Manufacturing Innovation Fund Investments Increase in 2024

Connecticut’s Manufacturing Innovation Fund spent $13.6 million on programs and administrative expenses in fiscal 2024, including new initiatives focused on workforce development and digital transformation.

Administered by the Department of Economic and Community Development, the fund has spent $111.1 million since its inception in 2015—$108.6 million for programs and $2.5 million on administrative costs.

The fund was created to drive innovation, technology adoption, and workforce initiatives for small and midsize manufacturers.

Program funding increased 54% in fiscal 2024 over the previous year, following the allocation of $15 million annually to the MIF in the two-year state budget that lawmakers adopted in June 2023.

According to the MIF’s annual report, the fund supported 890 companies in fiscal 2024, helped create or retain 851 jobs, trained 1,908 people, and engaged 4,078 students.

Over the fund’s lifetime, the report says the MIF has engaged with 4,116 companies, created or retained 23,096 jobs, trained 31,345 workers, and reached 32,716 students.

‘Competitiveness’

The fund is overseen by DECD’s Office of Manufacturing, with direction from an advisory board representing public and private sector stakeholders.

“These investments are critical in helping companies embrace new technologies, enhance our competitiveness, and create high-paying, life-changing job opportunities for our workforce,” chief manufacturing officer Paul Lavoie noted in the report.

“We will continue to invest in solutions that drive growth, solve pressing issues like workforce shortages and supply chain disruptions, and ensure that our manufacturing companies thrive in a rapidly changing global economy.”

A program that advances STEM education through hands-on, team-based robotics activities and competitions for K-12 students was among the new initiatives awarded funding in 2024.

The MIF allocated $2.27 million to expand FIRST Robotics in the state, with the workforce development organization ReadyCT overseeing programming in partnership with New England FIRST. 

“MIF investment in FIRST Robotics is a direct investment in workforce development, particularly in the maker and manufacturing sectors,” said ReadyCT executive director Shannon Marimón.

“FIRST experiences let students see themselves in situations where they solve problems and create things with machines—as driven by their thinking and problem solving—making FIRST Robotics among the most exciting and dynamic initiatives in public education today.”

Programs

The MIF also invested $3.88 million in the popular Manufacturing Voucher Program, which provides up to $100,000 in matching grants for technology expenditures.

Over its lifetime, that program has allocated $38.6 million in grants to more than 780 manufacturing companies, helping create and retain over 1,690 jobs.

The program is administered by the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology, which manages the majority of MIF-funded programs, accounting for over 60% of all funding distributed since 2015.

Programs administered by the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology account for over 60% of all MIF funding.

The CCAT-administered Additive Manufacturing Adoption and Digital Transformation programs each received $3 million in fiscal 2024.

Other CCAT-managed programs that received funding in 2024 include SIRI and CYBER Assistance ($1.3 million), Manufacturing Internship ($1.08 million), Apprenticeship Funding ($720,000), and Incumbent Worker ($705,639).

The fund distributed $706,599 to the CONNEX Connecticut supply chain platform managed by growth consultancy CONNSTEP, $297,220 to the ReadyCT-administered Careers Roadshow series, and $250,00 to the Innovator Matching Program run by Forge Connecticut.