Companies in Cuyahoga County have until Friday to apply for the chance to get some free help from NASA.
For the third year in a row, the Manufacturing Advocacy and Growth Network, or MAGNET, is giving companies the chance to get up to 40 hours of free consulting from NASA Glenn Research Center. To be eligible, manufacturers must have revenue between $5 million and $250 million. MAGNET spokesman Matthew Fieldman says the program is getting applications for help in many different areas.
“It could be sensors. It could be battery storage. There was an application on solar energy and how to get the most out of a very small solar panel. Anything technical that could advance a small company and help them grow revenue and jobs is really important.
“Construction, oil and gas, we’re seeing aerospace companies, even HVAC, we’ve helped food companies (with) really anything across the spectrum. What makes Northeast Ohio manufacturing so interesting is, we have 7,000 small and medium-sized manufacturers representing every industry under the sun. We don’t have a cluster like other areas. We have 270,000 people working in this industry, and every one of them is doing a different job.”
Applicants that have been successful in the past include a business that converts waste plastics into crude oil and a record pressing plant. Along with the consulting, businesses would have access to up to $50,000 in low-interest loans from Cuyahoga County. Fieldman says even if a company is not a good fit to work with NASA, MAGNET can still offer other referrals based on the application.
