Duckworth, Durbin Announce Over $2 Million in COVID-19 Relief for Manufacturing in Illinois

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) today announced $2.2 million in federal funding to the Illinois Manufacturing Excellence Center in Peoria, a National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Center, to support Illinois-based US small- and medium-sized manufacturers (SMEs), including rural manufacturers, to prevent, prepare and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. This investment, which comes through the U.S. Department of Commerce, is part of the bipartisan Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act that both Duckworth and Durbin voted to pass.

“It’s critical that manufacturers in Illinois have the resources they need to efficiently navigate and recover from this unprecedented crisis,” said Duckworth. “I’ll keep working with Senator Durbin to secure federal funding that strengthens American manufacturing so they can stay competitive in the global 21st century economy.”

“This federal funding will help give small and medium-sized manufacturing firms the assistance they need to continue to adapt and survive during this crisis,” Durbin said. “The work of IMEC, its partners, and the hard-working businesses in the state will mean that ‘made in Illinois’ is not a thing of the past but a thing of the future. I look forward to continuing to work with Senator Duckworth to support Illinois manufacturers.”

This funding is a part of the NIST MEP National Emergency Assistance Program (NEAP), which Congress allotted over $50 million to in the CARES Act.

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