The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) announced Monday that it will offer an additional $184 million in funding to 158 more aviation manufacturing businesses.
The Aviation Manufacturing Jobs Protection Program (AMJP) funding from the American Rescue Plan is already helping protect nearly 30,000 American manufacturing jobs across 41 states and Puerto Rico. The new awards will bring the total amount to help protect aviation manufacturing jobs to $626 million.
The DOT also announced that it would reopen the application process one last time and accept AMJP funding applications until Dec. 13, 2021.
“This Administration has made it a priority to protect manufacturing jobs in the U.S.,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “This funding will save thousands of manufacturing jobs, support hundreds of small businesses, and help keep America’s aviation industry strong.”
The department said many of the recipients are small businesses, with nearly two-thirds of them (63 percent) with fewer than 100 employees at the beginning of April 2020 and more than 80 percent of them with fewer than 250 employees. The DOT said 469 companies had been awarded grants in the first two rounds of funding.
AMJP funds can be used to pay up to half of the payroll costs for certain categories of employees engaged in manufacturing or repair for up to six months. In return, the businesses receiving the awards must make several commitments, including not furloughing or laying off employees, or reducing their pay or benefits, while receiving AMJP payroll support.