The Marshall Advanced Manufacturing Center (MAMC) has awarded Early-Stage Funding Opportunities assistance to five West Virginia entrepreneurs and small businesses to help them develop innovative new products.
The funding will cover design engineering and manufacturing assistance, including prototyping and computer-aided design, 3D printing and fabrication.
The award recipients and their projects are:
- Heritage Farm Foundation of Huntington for a dry-slope technology that will allow skiing regardless of snow conditions.
- Mountaineer Elite Munitions of Spencer (in collaboration with Polywad Innovations) to develop hand-held, shoulder-fired launchers for fire suppression systems.
- M-Rock of Peterstown to prototype a contour pillow with specialized indentions to accommodate sleepers in multiple positions.
- Ortho-Hab LLC of Charleston for a water-filled headband system that trains the small stabilizing muscles of the cervical spine.
- Timber Optical of Charleston to develop and manufacture custom eyeglass frames using West Virginia-sourced hardwood.
Small businesses and entrepreneurs can apply for funding that ranges from $1,000 to $10,000 to cover the cost of new product development, design engineering, prototyping, quality management implementation and advanced technology skill-set training. Awards are granted based on the project’s potential to bring new products to market, expand businesses and create jobs.
Major funding for MAMC’s Early-Stage Funding Opportunities initiative is provided through a grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration with additional financial support from the West Virginia Development Office.
Learn more about Early-Stage Funding Opportunities at www.mfg.marshall.edu/earlystagefunding.
