• New England Business Association cannot pay a third party consultant for work that has already been done; the work must be completed after the date of award.
• The applications will be vetted by a committee of seven and all information will be kept strictly confidential.

New England Business Association encourages and expects that companies will select their own consultants.

Companies must hire a 3^rd party consultant; current employees CANNOT be substituted for a consultant. New England Business Association will handle all project payments and will ask each consultant to fill out a W-9 form. Along with each invoice, consultants must submit a benchmark report. This report will include what tasks were completed, where in the project that places them based on the submitted timeline and what the next steps in the project will be. At the completion of the project, New England Business Association requires a final report, detailing any and all results that company will see as a direct result of the project.

• A committee of five vets quality of the proposal and consultant rate structure and either rejects it or accepts proposal
• Company must send 50% matching amount to New England Business Association in advance 
• Consultant submits a monthly progress report to New England Business Association along with an invoice
• New England Business Association disburses check to consultant until grant funds are completely utilized
• Consultants will submit a final report to New England Business Association that will be reviewed by the Massachusetts Legislature

CNE Direct, which offers green recovery and disposal of used technology, applied to the SBANE program in 2020 to assist them in tying the technology and data output from the processing facility to the front office.

CNE contracted with RSM, a world leading provider of audit, tax and consulting services in Boston, to identify the inefficiencies caused by running non-integrated inventory and financial management systems, and to design an all-encompassing process to capture and account for the differences in the two systems.

“The process improvements have allowed for better revenue recognition practices and more accurate financial results and timely reporting, allowing for increased overall operating efficiency” said Nicole Simmons, VP of Production and Development.

“Gross Margin has increased from 18.19% to 22.3%, while Net Income has remained stable.  This is a direct result of streamlined processes producing better reporting, allowing for selectivity in deal making that will ensure more stable and stronger revenue growth for the future.”

In the fiscal year of 2020, SBANE’s Manufacturing Matching Grant Program assisted 41 manufacturing companies, supporting 1,661 jobs throughout the Commonwealth. The consultants working with our applicants ranged from software consultants, to legal consultants, to marketing consultants, and more. The recipients of these grants were pleased with the meaningful impact these grants were able to make.

One participant, Koso America, manufacturer of Hammel Dahl Control Valves and REXA Actuators, finished their project a month ahead of schedule with great success. The company was grateful for the user-friendly grant process and was pleased with the work of the chosen consultant. The company’s recent 12/12 month results comparison include a 35% sales increase, a 10% export increase and 15 full time people added. They also have an LOI to lease a new building under construction for additional manufacturing capacity.

Additionally, recipients reported on how smoothly the program ran. Bixby International shared that the SBANE grant “process was streamlined and easy to navigate.” And NEDC Sealing Solutions (previously known as New England Die Cutting) stated that, “the SBANE grant process has been nothing short of terrific.” Having come out of an overwhelmingly successful round for FY2020, we are looking forward to witnessing the continued growth of SBANE’s Matching Grant recipients.