Kane Businesses Can Apply For Manufacturing Innovation Grants of Up To $25,000

IMEC is now accepting applications to the Illinois Manufacturing Innovation Voucher Program — and Kane County businesses are eligible for grants of up to $25,000.

The Illinois Manufacturing Innovation Voucher Program helps small and mid-sized manufacturers in Illinois obtain external technical assistance to solve technology adoption challenges.

The competitive matching grant program is designed to remove hurdles in funding and know-how so businesses can embrace new technologies in their products and processes — providing Illinois manufacturers a competitive advantage.

Eligible companies may be awarded up to $25,000 in matching grant funds to be used to access third party expertise in the areas of research and development and technology adoption.

IMEC President David Boulay said global trends such as Industry 4.0 and the workforce skills gap are rapidly changing the manufacturing landscape.

“This is happening while we are witnessing slower productivity growth in small and mid-sized manufacturers,” he said. “The timing of this program is critical for Illinois manufacturers to respond to this changing landscape.”

Why this is important?

• Small and mid-sized manufacturers are 99% of Illinois manufacturers.
• SMMs are cornerstones of Illinois communities across the state, representing over 12,000 companies.
• SMMs are lagging in productivity growth and innovation, the drivers of global competitiveness.
• SMMs often lack the necessary internal resources to adopt advanced technology and modern business practices that are necessary for them to grow and/or sustain the future of their organization

Eligibility

• Existing Illinois manufacturer with between five and 500 employees.
• Funded projects must be conducted in Illinois.
• Recipients must provide a cash match of 50 percent of the total project cost, up to $25,000. For example, under the matching requirement, a company that receives the maximum award of $25,000 must contribute $25,000.
• Funding assistance must be approved before project is initiated.

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. The online application form can be completed here.

Questions can be submitted to IMEC at [email protected] .

About IMEC

IMEC is a team of improvement specialists who are dedicated to changing lives and creating a positive impact on Illinois’ workforce and economy.

With a mission to drive growth through enterprise excellence, they help organizations become more effective and efficient by identifying issues, developing and implementing solutions and providing the necessary support that will allow them to excel in areas of leadership, strategy, customer engagement, operations, workforce, and measurement and results.

In 2018, they assisted more 700 companies and created more than 6,700 jobs, resulting in over $600 million aggregate impact to the Illinois economy. IMEC has seven offices statewide and 48 full-time industry improvement specialists. For more information, visit .