AAMMC Tech Hub facility flythrough. Source | AAMMC

The American Aerospace Materials Manufacturing Center (AAMMC) Tech Hub announced on Dec. 15 that it is competing in a pool of 19 total applicants for a $220 million Tech Hub grant under the U.S. Department of Commerce. The Aerospace Tech Hub application would establish a national testbed for next-generation aerospace prototypes in Spokane, Washington, and a technical education job training center in Post Falls, Idaho. 

The AAMMC Tech Hub members have focused on a clear objective: To bring the world’s largest composites press and advanced composites equipment to the Inland Northwest (INW) to accelerate prototyping of advanced material aerospace parts and train a pipeline of engineers and suppliers so that next-generation of aerospace parts remain in the INW for decades to come. The proposed testbed can be toured here.

The AAMMC Tech Hub, reflecting a unified INW, includes both local suppliers and global aerospace industry primes and regional manufacturers. The Aerospace Prototype Testbed plans are coordinated with major industry partners: Boeing Commercial Airplanes, NASA, Boeing Defense, Phantom Works, Spirit AeroSystems, Toray and Syensqo, alongside INW manufacturers and employers, including ATC Manufacturing, Altek, Unitech, Empire Airlines and others.  

The proposed Advanced Manufacturing and AI Training Center would expand the current campus and equipment of North Idaho College, in partnership with University of Idaho, Gonzaga University, Washington State University and Spokane Community College.  

In a letter to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Lutnick, Senator Patty Murray, Senator Mike Crapo, Senator Maria Cantwell, Senator Jim Risch and Congressman Michael Baumgartner expressed the urgency for protecting American manufacturing jobs:  

“Aerospace currently provides the largest positive trade balance of any U.S. manufacturing industry and is the second largest export by dollar value. American aerospace suppliers are experiencing surging demand to produce larger, lighter advanced aeroparts for drones, military airborne platforms and new commercial aircraft at high rates. Global demand reflects the need for over 42,000 commercial aircraft and tens of thousands of drones over the next two decades, with next-generation commercial planes consisting of 60% composites. The Aerospace Tech Hub anticipates bringing the largest composites press in the world to the U.S., a 5,000-ton press capable of producing thermoplastic composite [TPC] parts at scales currently impossible domestically.”

The EDA is expected to announce applicants that can advance to Stage II in late December 2025 or early January 2026, with final awards anticipated in spring 2026.