The future of the Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership (WMEP) program is in question after several MEP offices across the U.S. were informed last week they would not continue to receive federal funding. The Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) program is a public-private partnership that helps manufacturers grow, make operational improvements and create jobs. The MEP national
The future of the Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership (WMEP) program is in question after several MEP offices across the U.S. were informed last week they would not continue to receive federal funding.
The Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) program is a public-private partnership that helps manufacturers grow, make operational improvements and create jobs.
The MEP national network includes 51 MEP centers and more than 1,450 advisors and experts at more than 430 MEP service locations.
At the state level, the Wisconsin Center for Manufacturing and Productivity collaborates with the UW-Stout Manufacturing Outreach Center and Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership (WMEP Manufacturing Solutions) to help small and mid-sized manufacturers.
WCMP receives approximately $4 million in federal funding from the National Institute of Standards and Technology each year, according to Buckley Brinkman, executive director and CEO of WCMP. NIST is run through the U.S. Department of Commerce.
The money WCMP receives from NIST is then disbursed to the UW-Stout Manufacturing Outreach Center and WMEP. Both entities employ about 50 people across the state.
Last Tuesday, 10 MEP centers across the country were informed that their funding would not be renewed. Those centers, which do not include WMEP, had an April 1 renewal date, Brinkman explained.
[caption id="attachment_441129" align="alignleft" width="150"] Brinkman[/caption]
"The Department of Commerce is evaluating how it can best use the resources provided by Congress to most effectively advance U.S. manufacturing capabilities in alignment with statute and the president’s priorities for U.S. leadership in critical and emerging technologies," according to a NIST spokesperson. "As part of this effort, NIST has informed 10 centers that their cooperative agreements (which ended on March 31, 2025), will not be renewed. The impacted centers are in Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota and Wyoming. NIST will work with each center to complete all necessary administrative processes to close out the awards."
Another group of centers with a renewal date of July 1 are expected to be impacted next. WCMP’s renewal date is not until Jan. 1, 2026.
“If they honor their contract, which is a big if, we have a little bit of runway here,” said Brinkman. “What this looks like to us is they want to divert the MEP funding to other items or cut it altogether. We’re bewildered by this.”
The move to cut funding to MEP centers across the country is counterintuitive to President Donald Trump’s aspirations of strengthening American manufacturing, Brinkman said.
“Small and medium manufacturers are really the key to our supply chain and we’re a tool designed to specifically help them,” he said.
WCMP is working with U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin and state officials in the hopes of getting NIST and the U.S. Department of Commerce to reverse their decision.
“If this had to go through a legal challenge, the national (MEP) network would be ruined by the time it ran its course,” said Brinkman.
If WCMP’s federal funding is cut, the organization will be forced to slash several of its programs and focus on the areas that are most profitable.
In Wisconsin, the MEP has helped create more than $2.5 billion in economic impact and created or retained nearly 4,000 jobs within the past two years.
“It will be a lot more of a narrow service set and our footprint will be smaller,” said Brinkman. “We will not be able to support 50 people across the state.”
