Today, the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s (EERE) Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO), announced up to $4 million in available funding, subject to appropriations, for a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled Extending Industrial Assessment Centers to Underserved Areas.

The goal of the Extension IACs is to encourage a broader and more diverse set of performers and further expand the geographic reach of the IAC program to areas that are less likely to be adequately serviced because of their distance from the current 28 IACs.

The overall Industrial Assessment Center (IAC) program has two main goals: first, to assist small and medium-sized manufacturers currently defined as having gross annual sales below $100 million, fewer than 500 employees, and annual energy bills between $100,000 and $2.5 million, to increase their energy efficiency, productivity, sustainability and competitiveness; and second, to help address a growing shortage of energy engineering professionals with applied energy efficiency-related skills.

“Small Businesses are essential to advancing our economy and by extending our IAC program’s reach, we’re creating a pipeline for these important manufacturers in communities across our nation to gain access to useful tools to help improve their businesses energy efficiency and productivity,” said AMO Director Mark Johnson.

Led by faculty and staff, the higher education institutions selected through a competitive merit review process will perform assessments for small and medium sized manufacturers focused in their geographic region, which will result in energy and water savings, waste reduction, potential enhancements to cybersecurity, opportunities for smart manufacturing, and sustainability and productivity improvements for the manufacturers. Each Extension IAC will provide training for undergraduate and graduate energy engineering students in industrial processes, energy assessment procedures, and energy management systems.

In addition to these services, DOE is looking for new and innovative ways to accomplish its programmatic goals for providing technical assistance to small and medium sized manufacturers, and encourages applicants to propose creative approaches to deliver services that coincide with AMO priorities. These priorities are projected to include smart manufacturing, cybersecurity, energy management systems and wastewater and water facilities.

EERE envisions awarding 3-6 financial assistance awards in the form of cooperative agreements. The estimated period of performance for each award will be four years. Eligible minority-serving institutions are encouraged to apply as Extension IACs.

View the full solicitation.