A Northwest industrial equipment manufacturer rapidly lost business to imports from China and Taiwan. An economic developer recognized the problem and referred the company to the Trade Adjustment Assistance for Firms (TAAF) program. When the company applied for TAAF, they had lost half of their employees and 65 percent of sales over two years.
NorthwestTAAC and the company’s management developed a strategy to realign the company to higher-value scientific and specialist products. Among many company-wide initiatives, the company launched a customized production system using a specialist in their industry – NorthwestTAAC paid half.
After four years, the company increased sales by 67 percent (12 percent year-on-year growth) while maintaining employment levels. Productivity shot way up! Long-term prospects for the company went from questionable to assured.
The federal TAAF program will match company spending on outside expertise up to $150,000 per company. Companies use the program for a wide variety of knowledge-based projects in all phases of operations. Companies scope the projects, and companies select the service providers. NorthwestTAAC supports companies’ use of the program through completion of qualifying documentation, participation in planning and proposing projects, and actual contracting and payment of service providers.