SIUE small business research center receives $150,500 grant

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EDWARDSVILLE -- A center that offers research and development services to small businesses has received a sizable check from the federal government.

The Southwest Illinois Advanced Manufacturing Center has received a federal grant of $158,527 from the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration. That comes a month after the omnibus bill directed $238,000 to SIAM, as the university-based center is known.

SIAM works with small regional businesses that don't have the funds or capabilities to do advanced research and development.

The money will go to help offset the client businesses' costs in developing new products and processes, according to director Kevin Hubbard. If, for example, a regional company needs a $10,000 project, the center will be able to charge only $7,000, with the remaining amojunt covered by the grant.

One of its clients is International Filter Manufacturing in Litchfield, Ill., which produces air filters for industrial clients, such as hospitals and mining operations.

"They wanted to increase the life of the air filter used in military humvees," Hubbard said. "They didn't have the equipment to do the testing so we designed a new filter that lasts more than twice as long as the one previously used by the military."

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