INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Economic Development Corp., in partnership with Conexus Indiana, has announced the fifth round of awards totaling $3.6 million in Manufacturing Readiness Grants to 44 Indiana businesses, including four in Bartholomew and Jennings counties.
Launched in 2020, the Manufacturing Readiness Grants program was created to stimulate private sector investments to modernize Indiana’s manufacturing industry.
Based on the program’s success, the Indiana General Assembly appropriated $20 million in additional funding to the two-year state budget that runs through June 30, 2021 to help position Hoosier operations for future growth.
Among the 44 grant recipients in this round are companies from 24 Indiana counties, including, in Bartholomew County:
Lear Machining &Waterjet Inc., a $70,000 grant award. The company is a custom manufacturer of waterjet cut and machined parts and assemblies, and is investing in cobots for automated loading and unloading of parts on its machines, as well as for deburring parts for machining.
Tipton Mills Foods, a $75,000 grant award. The company manufactures powdered functional beverages and is purchasing and installing a vertical form fill sealer to automate the fill and seal process of its gusset pouches with powder.
In Jennings County, grants went to:
Decatur Mold Tool &Engineering Inc., a $45,000 grant award. The company is an injection mold manufacturer that also offers contract machining services and short-run part production. The company is implementing high-speed optical 3D scanning via robotic automation to expand and streamline its metrology capabilities.
Decatur Plastic Products Inc., a $102,000 grant award. the company is a manufacturer providing injection molding, flocking, assembly and finishing services for various industries. The company is upgrading the injection molding process by implementing a new technology called iMFLUX, which utilizes machine learning and artificial intelligence to support higher efficiency plastic manufacturing.
Grants must be matched by the applicant on a 1:1 basis. Those applying for grants undergo a rigorous peer review and recommendation process by a statewide committee of manufacturing professionals representing industry, academia, private equity and others, according to state officials.
