Innovation Extension Centers to Assist Small and Rural Manufacturers with Innovation

The goal of the proposed project is to provide innovation and new product development assistance for small and rural manufacturers in four predominantly rural states by means of an Innovation Extension Center (JEC) at each university. Operating in Kentucky, Oklahoma, Virginia and Tennessee, these four JEC's will assist manufacturers in their region with incremental and radical product and process innovation through a variety of approaches that include education, innovation assessment, product development and manufacturing assistance and technology difftision to help them upgrade production processes and practices.