Partners

The North Carolina Manufacturing Extension Partnership is comprised of the organizations below. For more information about each organization, please click their name or logo to visit their respective websites.

Find our Partners

Click on a Partner to find out more.

Industry Expansion Solutions

Polymers Center of Excellence

East Carolina University

Wilson College of Textiles

NC Community College System

Manufacturing Solutions Center

Hangar6

Economic Development Partnership of NC

NC A&T State University

UNC Charlotte

NCMEP_2021 Partners Timeline Hero Graphic

Industry Expansion Solutions

As the statewide extension service of NC State’s College of Engineering, Industry Expansion Solutions (IES) partners with North Carolina industry to catalyze the transfer of knowledge and technology in support of economic development. IES supplies North Carolina businesses with the tools and services they need to help increase productivity, efficiency, quality and profit. IES also serves as the administrator for the North Carolina Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NCMEP) Center, the official representative of the MEP National Network™ and NIST MEP in North Carolina.

Website: Industry Expansion Solutions

MEET NCMEP PARTNER, IES.

Clocking In: Voices of NC Manufacturing Podcast.

Listen to the interview with
Associate Executive Director
Barbara Williams.

NC Community College System

North Carolina’s statewide system of employee development and customized training provides one of the most highly skilled workforces in the nation. The NC Community College System (NCCCS) offers NCWorks, a free, customized job training and recruiting program for new and expanding businesses. It offers comprehensive training support ranging from a catalogue of established programs to customized curricula tailored to address specific business needs. NCWorks partners with the state’s 58 community colleges to provide employee education, training and support services in all 100 counties.

Website: NC Community College System

MEET NCMEP PARTNER, NCCCS.

Clocking In: Voices of NC Manufacturing Podcast.

Listen to the interview with
Dr. Bruce Mack is the vice president of economic development for the North Carolina Community College System.

Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina

EDPNC_Logo-2020_Black Text

The State of North Carolina provides specialists who can help companies enter worldwide markets with value-added services. These specialists are housed at the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina (EDPNC), a public-private organization that can prepare and assist NC companies to export and advise foreign-based firms on how to begin operations in NC. EDPNC also offers a variety of personalized tools and services to help new companies locate in NC, expand current business operations or by growing or adding another location.

Website: Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina

MEET NCMEP PARTNER, EDPNC.

Clocking In: Voices of NC Manufacturing Podcast.

Listen to the interview with
Vice President of Global Business Services John Loyack.

Polymers Center of Excellence

The Polymers Center Logo 2021

The Polymers Center of Excellence provides polymer testing, polymer processing and workforce training to increase knowledge within emerging technologies in the plastics industry. It has the rare combination of equipment and expertise to analyze, troubleshoot and make recommendations. It offers engineering and testing capabilities, plastics compounding and workforce training for extrusion and injection molding. Its sister company, the Polymers Technology Center, can help companies with custom compounding needs and the development of new products and specialty compounds and researching new resin and additive combinations.

Website: Polymers Center of Excellence

MEET NCMEP PARTNER, PCE.

Clocking In: Voices of NC Manufacturing Podcast.

Listen to the interview with
Executive Director Phil Shoemaker.

Manufacturing Solutions Center

The Manufacturing Solutions Center (MSC) is a business accelerator for product innovation and testing. It provides new and existing companies with low cost testing, research and development, where resources are shared and capabilities are inventoried to aid companies. MSC helps manufacturers increase sales, improve quality and efficiency to create or retain jobs. This is accomplished by enhancing and improving products through R&D; assisting in creating prototypes for new, innovative offerings; analyzing new materials to enhance structure and programs and testing products for reliable content and quality.

Website: Manufacturing Solutions Center

MEET NCMEP PARTNER, MSC.

Clocking In: Voices of NC Manufacturing Podcast.

Listen to the interview with
Retired Executive Director Dan St. Louis.

North Carolina A&T State University

The Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at North Carolina A&T State University is well known for its innovative research, transformational teaching and learning and impactful community engagement. The department completes projects with local industry around topics including process improvement, ergonomics, in-plant logistics and layout. The ISE department has a long-standing capstone senior design project requirement for all BSISE students, plus graduate student project requirements. Industry benefits by stimulating new thinking as students deliver results they can be rolled out into their organizations.

Website: North Carolina A&T State University

MEET NCMEP PARTNER,
NC A&T.

Clocking In: Voices of NC Manufacturing Podcast.

Listen to the interview with
Associate Professor and Interim Chair in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering Dr. Paul Stanfield.

East Carolina University

ECU Logo
East Carolina University serves to sustain and support a thriving future for eastern North Carolina and beyond. The university offers a full range of business, engineering, and technology services that can accelerate the growth trajectory of local businesses regionally, nationally and globally. The business and technological professional services, which encompass management employee training and special projects, include accounting, entrepreneurship, finance, hospitality, leadership, management, management information systems, marketing, risk management, and supply chain management. Projects may be integrated into student capstone projects, incumbent employee training or serve as consulting projects.

Website: East Carolina University

MEET NCMEP PARTNER,
ECU.

Clocking In: Voices of NC Manufacturing Podcast.

Listen to the interview with
Director of the Bureau of Business Research in the College of Business  Dr. Jason Rowe

Hangar6

Hangar6 Logo - 2021

Hangar6, a First Flight Venture Center program, is the Research Triangle region’s premier prototyping and design assistance space for technology-based companies. Hangar6 enables designing, building and modeling product prototypes using tools, such as 3D scanners, CO2 lasers, metal fiber lasers, CNC mill, 3D printers and more.

Website: Hangar6

NCMEP Partners Profile: Hangar6.

MEET NCMEP PARTNER,
Hangar6.

Clocking In: Voices of NC Manufacturing Podcast.

Listen to the interview with
Shop Manager at Hangar6 Sam Dirani. and

Program Manager at First Flight Venture Center Emil Runge.

UNC Charlotte

ECU Logo
The Lee College of Engineering Industrial Solutions Laboratory at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte provides cost-effective solutions to industry partners through state-of-the-art facilities, technical expertise, senior and graduate student educational projects and R&D and consulting with faculty.

Website: UNC Charlotte

MEET NCMEP PARTNER,
UNCC.

Clocking In: Voices of NC Manufacturing Podcast.

Listen to the interview with
Director at UNC Charlotte Industrial Solutions Lab Jim Hartman.

Wilson College of Textiles

NCSU-Wilson College of Textiles Logo
As a part of NC State’s land-grant charge, Wilson College of Textiles has a core mission of extension and outreach which is encompassed in all our efforts; however, two units within Wilson College are principally charged with this important work – the Textile Protection and Comfort Center
(TPACC) and Zeis Textiles Extension (ZTE). These units accomplish this mission through the key areas of (1) Lean Six Sigma, continuous improvement and design thinking programs, (2) product development, (3) material and product testing and quality assurance, and (4) textile training.

Website: Wilson College of Textiles

MEET NCMEP PARTNER,
Wilson College of Textiles

Clocking In: Voices of NC Manufacturing Podcast.

Listen to the interview with
Associate Director of Zeis Textiles Extension (ZTE) Melissa Sharp.