WASHINGTON – A new digital network is hoping to help small businesses thrive by helping the Department of Defense.
The Defense Department program is called Connecting American Manufacturing.
Mitch Free with MFG.Com says the goal is to cut through red tape and get more small manufacturers ready to produce, making things for DOD.
“We think there are about 120,000 companies in American that supply or produce products that match what the DOD uses or needs throughout the year,” he says.
Free says when there’s less red tape, it costs less to make things, and companies that could never navigate the system before can tap into funding which keeps a creates jobs for those small businesses.
He estimates that as many as 90,000 U.S. small businesses could benefit from this program.
“They’re already tooled up, they’re already producing,” Free says.
WTOP’s Kyle Cooper contributed to this report. Follow WTOP on Twitter.
(Copyright 2012 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)
