The New River Valley Regional Commission announced Oct. 27 that Virginia’s Additive Manufacturing and Advanced Materials Tech Hub has been awarded $24.8 million from the U.S. Economic Development Administration for advanced manufacturing workforce development in southwest and southern Virginia.
The EDA intends to award $24,791,450 across three projects, according to the commission. AM2 Studios, through the Virginia Tech College of Engineering, will equip test beds for designing, prototyping, testing and optimizing products made with additive manufacturing.
The AM2 Career Network, led by the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research with VMA’s Manufacturing Skills Institute, will create a nationally recognized credential in additive manufacturing and train 2,000 workers through expanded apprenticeship programs, the announcement said.
The third project, led by the New River Valley Regional Commission, will connect manufacturers, seek to attract more industry to the region and run an innovation grant competition to help companies adopt additive manufacturing, according to the announcement.
AM2 includes industry, government, higher education and economic development partners from the New River Valley, Southern Virginia, Roanoke and Lynchburg regions, the commission said. With this award, the effort has received nearly $30 million in state and federal funding over three years.
The commission’s media contact is Leo Priddy at lpriddy@nrvrc.org, according to the release.
