Four states have recently been selected to participate in a Policy Academy designed to help grow and strengthen manufacturing in their states. State teams will begin meeting on Tuesday in Washington, D.C. with policy experts to develop or further refine strategies to bolster manufacturing. The four participants chosen for the Policy Academy are Kentucky, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and Utah. Each team includes representatives from the participants' governor's office, state economic development department, Manufacturing Extension Partnership center, manufacturing trade association, and other manufacturing centers.
"Manufacturing is a vital component of the economy in each state and the success of the manufacturing sector is imperative for the country's strength and competitiveness," said Dan Berglund, president and CEO of SSTI, which is helping to coordinate the Academy. "We are looking forward to supporting the states as they strengthen their manufacturing base and build on their success. We expect that each of the participants will develop new initiatives or expand on those already in place to advance their manufacturing agenda."
The year-long Policy Academy will guide the states through a planning and implementation process to identify relevant manufacturing-related partnerships and policies to move their economic development strategies forward. Each participant will receive customized assistance through access to national experts and collaboration with colleagues in other states. They may choose to focus on addressing skills gaps, accelerating start-up growth, expanding their market, improving their supply chain or other priorities the state teams identify.
The Policy Academy is being coordinated by two national organizations - SSTI and the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness (CREC) - with support from the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) based at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). SSTI works to strengthen initiatives to create a better future through science, technology, innovation and entrepreneurship. CREC works to provide policy-makers from around the world with the information and technical assistance they need to formulate and execute innovative, regional, job-creating economic strategies. NIST MEP's mission is to enhance the productivity and technological performance of U.S. manufacturing which it does through 51 MEP Centers located in all 50 states and Puerto Rico, and more than 1,300 manufacturing experts at over 400 service locations, providing any U.S. manufacturer with access to resources they need to succeed.
The four states were selected after a competitive application process. A second cohort for the Academy is expected to be selected in 2019.
Department of Labor Publishes Thirty-Day PRA Notice for Information Collection in Support of the Evaluation of the American Apprenticeship Initiative
The Department of Labor has published the thirty-day Paperwork Reduction Act notice for the information collection in support of the Evaluation of the American Apprenticeship Initiative in the August 13 Federal Register.
See: https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2018-08-23/pdf/2018-18153.pdf
Specifically, the ICR seeks clearance for data collection activities conducted as part of the evaluation's implementation study of the AAI grants and impact study of employer outreach practices in a subset of the AAI grantees.
Comments must be submitted September 24 to the Office of Management and Budget.
The sixty-day notice was published on September 13, 2017 Federal Register.
See: https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2017-09-13/pdf/2017-19423.pdf
Addressing the Opioid Crisis: SAMSHA and USDA Announce Funding Opportunity to Develop and Disseminate Training and Technical Assistance to Rural Communities through Cooperative Extension Programs
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced on August 22 it is accepting applications for fiscal year (FY) 2018 Rural Opioid Technical Assistance Grants (Short Title: ROTA). The purpose of this program is to develop and disseminate training and technical assistance for rural communities on addressing opioid issues affecting these communities. It is expected that grantees will facilitate the identification of model programs, develop and update materials related to the prevention, treatment and recovery activities for opioid use disorder (OUD), and ensure that high-quality training is provided. SAMHSA has identified $8,250,000 to support this effort. Applications are due by September 20.
Through this program and investments, SAMHSA will build upon a collaboration with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The USDA provides Cooperative Extension Services programs to improve the quality of people's lives by providing research-based knowledge to strengthen the social, economic and environmental well-being of families, communities and agriculture enterprises. Extension experts focus on issues which affect rural communities. SAMHSA's ROTA grants will build upon these Cooperative Extensions through expanding their reach.
The PDF version of the solicitation can be directly accessed at https://www.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/grants/pdf/rota-8-22-18_0.pdf
The list of eligible university and community college applicants and their current opioid-related projects can be found in Appendix L.