State officials in partnership with two of Connecticut’s largest business groups launched a website to match healthcare facilities seeking equipment with manufacturers looking to produce it during the COVID-19 crisis.
The Connecticut Business & Industry Association (CBIA) and its affiliate CONNSTEP, along with the state Department of Economic and Community Development, Connecticut Department of Administrative Services and others are working together on the site, which launched Monday.
The matchmaking website was born out of necessity when CBIA and other organizations were receiving a slew of calls from manufacturers and healthcare facilities, said Eric Brown, CBIA’s vice president of manufacturing policy and outreach.
“We started to realize there needed to be a more efficient way of putting the demand and supply side together,” Brown said, noting that as of Tuesday night 35 companies and 19 healthcare facilities — including several assisted living facilities — had used the site to offer or request support.
Further, a decision made by the board that oversees the state Manufacturing Innovation Fund (MIF) last week strengthens the effort to encourage manufacturers to fill healthcare needs where possible, Brown said.
The MIF board voted to repurpose the Manufacturing Voucher Program, which has provided Connecticut manufacturers with 300 or fewer employees matching grants of up to $50,000 for investments in innovation or new technologies.
Now the program offers grants of up to $75,000 to companies that adjust production to make in-demand medical equipment, Brown said. Companies that already received $50,000 through the voucher program are still eligible for the grant. The repurposed voucher program is backed by $1.3 million, Brown said, but the fund could be replenished.
Brown said the website and adjusted voucher program demonstrate a strong partnership between the state and private companies in handling the COVID-19 pandemic and its fallout.
“This kind of response is astounding,” Brown said.
