MCAP Program Background

The MEP COVID Assistance Project (MCAP) is a Grant Program supported by funds awarded to and administered by AEDC Manufacturing Solutions through the NIST MEP National Emergency Assistance Program (NEAP). Cares Act funding and administered by the Arkansas Economic Development Commission-Manufacturing Solutions (AEDC-MS). The MCAP program provides limited financial support for the transfer and deployment of COVID related assessments to Arkansas manufacturers in the areas of Healthy Workplace, Supply Chain, Cyber Security, Process Assessment, Marketing and Business Model Review, Technology Assessment and Implementation or Workforce Assessment and Planning.

Program Details

MCAP grant awards are made to the Company. The company selects the resource provider who must possess the capability to assess compliance and implementation needs and transfer it to a specific Arkansas manufacturer. If the resource provider selected is not already approved by AEDC, a Third-Party Provider Application must first be completed, submitted, and approved.

Application Process

The company will work with the resource provider to complete all questions on the application form. The applicant should not submit any confidential or proprietary information unless so marked. All MCAP Grant Applications will be reviewed by the AEDC-MS MCAP Review Committee for compliance. Once approved an email will be sent to the company acknowledging it is okay to start work. The approval email will include a unique link to the MCAP Final Report and a copy of the final MCAP Grant Application. The application form should be reviewed, signed by a Company representative, and returned by email.  A completed W-9 Tax ID form must also be submitted by the company for the Grant Award to be issued.

Project Completion and Payment Process

Using the unique link from the approval email, the company is required to submit a final project completion report to AEDC-MS no later than 30 days after the successful conclusion of the project. An invoice from the company should be submitted to AEDC-MS documenting the cost of the MCAP assessment completed by the third party.  AEDC-MS will then issue a grant payment to the company not to exceed the Grant Award and the company reimburses the third-party provider.

The resource provider agrees to provide the stated services to the enterprise and the enterprise agrees to respond to up to two post-project surveys within 24 months from the project’s completion. The surveys are necessary to document the results and impacts of the project to AEDC stakeholders.

In order to leverage limited grant funds to the greatest extent possible, the total maximum funding available is $5,000 per project. The program will pay 100% of the cost for the assessment up to the maximum limit.

How To Get Started
  1. Complete the MCAP online application (Click Here To Start)
  2. If you are Not an approved Resource Provider, submit this Resource Provider Application

We contacted AEDCMS with the intent to train new employees and refresh some of our older employees on the fundamentals of Lean Mfg. As a result we have reduced our overtime hours to 9% with the goal of 5% or less still in reach.   We are very excited here at Cram-A-Lot® about seeing this project come together and achieving our company goals while expanding the use of Kata and other Lean principles throughout our organization.

Jeff Givens – JV Manufacturing