WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Small Business Administration launched a $20 million prize competition for small manufacturers that can rapidly expand domestic production in critical supply-chain sectors, offering non-dilutive capital to companies able to address chokepoints in metals, advanced materials and energy systems.
The Critical Suppliers Prize Competition will award as many as six prizes, with individual awards of up to $6 million, to qualifying small businesses that demonstrate measurable and durable gains in U.S. production capacity.
The competition targets three areas: advanced metals manufacturing, advanced materials manufacturing, and energy systems, energetics and components.
Eligible projects can include rapid tooling, precision casting and forging, heat-treated components, strategic and critical minerals, rare earth recovery and magnet production.
Advanced materials proposals can include large-format additive manufacturing and materials transformation, while energy-related projects can address nuclear energy, battery storage systems and standardization efforts.
“The Critical Suppliers Prize Competition will unleash promising solutions to supply-chain vulnerabilities, bring capacity and jobs back home, and rebuild strategic sectors like advanced materials, metals, and energy production,” SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler said.
Applicants must qualify as small businesses under SBA standards and be organized and primarily based in the United States or its territories.
The competition also requires contestants to be profitable, creditworthy and in good standing on federal obligations and in their state of organization.
Companies must demonstrate that they can deploy prize funding within six months and produce measurable increases in output or efficiencies that create near-term supply-chain effects.
Members of an applicant’s senior management team must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents and at least 18 years old. Individuals participating in applications are also restricted from joining more than one entry.
The competition adds to a broader SBA manufacturing push that has included waived loan fees for manufacturing industry codes, a dedicated loan program for manufacturers, changes to the Small Business Investment Company program and a 90% Made in America Loan Guarantee.
The agency is also using supplier matchmaking and its Make Onshoring Great Again Portal to connect larger companies with domestic small-business suppliers.
Applicants may submit proposals, including company pitch decks, by email to investinnovate@sba.gov.
The deadline is Aug. 28 at 11:59 p.m. ET.
More information is available at https://www.sba.gov/about-sba/priorities/sba-initiatives/critical-suppliers-prize-competition/.
Support the local news that supports Chester County. MyChesCo delivers reliable, fact-based reporting and essential community resources—free for everyone. If you value that, click here to become a patron today.