/EINPresswire.com/ -- WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwired - July 25, 2016) - From its headquarters today, The U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) joined with Walmart and the Walmart Foundation to launch the third awards cycle of the Walmart U.S. Manufacturing Innovation Fund. The Fund provides grants to innovators in the manufacturing sector and seeks to create new processes, ideas, and jobs that support America's growing manufacturing footprint in U.S. cities and metro areas.

"Creating jobs is a top priority for America's mayors, and we never stop looking for innovative ways to grow our metro economies. Collaboration between government, industry, and researchers is the surest way to ensure this growth. Once again, we are proud to join with our partners at Walmart and the Walmart Foundation to make these grants available," said USCM CEO and Executive Director Tom Cochran.

The Fund's third awards cycle comes as part of a five-year, $10 million collaboration between USCM, Walmart, and the Walmart Foundation, and focuses on innovation in textiles manufacturing placing an emphasis on sustainability. Walmart's support of this fund comes in conjunction with its larger commitment to purchase approximately $250 billion in products from U.S. manufacturers that support the creation of American jobs.

The previous two awards cycles from the Fund have focused on textile production, small motor manufacturing, and injection molding, resulting in twelve grants totaling nearly $7 million. Winners have included Clemson University, Cornell University, Georgia Tech, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, North Carolina State, Oregon State, Texas Tech, the University of Georgia, the University of Texas at Arlington, and the University of Texas at Austin. These universities are working with mayors and their local business communities to make specific aspects of manufacturing more efficient and sustainable in a domestic setting.

Letters of intent are due on August 25, 2016. Selected proposals will receive grants of at least $100,000 for award periods of at least one year. Each final application includes a strong endorsement from its respective mayor, and a former USCM member mayor serves on the review committee along with industry experts.

For more information on this application process, or to apply, please visit:
http://www.usmanufacturingfund.com

Videos highlighting some of the program's most successful projects can be found at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzXPU2xr19M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMtC1mkZ_Xs

The U.S. Conference of Mayors is the official nonpartisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. There are nearly 1,400 such cities in the country today, and each city is represented in the Conference by its chief elected official, the mayor. Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/usmayors, or follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/usmayors.

Contact:
Elena Temple
etemple@usmayors.org
202-286-1100

Sara Durr
sara@durrcommunications.com
202-215-1811