The Portland-Vancouver region is one of ten regions across the country to be awarded part of a $20 million national grant competition called the Advanced Manufacturing Jobs Innovation and Accelerator Challenge (JIAC). JIAC awards are designed to support advanced manufacturing activities; help grow industry clusters by strengthening connections to regional economic development opportunities; enhance a region’s capacity to create high-quality sustainable jobs; develop a skilled advanced manufacturing workforce; encourage the development of small businesses; and accelerate technological innovation.
Locally, the regional grant project is called Innovations in Advanced Materials and Metals (IAM2) and will be led by the Columbia River Economic Development Council (CREDC).
“We are excited about receiving this grant,” said Lisa Nisenfeld, President of the CREDC. “It’s especially significant because we are the only region in the nation to win this national competition twice. Many individuals and organizations pulled together to make this project worthy of funding. The meaningful and fruitful cooperation we have across state lines has clearly been noticed by our federal partners.”
The project, which spans five counties in Washington and Oregon, will focus on collaboration with industry and universities on engineering and product development, market research, business development, supply chain development, workforce training, business training, technical assistance and targeted outreach to job-seeking veterans, underserved and underemployed populations.