Bridging the gap: Manufacturing Readiness Grants boost Indiana enterprises
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When manufacturing parts supplier Hoosier Crane wanted to expand its Elkhart facility, it faced a choice.
As Chief Operating Officer Kaitlyn Miller explained, Hoosier Crane leadership had to decide between buying another round of standard Computer Numerical Control (CNC) equipment and trying something radical.
Ultimately, the company of about 110 employees decided to invest outside its comfort zone and bought a robot plasma cutter. Miller said the company was able to go out on a limb for the more efficient, but costly, purchase thanks to help from Conexus Indiana in the form of the group’s Manufacturing Readiness Grant program.
“It really helped us bridge that gap between what would have been general, run-of-the-mill equipment to a higher, more technical piece of equipment that lets us do more with the same square footage,” Miller said.
Hoosier Crane’s story is what organizers of the MRG program had in mind when they first began administering the grant on behalf of the Indiana Economic Development Corp. in July 2020. The grants, which can run up to $200,000, are meant to modernize Indiana’s advanced manufacturing sector, especially among small and mid-sized companies.
According to a newly published report from Conexus, the MRG program has awarded a total of $57 million to 526 companies since 2020. Conexus data shows that, on average, each dollar spent in grants results in $13 in capital expenditures, which adds up to a big boost for the state’s economic future.
Mitch Landess, Conexus’ vice president of innovation and digital transformation, has been heavily involved with the MRG program since its inception. The program started with an allocation of $4 million a year, which has now grown to $20 million annually.
Grant awards in the range of $100,000-$200,000 might not sound like a lot, but Landess said with highly technical equipment becoming more widely available, companies often only need a little extra incentive to take a leap of faith.
“A few years ago…you’d be hard pressed to find a small 50 or 100-person firm that could take the risk on something like a robotic welding system,” Landess said. “Now we’re seeing firms as small as 10 to 15 people invest in robotic welding.”
Beyond the numbers and the money, Landess said he’s pleased the grants have accomplished a goal of Conexus and the IEDC, which is to make smaller companies look at their future more critically.
“We’re inviting them to think strategically about their business and not think about what they need this year, but think about what the next five years look like. If they make some investments in technology, where can they take their business?” said Landess.
Miller said the MRG grant helped Hoosier Crane do just that. The new robot plasma cutter allows Hoosier Crane to combine parts of its plate and beam making processes, which Miller said freed up some of their workers to handle more advanced tasks like overseeing the machine itself.
“We’re looking at new avenues for product or different ways to run our production with this new equipment,” Miller said. “Had we not had the grant, we would have probably said, ‘Well this tried and true CNC is what we need and…in two or three years we might outgrow it.”
Landess said over 7% of all small and mid-size advanced manufacturing firms have now received MRG grants. Of the companies receiving money, 35% invested in production automation, 22% invested in advanced robotics, 8% invested in 3D printing and 5% invested in artificial intelligence.
The report also says each MRG grant on average creates four new jobs.
You can read the full Manufacturing Readiness Grant Impact report here.