🚨 Funding alert:
Defense Industrial Base Workforce Development Initiative (CIR CS-24-1801) — issued by Army Contracting Command–Rock Island for Cornerstone, in support of DEVCOM Chemical Biological Center.
This FY2027 opportunity seeks fixed-price prototype proposals to strengthen the talent pipeline supporting the U.S. defense industrial base. The Army intends to make at least 10 awards, subject to available funding, for projects addressing persistent skill shortages, aging workforces, and growing technical demands. Projects may run for up to four years.
🔧 What it supports:
Targeted workforce training, modernized curricula, technical education, industry-aligned certifications, public-private partnerships, hands-on apprenticeships, and K–12 outreach and engagement designed to build sustainable talent pipelines for advanced manufacturing and defense.
🎯 Key focus areas include:
• Critical minerals
• Kinetics: hypersonics, UAS, and munitions
• Industrial manufacturing: castings and forgings, robotics/automation, additive and subtractive manufacturing, and related technologies
• Microelectronics
• Recruiting and workforce awareness, training capacity, hiring and retention, and workforce data/analytics
💡 Why it matters:
This opportunity connects workforce development directly to national manufacturing capacity and defense readiness. Strong proposals will demonstrate measurable gains in trained and certified workers, sustainable industry-training partnerships, reduced skill shortages, and clear return on investment.
📌 How to apply:
Proposals are due October 30, 2026, at 12:00 p.m. Central and must be submitted electronically by email. Questions are due August 31, 2026, at 12:00 p.m. Central. The one-step application requires an unclassified PDF proposal of no more than 15 pages, a mandatory cover page, signed Representation and Certification, technical response, and fixed-price proposal. Offerors must also meet applicable requirements in the overarching SAMDIB CIR; active JCP registration is required to handle unclassified military technical data.
👥 Who should consider this:
Organizations and partnerships with strong capabilities in defense manufacturing, workforce development, technical education, apprenticeships, industry training, talent pipelines, or related advanced-technology sectors.
The New Growth Team can help organizations assess fit, develop partnership and workforce strategy, and provide grant writing and proposal development support to build a competitive proposal. Click here to set up a quick call!