“We want to put the region’s manufacturers in the fast lane for growth solutions,” Larrell Walters, head of the sensor systems division that will lead the program, said in an announcement from UDRI.
To receive help through the program, companies may visit www.fastlane-mep.org and answer a series of questions, the research institute said. A representative will respond within 48 hours to set up an appointment to identify and discuss issues and challenges and establish the right processes to solve them. Phil Ratermann, a former executive with Hobart and now with UDRI, and Jessika Webb, sensor systems business manager, will be working with the companies.
“The reception of client companies has been great, as we’ve just begun getting the word out regarding this program to area manufacturers,” Ratermann said in the statement. “Their eagerness to collaborate with outside help and overcome their business challenges is only exceeded by the wide array of differing opportunities that these firms bring to us.”
Walters, who is also director of the UD-led Institute for Development and Commercialization of Advanced Sensor Technology (IDCAST), said the state looked to IDCAST as a model for assisting the region’s manufacturing companies.
In six years, IDCAST was instrumental in creating more than 300 new jobs and five start-up companies in Ohio and in attracting seven additional sensors companies to the state. It garnered more than $92 million in awards for research and awarded $6.4 million for product commercialization. In total, IDCAST has had a $300 million impact on the state of Ohio, UDRI said.