Manufacturing Readiness Grants (Conexus Indiana / EASE)

The Manufacturing Readiness Grants program sat under the Indiana Economic Development Corporation and was administered by Conexus Indiana to help Indiana manufacturers adopt Industry 4.0 technologies. The program backed capital improvements such as advanced communications, cobots, industrial internet of things systems, and 3D printing, with the goal of making factory operations more connected and more productive. It is now closed to applications. The grant size reached up to $200,000 per applicant, with a 1:1 matching requirement. The source materials also point to substantial reach: 797 grants awarded, $81.9 million in grant funding, 650 firms helped, and projects spread across 86 of Indiana's 92 counties. The program ran as part of a state budget line item through June 2025. The strongest applicants were small and mid-sized manufacturers with Indiana operations, a concrete equipment plan, and the cash to meet the match. Projects worked best when the technology upgrade was specific, the operational gain was easy to explain, and the applicant could show how the investment would move production forward rather than simply modernize on paper. That is the profile this program favored while it was active.

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