MassDevelopment

Fourth Round of AMP it up! Matching Grants Now Available to Connect Students with Advanced Manufacturing Careers


November 12, 2015


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Kelsey Abbruzzese, MassDevelopment, 617-330-2086 & 617-448-9077 (cell)
kabbruzzese@massdevelopment.com

MassDevelopment is now accepting applications for matching grants to eligible organizations that will create innovative programs to educate students and adults about career options in advanced manufacturing. The grants are the fourth round available through the AMP it up! campaign, which promotes advanced manufacturing as an attractive career path. Through the community-based programs and activities that grant recipients will develop, MassDevelopment will work with these organizations to dispel common misconceptions about manufacturing and bolster the prospective employee base for these quality jobs. To view the grant application, click here

Eligible applicants must be Massachusetts-based nonprofit organizations that address education and workforce issues. The application deadline is December 11, and grant awards will be made around January 8, 2016. In the first, second, and third rounds of grants, MassDevelopment provided $290,319 to 29 partnerships across the Commonwealth. Programs ranged from 3D printing and CAD “tinkershops” to career exploration programs and regional robotics leagues. MassDevelopment will give special consideration this year to organizations that propose programs to reach returning veterans or guidance and career counselors. All partnerships are required to have at least one Massachusetts manufacturer as part of their collaboration.

“The manufacturing field is undergoing a renaissance across Massachusetts, but we still face a large gap between the number of vacant positions and the number of workers qualified to fill them,” said Sen. Eric P. Lesser, Senate Chair of the Manufacturing Caucus. “AMP it up! grants help market the great opportunities available in manufacturing, an industry that is increasingly high-tech and high-paying.”

“These grants will help enhance the recruitment and advising of Massachusetts’s advanced manufacturing talent pipeline, ultimately creating new career pathways and opportunities for countless people,” said State Representative John V. Fernandes, Co-Chair of the Joint Legislative Manufacturing Caucus.  “It’s a solid investment in our state’s workforce, and a step in the right direction for the future of advanced manufacturing in Massachusetts.”

“Thanks to the work of the Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative and the AMP it up! campaign, people across Massachusetts realize that the new world of manufacturing is advanced, technology-based, and innovative,” said MassDevelopment President and CEO Marty Jones. “These additional grants and the programs they engender will encourage students and adults to embrace manufacturing as a career.” 

For more information about the program, visit the AMP it up! website and Twitter feed

MassDevelopment, the state’s finance and development agency, works with businesses, nonprofits, financial institutions, and communities to stimulate economic growth across the Commonwealth. During FY2015, MassDevelopment financed or managed 294 projects generating investment of more than $2.5 billion in the Massachusetts economy. These projects are projected to create about 6,100 jobs and build or rehabilitate about 2,000 residential units