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The Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC), in partnership with Conexus Indiana, announced the sixth round of awards totaling nearly $4 million in Manufacturing Readiness Grants to 43 Indiana businesses, supporting a projected $46.1 million in technology-enabled capital investment across Indiana.

“Manufacturing is in Indiana’s DNA—we build things,” said Governor Eric J. Holcomb. “The demand for the Manufacturing Readiness Grants program has proven time and time again to us that these investments help Hoosiers build things better.”

Launched in 2020, the Manufacturing Readiness Grants program was created to stimulate private sector investments to modernize Indiana’s manufacturing industry. Since then, $17.4 million in grant funding has been awarded to 212 companies in 60 counties, prompting proposed projects with combined budgets of $138.9 million and $22 million in estimated new wages.

In recently published case studies, Conexus Indiana provides an in-depth look into various completed projects, highlighting business impact and outcomes. These, along with data analysis from applications and surveys, find:

  • Rather than displacing workers, investments in technology are freeing workers from tedious tasks to perform higher-value, higher-paying functions.
  • Awards support modernization at primarily small and midsized firms (average of 165 employees) with long histories of participation in Indiana’s manufacturing economy (average of 37 years in operation).
  • The most adopted technologies include robotics, cobots, 3D printing and next-generation machines with sensor-enable features such as data analysis, machine learning and artificial intelligence.
  • 68% of companies report Manufacturing Readiness Grants have enabled or expanded the scope of technology projects, and an additional 26% say the grant accelerated project timelines.

Recipients include:

  • Indiana Furniture Industries Inc. (Dubois County; $109,121 grant award) is a furniture manufacturer of products for various office environments such as private office settings, open office settings and conference rooms. The company is investing in autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) for material handling.

Peak Toolworks (Dubois County; $60,763 grant award) is a cutting tool manufacturer for tools and blades that cut through steel, chrome, copper and plastic, including its own patented tool designs. The company is investing in automated equipment for its tool manufacturing processes and robotics for auto-loading thousands of tools.

To apply for a Manufacturing Readiness Grant, Indiana companies are encouraged to review eligibility requirements and submit applications AT conexusindiana.com

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