Six Consortia Secure Grant Under Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program

The Department of Defense’s Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation has invested nearly $30 million from the Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program into six consortia focused on manufacturing technologies, research and development, workforce training and cyber resiliency. The program supports initiatives that aim to strengthen the national security innovation base. OLDCC made the investments after inviting the six consortia to submit grant applications in response to a funding opportunity notice in May, Defense .gov reported. 

The groups that won grants include the Mississippi-Shipbuilding Industry Preparedness for National Security Consortium, led by the Mississippi Department of Employment Security; the Illinois Defense Manufacturing Consortium, headed by the board of trustees of the University of Illinois; the SAE Government Technologies-led Supply Chain of Recovered Elements Consortium; and the New Jersey Defense Manufacturing Community Consortium, headed by the New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program.

William LaPlante, undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment and a 2022 Wash100 Award recipient, previously designated the teams as defense manufacturing communities. He instructed OLDCC to solicit applications from them to collaborate with public, private and academic partners and implement a whole-of-nation manufacturing strategy.

“These Defense Manufacturing Consortia will do just that by working to accelerate the development of critical minerals, help to build up the nation’s shipbuilding workforce, enhance cybersecurity efforts, increase energy storage technologies, and accelerate microelectronic and semiconductor processes – all national security priorities,”  LaPlante said.