Meco Receives Voucher for Pilot Program

Meco Corporation (Greeneville, TN) was recently invited to the White House after being awarded a $125,000 voucher for innovation and product development as part of a new program, RevV!, which was created by the State of Tennessee in partnership with the University of Tennessee and the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The state-funded $2.5 million pilot program assists Tennessee manufacturers by providing access to ORNL researchers and facilities, with the ultimate goal of producing jobs in the state.

Meco’s project was one of just 13 selected in the first year and the only project selected from Greene County. The proposal fell under RevV!’s Tier 2 group, which will allow the 56-year-old contract manufacturing company to enter into a long-term R&D partnership with ORNL. By gaining access to the world-class researchers and facilities of ORNL, Meco and other Tennessee manufacturers are able to meet the challenges of product development and enhance their processes for a competitive advantage in the global marketplace.

“We found out about this program from the Tech 2020 Regional Advanced Manufacturing Partnership and wanted to take advantage of it,” said Mark Proffitt, the president of Meco. “We defined our project, submitted it to UT-Battelle and after a careful review process, were selected to receive the $125,000 voucher.”

The company was invited to the White House for the “Forum on Connecting Regional Innovation Ecosystems to Federal and National Labs” as part of this project as well. Guests included lab directors, university leaders, agency admins and other business executives, who were able to engage in frank discussions to share their experiences, perspectives and ideas about how federal labs can add to regional economies.

Because a main focus of this project is economic development, Meco’s proposal had to include how many jobs the project would generate. At this time, Proffitt estimates that number is between three and six. Over the next six through nine months, the manufacturer will redeem the $125,000 voucher to fulfill their project. Details are not being disclosed at this time for proprietary reasons.

“We’re excited about the RevV! project because we think it will help us move from a commodity-based business to one that makes value-added products,” added Proffitt. “There is a wealth of knowledge and resources in our National Labs, and the voucher program is an important step in helping to transfer that expertise into industry, through the development of projects and jobs.”

ORNL is managed by UT-Battelle for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science.

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