Center for Manufacturing Advancement opens

The Center for Manufacturing Advancement (CMA), a state-funded project located on the campus of the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR), is open and ready to attract new businesses and jobs to the Commonwealth of Virginia.

“As we strive to make Virginia the best place for veterans to live, work, and raise a family, I am thrilled to announce the groundbreaking of our new IALR Center for Manufacturing Advancement in Danville,” said Governor Glenn Youngkin. “This partnership will diversify, transform, and grow Southern Virginia’s production capability for the submarine industrial base as well, marking another major win for Virginia’s defense economy and labor market.”

Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin joined IALR and industry partners for a ribbon cutting to recognize the CMA as Virginia’s newest pro-business platform for developing manufacturing technologies that support business expansion in the region and skilled workforce development.

“The Institute of Advanced Learning and Research is a national model of an adaptive education system that delivers the skilled workforce that our business community and industries require today and for tomorrow,” said Secretary of Education Aimee Guidera. “It shows how a locally driven, state supported, and federally shared Institute can quickly meet the needs of the business community and build the advanced manufacturing pipeline.”

The 51,250ft² facility is a $28.8 million investment to promote collaboration among technology leaders and to provide state-of-the-art space for industry partners to optimize their operations and scale. Both existing manufacturers in the region looking to expand and manufacturers looking to enter Southern Virginia with a new site location will benefit. The CMA will help these companies improve quality and innovate technologies that aid economic and manufacturing competitiveness.

“The advancements that are to come out of the Center for Manufacturing Advancement will have significant implications for developing the processes that support manufacturing expansion, as well as the workforce needed to support that growth,” remarked Telly Tucker, president of IALR. “Today’s manufacturing and workforce challenges require comprehensive and innovative approaches to the way industry collaborates, along with significant investments in infrastructure, equipment and people. The CMA fosters each of these obligations in a way that will benefit the region, the Commonwealth, and the country.”

Funded largely by the Commonwealth of Virginia, the CMA was built in cooperation with Virginia’s Division of Engineering and Buildings with financial incentives provided by the Economic Development Administration, IALR and the IALR Foundation, and the Danville Regional Foundation. The CMA and IALR campus resides on land owned by the Danville-Pittsylvania Regional Industrial Facility Authority.

The two-story CMA features:

• Rapid-launch facilities that will enable new businesses to begin limited operations off-site during what is traditionally the initial downtime as new businesses wait for their factory to be constructed and equipped to support full operations

• ISO-certified inspection lab that will provide integrated inspection capabilities required to validate product quality, reduce the start-up phase for a new company by 4 to 6 months, the time required to certify an inspection lab

• Process improvement labs that will enable new and existing businesses to improve their processes in a more expeditious manner, thereby ensuring global competitiveness

• Industry 4.0 integration and training lab that will support next-generation manufacturing requirements

• Platform for collaborative innovation that allows manufacturing companies, technology companies, and engineering students to work together to discover, integrate, and showcase emerging technology

• Concierge service that provides the wrap-around support needed by companies new to the U.S. during their critical start-up phase

The opening of the CMA took place during the second annual Accelerated Training in Defense Manufacturing (ATDM) Summit where stakeholders convened on topics pertaining to closing skills and workforce gaps within the naval defense industrial base.

The United States Navy will be the first project partner locating in the CMA, selecting three of the high bays as part of a new center of excellence they announced at the ATDM Summit.