EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE:             G 94-7
11 A.M. CST
Wednesday, Feb. 16, 1994

Contact:  Carol Hamilton           DEFENSE CONVERSION FUNDS
          (202) 482-6001           MAKE IOWA MANUFACTURING
                                   TECHNOLOGY CENTER A REALITY


     U.S. Secretary of Commerce Ronald H. Brown and Congressman
Neal Smith (D-Iowa), Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee
on Commerce, Justice, State, and Judiciary, today announced the
opening of the Iowa Manufacturing Technology Center (MTC) as part
of a program to help the state's small and medium-sized
manufacturers become more competitive through the adoption of new
technologies.

     The center, located at Des Moines Area Community College
(DMACC) in Ankeny, Iowa, will combine and expand the services of
Iowa's existing manufacturing and technology organizations under
a single entity.

     Secretary Brown said, "In a competitive global marketplace,
technological leadership is the surest ticket to economic
success.  This center will enable Iowa's 5,800 manufacturers--
most of whom are small businesses with fewer than 100 employees--
to be networked into the forefront of technological change."

     The Iowa MTC is the latest addition to the growing list of
regionally based Manufacturing Technology Centers and smaller,
more locally based Manufacturing Outreach Centers.  Part of the
Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) managed by the Commerce
Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology
(NIST), these extension centers are the cornerstones of a
grassroots effort to improve the competitiveness of small and
mid-sized manufacturers by helping them adopt new technologies.
All extension centers are selected after a competitive process.

     The geographic reach of the MEP is expanding significantly
in 1994 with the establishment of new centers managed by NIST
with defense conversion funding from the Technology Reinvestment
Project (TRP), directed by the Department of Defense's Advanced
Research Projects Agency (ARPA).  This is the case with the Iowa
MTC, which will receive $8.3 million from the TRP for the first
three years of operation.  During the same period, matching funds
by the state of Iowa and private-sector contributions will bring
the total program budget for the center's first three years to
$16.6 million.

     Among the services offered to manufacturers by the Iowa MTC
are: evaluations of operations, company needs assessments,
technical problem solving, management education and training,
workforce education and training, quality improvement, new
product development, general business and marketing assistance,
and technology transfer.

     Principal partners with NIST in the operation of the Iowa
MTC are Iowa State University (Ames, Iowa) and host DMACC.
Cooperating organizations include the Wallace Technology Transfer
Foundation, the Heartland Technology Network, the Iowa Technology
Transfer Council and the Department of Energy - Ames Laboratory.

     As a non-regulatory agency of the Commerce Department's
Technology Administration, NIST promotes U.S. economic growth by
working with industry to develop and apply technology,
measurements and standards.

     For more information on the Iowa MTC, contact Del Shepard,
Director, Iowa MTC, DMACC, 20006 S. Ankeny Blvd., Ankeny, Iowa
50021, (515) 965-7040.  For information on the NIST Manufacturing
Extension Partnership, contact the MEP Office, B115 Polymer
Building, NIST, Gaithersburg, Md. 20899-0001, (301) 975-5020.

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