Maryland manufacturing program expects to lose $1.3 million federal funding

Lorraine Mirabella, Baltimore Sun on Apr 7, 2025

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A Maryland agency that provides training, technical assistance and other resources to small and mid-sized manufacturers stands to lose $1.3 million in federal funding as part of Trump-administration cuts, its director said, making it more challenging for small businesses to stay competitive.

Mike Kelleher, executive director of the Maryland Manufacturing Extension Partnership, said the nonprofit group was “greatly disappointed” to hear that the National Institute of Standards and Technology, part of the Commerce Department, was eliminating funding for the nationwide program and services in Maryland.

The decision “will adversely affect our manufacturing community” of some 4,000 companies, most of which are small- and medium-sized businesses, Kelleher said in a letter to supporters and manufacturers. Funded also by industry and the state, Maryland MEP offers consulting, education and technical assistance to support growth, and worked with more than 1,200 manufacturers last year.

“Our goal is to continue to serve the small and midsized manufacturers,” Kelleher said Monday. “The loss of federal funding will greatly impact our ability to do that. The small and midsized manufacturers are the ones that need the most help …They’re the ones being asked to step up in this push to reshore industry in the U.S.”

The program has helped Saft America Inc. keep its manufacturing technology and facility in Baltimore County up to date by providing resources, training, modern manufacturing techniques and industry networking, said Annie Sennet, Saft’s president and CEO.

The company’s battery manufacturing plant in Cockeysville employs more than 370 people in jobs ranging from research, design, manufacturing and testing of batteries for the aerospace, defense and racing sectors.

Eliminating such programs “does not take manufacturing in the U.S. toward the next level, which is what everyone wants,” Sennet said. “I don’t understand why manufacturing funding would be cut in light of the current administration’s focus on bringing manufacturing back to America.”

Last year, the program in Maryland distributed nearly $600,000 to manufacturers for specific projects, events and training and helped businesses apply for and receive more than $5 million in state and federal grants. Maryland MEP has led or worked on initiatives that have attracted more than $20 million in federal investment to the state’s manufacturing sector over a decade.

Maryland’s program is part of the MEP National Network, a public-private partnership based in Gaithersburg with centers in 50 states and Puerto Rico.

Kelleher and other program directors found out about funding cuts on April 1, when 10 states, not including Maryland, were notified that their MEP cooperative agreements were not being renewed for the next fiscal year. Maryland has been told unofficially that its agreement, up for renewal as part of 20 states, will not be approved at the start of its fiscal year July 1.

The state was expecting to enter the third year of a 10-year agreement for $1.3 million in annual funding, Kelleher said. The program is required to match that funding, and last year, it raised $1.5 million through private industry, competitive grants, fees and a state contribution of about $260,000.

“Trump’s attempts to illegally cancel investments in small- and medium-sized manufacturers will hurt local businesses, threaten jobs, and encourage more U.S. businesses to ship jobs overseas,” U.S Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, said in an email to The Baltimore Sun on Monday. “We will be fighting to protect this funding.”

A spokesman for the National Institute of Standards and Technology could not be reached on Monday.

Kelleher said in the letter that supporters should reach out to elected officials and that the state’s MEP program is “not going away” and that they are working to realign resources to keep programs going.

“There’s definitely a push nationally to restore the money, both in Congress and as well as with the administration” and among manufacturers, he said. “It’s a bipartisan program. There are manufacturers in every district in America, Republicans or Democratic.”

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