Funding for Manufacturing Initiatives Should Stay in Place

By Anthony Birritteri, Editor-in-Chief NJBMagazine.com

Proposed budget cuts on the federal and state levels will have a negative impact on the state’s manufacturing sector if they occur. As it stands, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority’s successful Manufacturing Voucher Program has been cut from Gov. Phil Murphy’s 2026 budget proposal. Federal funding for the New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program (NJMEP) is in a wait-and-see mode until December as the Trump administration has been targeting other states with cuts. Additionally, state funding for the NJMEP program has been “zeroed out” of Murphy’s 2026 state budget proposal.

At a Legislative Manufacturing Caucus hearing today in Trenton, which was part of the 2025 State of the State of Manufacturing event sponsored by the New Jersey Business & Industry Association and NJMEP, Senator Michael Testa (R-1), co-chair of the Manufacturing Caucus, said “the state’s actions must match its words.”

“I’m not being a harsh critic of the governor, because he is [supporting] the $500 million Next New Jersey Manufacturing bill that will provide $500 million in tax credits to manufacturers in the state, but that is on the one hand … on the other, we are getting a massive cut to key programs.”

Testa said state government must provide certainty for manufacturers, especially since it can’t control what is happening on the federal level. He added that both sides of the aisle in the State Legislature work well together and that federal counterparts should take notice.

NJBIA President and CEO Michele Siekerka asked the Caucus for favorable policies to support the manufacturing sector. She discussed a four-legged stool of issues that need to be looked at including favorable tax policies, regulatory relief and expedited permitting, building energy capacity in the state, and continued workforce development.

Meanwhile, NJMEP President and CEO Peter Connolly received support from legislators that they would keep NJMEP solvent in FY2026 by continuing funding the program at the FY 2025 $2 million level.

Asked by New Jersey Business Magazine if there was a Plan B if a worst-case scenario occurred with both state and federal funding cuts, Connolly said, “I believe the state money will come back. NJMEP can survive with $2 million and our project fees. … We cannot survive if both types of funding are gone.”

Two manufacturing business executives spoke alongside Connolly and Siekerka, telling Caucus members how vital NJMEP has been to their successes.

One of the executives, Howard McIlvane, vice president of operations at UNEX, brought up the impact of the Trump administration’s trade tariffs on business. “I’m not against tariffs, but it’s creating a lot of chaos right now. I can’t book jobs for the fall or winter without knowing what my prices are going to be. … It’s fine to have a 90-day pause, but not knowing where this is headed is the bigger issue,” McIlvane said.

The membehttp://njbmagazine.comrs of the Caucus also heard from manufacturers in the audience who discussed the current workforce shortage and the need to reach out to students in middle school and high school.

Assemblywoman Aura Dunn (R-25) commented that a cultural shift is needed that starts with parents at the kitchen table and having “Maker Fairs” throughout the state. “You don’t do this for seniors in high school. It should start with lower grades,” Dunn said.

Near the end of the hearing, NJBIA’s Siekerka called for the funding of not only NJMEP but Junior Achievement of New Jersey, which has brought a manufacturing component to its training center to educate young students on the industry.

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