Durbin & Enyart: $320 Million Public-Private Partnership Brings Future of America Manufacturing Competitiveness to Illinois

Press Release

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Representative Bill Enyart (D-IL) said that the $70 million grant awarded to UI Labs -- coupled with the over $250 million committed by private partners -- will bring the future of American manufacturing to Illinois. With today's announcement, Illinois will host a new national Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute (or Digital Lab) organized by the Department of Defense that can create thousands of jobs in advanced manufacturing fields, improve military readiness and make our economy more competitive. Regional partners in the new Digital Lab include Southern Illinois University, Boeing, Southwestern Illinois College and General Dynamics.

Durbin and Enyart joined U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) and the entire Illinois Congressional Delegation in leading the Congressional effort to secure today's grant. They sent two letters to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel which can be accessed HERE and HERE. As the Chairman for the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, Durbin included in the final Omnibus Appropriations bill full funding for the Digital Lab and full support for the advanced manufacturing institutes program. Enyart led the effort to ensure the inclusion of Southern Illinois partnerships, which greatly strengthened the UI Labs proposal.

"This new Digital Lab has the potential to revolutionize the way the United States approaches manufacturing and a major effort will be centered in Illinois," Durbin said. "Partners from across the state including the Quad Cities Manufacturing Laboratory, the Blue Waters Supercomputer at the University of Illinois, Northwestern University, the Illinois Institute of Technology, the University of Chicago, and Southern Illinois University will be at the forefront of innovative, industry-driven research that will make America more competitive on the global stage. Illinois will undoubtedly benefit from the thousands of jobs created through this research."

"Southern Illinois has a proud tradition of manufacturing, particularly for our national defense," Enyart said. "The consortium of education, research and industry assembled by UI Labs will ensure all parts of Illinois will be on the cutting edge of the next generation of manufacturing. From the research that will be conducted at the SIU system to the collaboration with local manufacturers like General Dynamics and Boeing, every part of our state will benefit. Most importantly, the Digital Lab will create more opportunities for high-skill jobs for our nation and our region for generations to come."

UI Labs leads a consortium of more than 570 industry, academic, government, community and organizational supporters and partners which have committed $250 million to the project - more than tripling the federal investment. Included are the nation's premier engineering schools, the country's leading defense and commercial manufacturers, one of the world's most powerful supercomputers and nationally-recognized educational and business development partners.

In his 2013 State of the Union address, President Obama proposed a series of new manufacturing institutes each designed to serve as a regional hub that will build on recent manufacturing gains by bringing together innovative research with product development with the goal of making American factories smarter, faster and more efficient. The Department of Defense is the lead agency on the Digital Lab that was awarded to Illinois today.

Leveraging the Midwest's unique capabilities, partnerships and workforce, the Digital Lab will develop innovative solutions that transform both defense and civilian industries with hundreds of billions in annual savings. Because many of the new jobs created will require new skills that the workforce must follow, the Digital Lab will also serve as a vehicle for workforce development, through partnerships with trade associations, community colleges, and local economic development organizations. By increasing transparency and lowering barriers, digital manufacturing technologies will create new opportunities for small manufacturers and create high-wage, high-skilled jobs for American workers.

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