Biden-Harris administration announces $50 million to strengthen America's auto communities and bolster domestic electric vehicle manufacturing

As part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), through the Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC), announced $50 million for six states with significant automotive workforces to help small- and medium-sized suppliers adapt manufacturing facilities for the electric vehicle (EV) supply chain, helping to maintain good-paying, union jobs in traditional auto communities. This funding is made possible by the Department’s $2 billion Domestic Automotive Manufacturing Conversion Grant program, funded by the Inflation Reduction Act. The announcement builds on the Vice President’s new actions to support small- and medium-sized auto suppliers and reinforces the Biden-Harris Administration’s ongoing commitment to ensuring that the workers and manufacturers that built the auto industry remain community anchors in the transition to an EV future.

President Biden and Vice President Harris are deeply committed to reinvesting in and revitalizing our nation’s manufacturing communities while empowering workers to capture the economic benefits of our clean energy future. The investment will create and retain hundreds of good-paying, high-quality union jobs and support the American auto communities that have driven the U.S. economy for generations. This investment delivers on the President’s commitment to ensure the future of the automobile industry is made in America by American union workers, and that the United States remains a global manufacturing powerhouse for generations to come.

“Under President Biden and Vice President Harris’ leadership, America’s auto communities and the workforces they support finally have the tools they need to compete and thrive in the 21st century clean energy economy,” says U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “By helping states and manufacturers navigate the emerging EV manufacturing industry, today’s announcements will help ensure the workforces that defined America’s auto sector for the last 100 years will have the opportunity to shape the next 100 years.”

The announcement on state allocations follows an April 2024 Request for Information, seeking input from local, state, federal, and non-government entities on current and/or new state-federal partnerships that could enable federal funding to reach automotive suppliers embarking on the transition to serve the electric, hybrid, or fuel cell vehicle supply chains. Eligible grantees must be a state, territory, or the District of Columbia, have a workforce at least 0.5% of which is in the automotive sector, and qualify for at least $4 million of grant funding. Under these criteria, six states are eligible:

• Michigan: $18,406,420.45
• Ohio: $9,373,236.32
• Indiana: $8,770,249.81
• Kentucky: $4,876,458.57
• Tennessee: $4,513,688.68
• Illinois: $4,059,946.17

States have until October 15, 2024 at 5:00 pm ET to submit an application.

Expanding America's clean energy workforce and enhancing manufacturing efficiency
DOE is also announcing $1.5 million in selections across three teams of technical assistance providers under the newly expanded Industrial Training and Assessment Center (ITAC) program. The teams—led by the Purdue University Manufacturing Extension Partnership, the Regents of the University of Michigan, and the Trustees of the University of Illinois—will help create and refine a Small Supplier EV Transition Playbook, in partnership with Argonne National Laboratory, to help internal combustion engine suppliers navigate the transition of their business model to EV or adjacent markets.

The ITAC program advances a clean energy and manufacturing workforce that represents the diversity of America, and a reinvigorated manufacturing base prepared to lead the global clean energy transition. The program provides assessments to small- and medium-sized manufacturing firms to identify efficiency upgrades, saving costs for manufacturers and improving the nation’s manufacturing base.

These programs also advance President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, which sets the goal that 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal investments in climate, clean energy, clean transportation, and other areas flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.

MESC will administer the funding for both the Domestic Automotive Manufacturing Conversion Grants, including the state partnerships for SMMs, and ITAC program.