Budget-cutters take aim at MEP
“‘The initial budget came back from OMB … at zero.”
The Manufacturing Extension Partnership is being threatened with budget cuts again (almost an annual event). The MEP offices around the country provide lean training and consulting, particularly for small and medium size manufacturers. Is this a service that the government should be providing, or should private sector consultants fill this role?
What do you think? Please scroll down (or click) to post a comment. Or please share the post with your thoughts on LinkedIn. Don't want to miss a post or podcast? Subscribe to get notified about posts via email daily or weekly.

Latest posts by Mark Graban (see all)
- Interview with Mit Vyas: Insights on Learning from Toyota, Entrepreneurial Success, and Mindfulness Practices - March 29, 2023
- Recorded Webinar on Building a Culture of Continuous Improvement through Organizational Habits - March 22, 2023
- From Fear to Improvement: Results of Our Poll on Companies' Responses to Mistakes - March 16, 2023
Helping small and medium-sized manufacturers fund improvement efforts is a good idea but government subsidies to consulting firms are not. NIST is not competent to pick consultants for manufacturers and the MEPs are unfair competition to other service providers.
Government support should go directly to manufacturers, to pay market rates for consultants or contractors they choose.