Boise State’s TechHelp briefs committee; Studio Blue director funding requested to sustain student-industry work
January 20, 2025 | Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, JOINT, Committees, Legislative, Idaho
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TechHelp, Boise State University’s applied assistance program for small and medium manufacturers, briefed the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on its budget, performance metrics and a request to partially fund the Studio Blue director position.
Kevin Campbell of the Legislative Services Office explained TechHelp is organized at Boise State and has 3.44 authorized FTP with no vacancies in the program unit. The program’s appropriation has been relatively stable around $450,000 except for COVID‑era grants that increased funding in 2021–2022.
Brad McDonald, executive director of TechHelp, told the committee TechHelp serves small and medium-sized manufacturers statewide through product design, prototyping, testing and related services. He said TechHelp measures impact using national Manufacturing Extension Partnership metrics — including new and retained jobs, sales and investment gains, client counts and net promoter scores — and reports quarterly on those impact metrics. McDonald said Studio Blue, TechHelp’s new-product-development arm, provides significant student workforce development; by program end students may accrue up to roughly 2,000 hours of practical experience.
Funding request and rationale: TechHelp requested a modest FY2026 enhancement of $5,000 (roughly 0.03 FTP in the budget documents) to support the Studio Blue director position that has been partially grant-funded in recent years. McDonald told the committee the $5,000 is a legislative-budget request tied to what could be authorized in the current cycle and that a fully funded, permanent position would better enable predictable growth of student placements and client projects.
Committee questions addressed how TechHelp measures outcomes and the program’s return on investment. McDonald said TechHelp participates in national impact reporting and can provide detailed quarterly metrics, and he offered to supply the committee with the impact-measures report used in federal partnership reporting.
Provenance: The TechHelp presentation began when Kevin Campbell introduced the program (transcript excerpt: "Mr. Co Chair, Madam Co Chair, members of the committee, my name is Kevin Campbell. I'm a budget and policy analyst with the legislative services office. Today, I'm presenting you the budget for Tech Help.") and concluded after Brad McDonald’s remarks and committee questions (transcript excerpt: "Thank you. Thanks for being with us today.").
Kevin Campbell of the Legislative Services Office explained TechHelp is organized at Boise State and has 3.44 authorized FTP with no vacancies in the program unit. The program’s appropriation has been relatively stable around $450,000 except for COVID‑era grants that increased funding in 2021–2022.
Brad McDonald, executive director of TechHelp, told the committee TechHelp serves small and medium-sized manufacturers statewide through product design, prototyping, testing and related services. He said TechHelp measures impact using national Manufacturing Extension Partnership metrics — including new and retained jobs, sales and investment gains, client counts and net promoter scores — and reports quarterly on those impact metrics. McDonald said Studio Blue, TechHelp’s new-product-development arm, provides significant student workforce development; by program end students may accrue up to roughly 2,000 hours of practical experience.
Funding request and rationale: TechHelp requested a modest FY2026 enhancement of $5,000 (roughly 0.03 FTP in the budget documents) to support the Studio Blue director position that has been partially grant-funded in recent years. McDonald told the committee the $5,000 is a legislative-budget request tied to what could be authorized in the current cycle and that a fully funded, permanent position would better enable predictable growth of student placements and client projects.
Committee questions addressed how TechHelp measures outcomes and the program’s return on investment. McDonald said TechHelp participates in national impact reporting and can provide detailed quarterly metrics, and he offered to supply the committee with the impact-measures report used in federal partnership reporting.
Provenance: The TechHelp presentation began when Kevin Campbell introduced the program (transcript excerpt: "Mr. Co Chair, Madam Co Chair, members of the committee, my name is Kevin Campbell. I'm a budget and policy analyst with the legislative services office. Today, I'm presenting you the budget for Tech Help.") and concluded after Brad McDonald’s remarks and committee questions (transcript excerpt: "Thank you. Thanks for being with us today.").
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