PRICE HAILS CLEAN ENERGY MANUFACTURING INNOVATION INSTITUTE ANNOUNCEMENT

Washington, D.C. – Representative David Price (NC-04) hailed today’s announcement by the Obama Administration that it will locate a new public-private clean energy manufacturing innovation institute in North Carolina funded by a five-year $70 million grant. President Obama made the formal announcement during his remarks today at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. Last year, Rep. Price wrote a letter to Energy Secretary Moniz supporting the N.C. State-led consortium’s application.

“Our region’s dynamic economy is proof that investments in research and development, paired with strong public-private partnerships, can be an economic engine creating new jobs and helping bring innovative products to market,” Rep. Price said. “N.C. State is an ideal location for the innovative manufacturing institute, and helping create the next generation of high-tech manufacturing will further position central North Carolina as a leader in the 21st Century economy.”

The winning consortium, led by North Carolina State University and headquartered in Raleigh, includes the State of North Carolina, 18 companies, and seven universities and labs. The institute will focus on enabling the next generation of energy-efficient, high-power electronic chips and devices by making wide bandgap semiconductor technologies cost-competitive with current silicon-based power electronics. Two institutes led by the Department of Defense – focused on Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation and Lightweight and Modern Metals Manufacturing – are still in the selection process and will be awarded in the coming weeks.

In last year’s State of the Union address, the President proposed a series of three new manufacturing institutes. In May, President Obama launched a competition for these three new manufacturing innovation institutes with a Federal commitment of $200 million across five Federal agencies – Defense, Energy, Commerce, NASA, and the National Science Foundation, building off the success of a pilot institute headquartered in Youngstown, Ohio.
Each institute is designed to serve as a regional hub aimed at bridging the gap between applied research and product development, bringing together companies, Federal agencies, universities and other academic and training institutions to co-invest in technology areas that encourage investment and production in the United States.

After shedding jobs for a decade, manufacturers have added 568,000 over the past four years, including 80,000 over the past five months. Manufacturing production has grown since the end of the recession at its fastest pace in over a decade.

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