Ford Motor Co., JPMorganChase, the State of Michigan, Michigan Central, and Newlab have announced the Michigan Launchpad for Industrial Innovation & Transformation, or Michigan LIFT.
The public-private initiative is designed to strengthen manufacturers’ competitiveness and supply-chain resilience while accelerating the growth of innovative suppliers expanding production in Michigan.
The initiative is separate from LIFT in Detroit’s Corktown district, a U.S. Department of War-supported national advanced materials and manufacturing innovation institute that is an accelerator connecting advanced materials, manufacturing processes, systems engineering, and talent development.
The Michigan LIFT platform translates manufacturing and supply-chain challenges identified by industrial buyers into “Open Calls” for innovative suppliers that can address them.
Where a solution shows a credible path to adoption, Michigan LIFT helps connect customer demand, financing, public resources, workforce support, and commercialization services to scale production.
Over the next decade, the founding participants aspire to use the platform to connect customer demand, mobilize capital, and provide ecosystem support, subject to each participant’s standard qualification, sourcing and approval processes:
- Ford, serving as the anchor industrial buyer, aspires to award up to $1 billion of business to innovative suppliers through opportunities advanced by Michigan LIFT, which reflects the same focus on practical solutions for America’s industrial future featured at Ford’s ACCELERATE The Essential Economy conference.
- JPMorganChase, the founding capital provider, aspires to finance up to $1 billion of debt capital to Michigan LIFT suppliers on the platform as part of its Security and Resiliency Initiative , a $1.5 trillion, 10-year plan to facilitate, finance and invest in industries critical to national security and economic resilience.
- State of Michigan, through the Michigan Economic Development Corp. (MEDC), will serve as the public-sector participant, deploying the state’s economic development tools and resources to support innovation-driven companies with credible pathways to commercial and industrial scale.
- Michigan Central will provide the physical testing and scaling environment across its 30-acre innovation district, offering purpose-built infrastructure, industry expertise and a collaborative platform to help companies move from prototype to production
- Newlab aspires to contribute $20 million of in-kind support focused on translating industrial demand into commercialization opportunities for high-growth companies and providing the execution capacity needed to deliver the platform.
- Michigan Central, Newlab, and the MEDC aspire to attract 10–20 additional industrial buyers representing over $1 billion in annual demand commitments by the end of 2036.
Suppliers can struggle to reach or expand production based on demand. They also may be challenged by accessing operating or expansion funds on a consistent basis, complex supplier qualifications scattered across multiple organizations, and a shortage of trained workers.
Michigan LIFT states it will address such barriers while helping expand U.S. production of critical technologies, components, and capabilities.
Michigan LIFT grew out of the Michigan Resiliency Summit, jointly hosted by JPMorganChase and the State of Michigan in Detroit in June, where industrial, financial, and government leaders identified the practical hurdles preventing promising companies and technologies from reaching production scale.
“For over a decade, Detroit has shown what is possible when business, government, and community leaders work together for the long term,” says Jamie Dimon, CEO and chairman of JPMorganChase. “Michigan LIFT builds on that same model of public- private collaboration by connecting customer demand, capital, and public resources so more companies can grow, more workers can participate and more critical capabilities can scale here in the United States.”
The launch also continues JPMorganChase’s long-standing engagement in Detroit. The firm’s $200 million commitment to the city combined business and philanthropic investment, research, employee expertise, and collaboration with local partners. Lessons from that work have informed the firm’s approach in other communities and reinforce the importance of pairing capital with sustained local partnership.
Michigan LIFT identified the state as a suitable proving ground. “It brings together manufacturing depth, skilled talent, a broad supplier base, and a growing innovation ecosystem.”
The founding participants intend to evaluate how lessons learned in Michigan could inform similar efforts elsewhere.
“Ford is America’s automaker, and we believe American manufacturing’s best days are ahead,” says Jim Farley, president and CEO of Ford. “Michigan LIFT is about helping solve real manufacturing challenges faster. It connects innovators, suppliers and manufacturers with the support they need to scale.”
Alongside the platform launch, Ford Philanthropy and JPMorganChase announced $550,000 in collective support for Focus: HOPE, a Detroit-based nonprofit providing education and job training.
The grant will strengthen Focus: HOPE’s industrial manufacturing training program — teaching manufacturing skills, robotics, and welding, while expanding employer connections, career placement support, and transportation assistance for trainees.
It also connects the Michigan LIFT platform’s innovation and manufacturing goals with the talent needed to strengthen Michigan’s supplier network and drive long-term industrial growth.
Michigan LIFT starts with priority manufacturing and supply-chain challenges, or Open Calls identified by industrial buyers. Those challenges will initially be based on focus areas aligned with Michigan’s industrial strengths and JPMorganChase’s Security and Resiliency Initiative priorities, and they include:
- Robotics and advanced manufacturing automation
- Advanced energy, including nuclear; semiconductors; and battery storage
- Advanced mobility, aerospace, propulsion, and critical components
- Critical minerals mining, processing, and recovery
- Life sciences manufacturing, including pharmaceutical precursors, sterile injectables, medical isotopes, and precision medical devices
Suppliers that can address the needs, including companies seeking to establish or expand production in Michigan, can access the Open Calls through michiganlift.org.
Eligible applicants will be referred to the relevant industrial buyer for evaluation. For opportunities that move forward, Michigan LIFT will help coordinate potential financing, public resources, and industrialization support, subject to each participant’s standard qualification and approval processes.
Industrial buyers do not need to be based in Michigan. Companies with priority manufacturing or supply-chain challenges, and suppliers or technology companies with solutions, can learn more and apply at michiganlift.org.
