Impact of VMEC's Network: $1.5 billion in cost savings and over 125,000 new jobs created or retained

VMEC and the Manufacturing Extension Partnerships across the country can help manufacturers find new suppliers and become new suppliers through the Supplier Scouting program. We can connect Vermont and U.S. manufacturers that need parts and materials to those with capabilities and capacities to provide those items.

If you have a supply chain need, VMEC can post your request to our national network. For example, a post could look similar to this - "A small company in Vermont is seeking domestic manufacturers to produce widgets." Once the post is live, we'll receive feedback from the network and work with you in fulfilling your supply chain needs. If you are interested in seeing and responding to supply chain requests from manufacturers around the country, register at Manufacturing Exchange - VT, MXVT.org, and contact Howard Switser, VMEC Professional Manufacturing and Business Growth Advisor. Howard is VMEC's Supplier Scouting program lead in Vermont.

The Southeastern New England Defense Industry Alliance (SENEDIA), as the convener for the Next Generation Submarine Shipbuilding Supply Chain Partnership, is offering up to $30,000 in training reimbursement subsidies for trades and industrial skills training. Applications are open for any company with New England-based employees who need trades and industrial skills training. For more information about the program, visit Train Your Workforce.

SENEDIA is also offering companies in the New England-region up to $5,000 to take on a summer 2022 Career and Technical Education high school student for an internship. Internships can be 4, 6, or 8 weeks in length. For more information about internship opportunities, visit CTE Internship Opportunity Program.

Are you a business or quality professional who needs to learn the fundamentals of statistical data charting & analysis? Or do you want to learn to use the fundamentals without getting lost in or paralyzed by complicated formulas and theory? Join the VT section of ASQ (American Society for Quality) to learn how to use Microsoft Excel and pre-developed statistical templates ubiquitous to industry and process types. Note: This course will not be teaching excel software or statistics; it will be focused on applying what you know using pre-developed, easy to use excel templates.

Tuesday, February 22, 2:00 pm, Webinar, Register Here

Why do so few leadership improvement efforts produce the results that leaders and business sponsors want? What is in the way? Through decades of working with manufacturers to help them improve their companies and leadership, join this complimentary session and discover the five common obstacles to leadership improvement that must be overcome in order to achieve the desired results. The MEP National Network will host this workforce webinar with Quality Digest.

Doing everything possible to make your business as “Lean” as possible is crucial to ensuring your business’s long term viability and profitability. This also includes your administrative house and making sure it's in order. This three hour introduction to Lean Office provides a brief history of Lean concepts with real-world examples. Lean tools such as standard work, batch reduction, pull systems, value stream mapping, and workplace organization are introduced along with hands-on exercises. This event is being co-presented by Lamoille Economic Development Corporation, VMEC and the VT Small Business Development Center.

Since launching this survey in 2013, the VT Chamber of Commerce and Davis & Hodgdon Advisory Group have been able to collect valuable feedback from Vermont's businesses which they've shared with legislators and state media. Please consider taking 5-10 minutes to complete this brief survey to ensure that small and medium-sized manufacturers are represented. The survey will remain open until February 11. To view results from the previous two surveys, click January 2021 results and January 2020 results.