Two new initiatives to encourage manufacturers to add medical equipment to their output have been established.
The state has partnered with the Connecticut Business and Industry Association (CBIA) and its affiliate CONNSTEP to facilitate collaboration among Connecticut”™s manufacturers that are retooling their operations to make medical equipment and supplies, and the health care institutions that are experiencing specific shortages.
The effort is focused on using manufacturers as nontraditional sources to meet needs that currently can”™t be met in the market, which has become overwhelmed as global demand has dramatically increased.
Through the creation of a new website by CONNSTEP ”“ www.ctcovidresponse.org ”“ manufacturers will be able to obtain information on the current supply needs in Connecticut, make connections with suppliers and ultimately provide the products to health care institutions. The Connecticut Department of Administrative Services has a purchasing team that is generating and following sourcing leads for traditional manufacturers, distributors and other sources.
Also involved in the collaborative project are the Connecticut Hospital Association and the state”™s Chief Manufacturing Officer Colin Cooper.
In addition, the Manufacturing Innovation Fund board has retooled its Manufacturing Voucher Program in order to provide grants of up to $75,000 to companies that adjust production to make in-demand medical equipment. Previously the program offered Connecticut manufacturers with 300 or fewer employees matching grants of up to $50,000 for investments in innovation or new technologies.
