Data shows that America’s small and mid-sized manufacturers benefit from the MEP National Network™ of centers located in every state and Puerto Rico. Working with your local MEP on federally funded initiatives does more than save you money. It gets you access to experts.
MEPs may be best known for services related to manufacturing process improvement, regulation compliance, and ISO certification.
Now, many of the centers in the MEP National Network™ also provide business growth services. The Illinois Manufacturing Excellence Center (IMEC) is a great example.
As a small business marketing agency specializing in industrial manufacturing, we’ve been partnering with IMEC for years. We’ve seen the impact of MEP growth services first hand.
Exporting, marketing, sales, and workforce development all fit into the growth services category. The following are some examples we’ve seen over the years:
Not all MEPs provide growth services, but those that do can get you access to a manufacturing marketing consultant who knows your industry well.
Based on our experience, I recommend working with your local MEP if they have services that fit your goals in 2022.
So how do you start?
For example, at the time this blog post is publishing, our partners at IMEC have recently launched the new Grow Your Future initiatives that provide fully-funded growth services projects to qualifying companies.
I’ve linked a couple of our success stories in this post as examples. We’d love to read your success stories! Connect with us on LinkedIn or Tweet us. We’re always happy to talk.
—parin
Managing Partner
Image source: NIST