As Introduced
136th General Assembly
Regular Session H. B. No. 159
2025-2026
Representatives Santucci, Demetriou
To enact section 122.162 of the Revised Code to
create the manufacturing technologies assistance
grant program and to make an appropriation.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That section 122.162 of the Revised Code be
enacted to read as follows:
Sec. 122.162. (A) As used in this section:
(1) "Eligible project" means a project intended to
increase the productivity, efficiency, and competitiveness of a
manufacturing operation in this state by adopting and
integrating manufacturing technologies and investing in
industrial infrastructure.
(2)(a) "Eligible manufacturer" means a person that:
(i) Manufactures, processes, assembles, or refines goods
at a facility located in this state;
(ii) Has a north American industry classification system
code within the manufacturing sector range of thirty-one to
thirty-three;
(iii) Has operated as a manufacturer in this state for at
least three years before the application date;
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(iv) Has derived, in the three years preceding the
application date, at least fifty-one per cent of the person's
gross revenue from the sale of manufactured goods;
(v) Employs, as of the application date, not more than
five hundred full-time employees at one or more locations;
(vi) Demonstrates an ability to provide matching funds
from private sources equal to the requested grant amount;
(vii) Has no outstanding tax or other liabilities owed to
this state and is in good standing with the secretary of state,
department of development, and any other governmental entity
charged with regulating the person's manufacturing business;
(viii) Attests that the person is in compliance with all
applicable federal, state, local requirements applicable to the
person's manufacturing business, including tax payments and code
enforcement;
(ix) Attests that that the person is not currently in
bankruptcy.
(b) "Eligible manufacturer" includes a subsidiary or
affiliate of a person described in division (A)(2)(a) of this
section if the subsidiary or affiliate meets the requirements of
divisions (A)(2)(a)(i), (ii), (vi), (vii), (viii), and (ix) of
this section.
(3) "Full-time employee" means an individual who is
employed by an eligible manufacturer for consideration for
thirty-five or more hours per week, or who renders any other
standard of service generally accepted by custom or specified by
contract as full-time employment.
(4) "Industrial infrastructure" includes machinery,
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robotics, hardware, software, and equipment, and training
expenses associated with any of the foregoing.
(5) "Ineligible expenses" include all of the following:
(a) Payment of any federal, state, or local tax
obligations;
(b) Payment of nonbusiness-related expenses;
(c) Political expenses;
(d) Expenses for which the person has received, or will
receive reimbursement from another source, including another
government grant or loan program or insurance coverage;
(e) Mortgage, rent, or lease costs;
(f) Utility costs, including electric, gas, sewer, water,
broadband services, and trash removal;
(g) Salaries, wages, or compensation paid to employees or
independent contractors;
(h) Personal protective equipment, as defined in section
125.05 of the Revised Code.
(6) "Manufacturing industry partner" means a regional
partner of the manufacturing extension partnership administered
by the department of development and the national institute of
standards and technology within the United States department of
commerce.
(B)(1) The manufacturing technologies assistance program
is created within the department of development. Under the
program, an eligible manufacturer may apply to the director of
development for a grant to fund one or more eligible projects.
(2) Before applying for a grant under this section, an
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eligible manufacturer shall obtain an assessment of the proposed
eligible project from the Ohio manufacturing extension
partnership under the department of development. The eligible
manufacturer shall include that assessment with the grant
application. The director of development may request that one or
more additional manufacturing industry partners complete a
technical review of the application and make recommendations on
whether to approve or deny the application. A manufacturing
industry partner may collaborate with any of the following in
completing the technical review and making recommendations:
(a) An industry section partnership, as defined in section
122.179 of the Revised Code, organized to support the
manufacturing sector;
(b) A regional technology and innovation hub designated
under 15 U.S.C. 3722a;
(c) A regional innovation engine designated under 42
U.S.C. 19108;
(d) An innovation hub designated by the department of
development.
(3) The director shall review and score applications using
a competitive process under which the director gives preference
to all of the following:
(a) Applicants that derive a higher percentage of their
gross revenue from the sale of manufactured goods;
(b) Eligible projects that receive a favorable assessment
from a manufacturing industry partner;
(c) Applicants that have not previously deployed the
manufacturing technology to be funded through the eligible
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project;
(d) Eligible projects that will be started immediately or
that involve industrial infrastructure that will be purchased
immediately;
(e) Eligible projects supported by evidence that the
associated manufacturing technology will increase productivity,
efficiency, and competitiveness.
(4) Except as otherwise provided in division (B)(5) of
this section, the director of development shall reserve one-half
of the funds available to the program for eligible projects
submitted by eligible manufacturers with fifty or fewer full-
time employees, and one-half of such funds for eligible projects
submitted by eligible manufacturers with more than fifty but not
more than five hundred full-time employees.
(5) The director, with the approval of the controlling
board, may reallocate funds reserved pursuant to division (B)(4)
of this section for eligible manufacturers with fifty or fewer
full-time employees, or funds reserved pursuant to that division
for eligible manufacturers with more than fifty but not more
than five hundred full-time employees, to eligible projects
submitted by the other class of eligible manufacturers, if the
full amount of funds available to that other class of eligible
manufacturers has been approved for disbursement as grants under
the program.
(6) The director may charge a nonrefundable application
fee of up to one hundred dollars for the purpose of
administering the program.
(C) The director shall not award a grant under this
section for any eligible project initiated before the effective
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date of this section. The total grant amount awarded to an
eligible manufacturer under this section shall not exceed one
hundred fifty thousand dollars. An eligible manufacturer
receiving a grant under this section shall use the grant solely
to fund the eligible project described in the application. An
eligible manufacturer shall not use the grant for ineligible
expenses.
(D)(1) An eligible manufacturer that receives a grant
under the program shall keep itemized records of both of the
following:
(a) All expenditures for which the grant is used;
(b) The amount of private funds raised for the eligible
project and the expenditures for which those funds are used.
(2) The records may include paid invoices, cancelled
checks, payroll records, and other documentation acquired when
the expense occurred. The eligible manufacturer shall retain the
records for at least five years after the grant funds are fully
expended. The records shall be made available for inspection by
the department of development upon request of the department.
(3) Upon the completion of the eligible project or two
years following the date the director awarded the grant,
whichever is sooner, the eligible manufacturer shall submit a
report to the department of development that does all of the
following:
(a) Describes implementation of the eligible project;
(b) Demonstrates the total cost of the eligible project,
including the costs for which private funds were used;
(c) Provides a full accounting of the expenditures for
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which grant funds were used.
(4) Along with the report required by division (D)(3) of
this section, the eligible manufacturer shall return any grant
funds that have not yet been expended, were used for ineligible
expenses, or that were not matched by private contributions to
the eligible project.
(5) The director shall certify to the attorney general for
collection any grant amounts required to be returned under
division (D)(4) of this section that remain unpaid ninety days
after the report required by division (D)(3) of this section is
due.
(E) The director of development shall adopt rules in
accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code prescribing all
of the following:
(1) An application process for the grant program,
including the designation of one or more periods each year
during which applications will be accepted;
(2) The competitive process to review and score
applications described under division (B)(3) of this section;
(3) The form of the final report required by division (D)
(3) of this section.
(F) The manufacturing technologies assistance fund is
created in the state treasury. The fund shall consist of money
appropriated to the fund by the general assembly and application
fees collected under this section. Money in the fund shall be
used by the director of development to award grants under the
manufacturing technologies assistance program and to administer
this section. Interest earned on money in the fund shall be
credited to the fund.
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Section 2. All items in this act are hereby appropriated
as designated out of any moneys in the state treasury to the
credit of the designated fund. For all operating appropriations
made in this act, those in the first column are for fiscal year
2026 and those in the second column are for fiscal year 2027.
The operating appropriations made in this act are in addition to
any other operating appropriations made for these fiscal years.
Section 3.
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A DEV DEPARTMENT OF DEVELOPMENT
B Dedicated Purpose Fund Group
C 5BF11956H6 Manufacturing Tech
Assistance
$12,000,000 $12,000,000
D TOTAL Dedicated Purpose Fund Group $12,000,000 $12,000,000
E TOTAL ALL BUDGET FUND GROUPS $12,000,000 $12,000,000
MANUFACTURING TECH ASSISTANCE
The foregoing appropriation item 1956H6, Manufacturing
Tech Assistance, shall be used to administer the Manufacturing
Technologies Assistance Program established under section
122.162 of the Revised Code.
On the effective date of this section, or as soon as
possible thereafter, the Director of Budget and Management shall
transfer $24,000,000 cash from the General Revenue Fund to the
Manufacturing Technologies Assistance Fund (Fund 5BF1).
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Section 4. Within the limits set forth in this act, the
Director of Budget and Management shall establish accounts
indicating the source and amount of funds for each appropriation
made in this act, and shall determine the manner in which
appropriation accounts shall be maintained. Expenditures from
operating appropriations contained in this act shall be
accounted for as though made in, and are subject to all
applicable provisions of, the main operating appropriations act
of the 136th General Assembly.
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