A $641,573 federal government grant will help the state of Maryland relaunch the Defense Commercialization (DefTech) Center and serve small businesses assisting the defense industry.
The grant – awarded to the Maryland Department of Commerce – comes from the U.S. Department of Defense's Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation and will allow DefTech to now be administered by the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO).
The DoD funding also allows for the development and implementation of a pilot program focused on prime contractor and subcontractor resiliency. The Maryland Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) will manage the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) Support Program in working with defense contractors Northrop Grumman and Textron to help their first-tier suppliers adopt Industry 4.0 standards.
