supplies eligible defense industrial base firms with the skilled new hires and upskilled incumbent workers they need to grow capability and capacity.
Oregon State University
Geographic Scope: Western Oregon
Total Proposed Budget: $5 million
Description of Training Services: Through its College of Engineering and its community college partners, OSU has extensive experience providing hands-on, in-person technical assistance, tools, and training to small manufacturing businesses. OSU has the demonstrated capacity to deliver manufacturing-related training and technical assistance to small business concerns, supported by its advanced manufacturing faculty, laboratories, and federal grant-management infrastructure. Firms will receive training and assistance tied to real production and business-development needs. Workers will gain practical skills in machining, welding, additive manufacturing, inspection, robotics, smart manufacturing, lean manufacturing, energy efficiency, quality systems, and federal contracts.
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Geographic Scope: Cameron, Hidalgo, Willacy, Brooks, Zapata and Starr counties, Texas
Total Proposed Budget: $5 million
Description of Training Services: The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley’s project goal is Elevating Manufacturing through AI-Driven Practical Oriented Workforce Education and Regional Growth in the Rio Grande Valley (EMPOWER-RGV). It will help establish a critical framework and infrastructure designed to bolster the domestic industrial base and restore American manufacturing leadership through investment focused on small manufacturing firms. EMPOWER-RGV will equip small manufacturing firms with hands-on training, operational efficiencies, and technical proficiencies required to compete in a rapidly evolving regional manufacturing ecosystem. With proposed programs, EMPOWER-RGV will further enhance the ability of small manufacturing firms in securing high-value subcontracts from large prime firms, winning federal contracts, and effectively scaling their operations.
Virginia Manufacturers Association, Inc. (VMA)
Geographic Scope: Virginia, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania.
Total Proposed Budget: $4.8 million
Description of Training Services: VMA has extensive experience providing hands-on, in-person technical assistance, tools, and training to small manufacturing businesses in Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. It has the capacity to provide manufacturing-related training and technical assistance to small businesses through the Manufacturing Skills Institute’s (MSI’s) national credentialing system, its Virginia community college partnership network, and an integrated delivery model serving small manufacturers.
Yuma/La Paz Counties Community College District Arizona Western College (AWC)
Geographic Scope: Yuma County and the surrounding Southwest Arizona region
Total Proposed Budget: $5 million
Description of Training Services: Arizona Western College (AWC) operates the Manufacturing Business and Automation Accelerator (MBAA), an integrated, 12-month technical assistance initiative that will provide hands-on manufacturing training and comprehensive business advisement to small manufacturers and manufacturing startups across Southwest Arizona. AWC is a regionally accredited community college with more than 60 years of continuous operation that includes a dedicated manufacturing training facility in Wellton, Arizona, equipped for hands-on, in-person technical instruction.
The SBA has committed to rebuilding American supply chains and domestic manufacturing through a series of targeted initiatives. This year, the agency waived loan fees for manufacturing NAICS codes, established the first-ever loan program dedicated to American manufacturers, and modernized the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program so more private capital flows into critical, supply‑chain‑sensitive industries. The agency also announced a new 90% Made in America Loan Guarantee for small manufacturers and continues to promote existing programs such as the asset-based 7(a) Working Capital Pilot (WCP) Program.
To learn more about the Manufacturing grants, visit: www.sba.gov/priorities/american-manufacturers. Additional questions or requests for assistance should be submitted via email to e2g@sba.gov .
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About the Empower to Grow Program
The Empower to Grow program, formerly known as 7(j) Management and Technical Assistance program, provides eligible U.S. small businesses with free business courses, tailored training, and one-on-one consulting to support their growth, operations, hiring, regulatory compliance, and government contracting competitiveness. The Empower to Grow program uplifts businesses to be procurement ready for federal, state, and local government contracts. For more questions about the Empower to Grow program, visit: Empower to Grow Program.
About the U.S. Small Business Administration
The U.S. Small Business Administration helps power the American dream of entrepreneurship. As the leading voice for small businesses within the federal government, the SBA empowers job creators with the resources and support they need to start, grow, and expand their businesses or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.
SBA HQ Press Team U.S. Small Business Administration press_office@sba.gov
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