Illinois manufacturing assistance center receives $25M grant

PEORIA, Ill. (AP) - An Illinois center that assists manufacturers has received a $25 million federal grant.

The funding to the Illinois Manufacturing Excellence Center comes from the U.S. Department of Commerce and will help small businesses keep up with changing technology.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin announced the grant this week at Bradley University in Peoria where the manufacturing center has its headquarters.

The center's president, David Boulay, tells the Peoria Journal Star (http://bit.ly/1IUM9Vq) Illinois has 20,000 manufacturers who employ nearly 600,000 people.

The center puts on training events on subjects such as continuous improvement, innovation and growth, sustainability, supply chain operations and workforce issues. It was established in 1996. Last year, it helped more than 540 companies.

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Information from: Journal Star, http://pjstar.com