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TechHelp pitches Studio Blue workforce and business impact; seeks permanent funding for director
Summary
Boise State’s TechHelp told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee that Studio Blue — a new-product-development center that pairs student teams with manufacturers — delivers measurable client impact and seeks modest, stable state funding for a full-time center director.
Kevin Campbell, Legislative Services Office analyst, briefed the committee on TechHelp, a Boise State University program that supports product development, prototyping and business assistance for Idaho manufacturers. TechHelp’s budget is housed at Boise State and the program reported stable appropriations near $450,000 in recent years, excluding COVID-related grants.
Brad McDonald, executive director of TechHelp, described Studio Blue as TechHelp’s new-product-development arm. McDonald said TechHelp measures impact using standardized metrics in the national Manufacturing Extension Partnership network: new and retained jobs, sales or cost savings realized by client companies, client counts and net promoter scores. He said an independent third party administers client surveys and that TechHelp’s net promoter score has ranked highly in recent quarters.
TechHelp reported 3.44 authorized FTP and that its state appropriation supports personnel and match for grants; historically grant revenue has funded a portion of Studio Blue. McDonald said a key federal grant that helped fund the Studio Blue director expired in September of the prior year and TechHelp is seeking a modest state appropriation to retain that role. The specific FY2026 request discussed in the hearing included $5,000 to support the Studio Blue center director’s salary as part of an incremental funding approach while TechHelp pursues sustained funding.
Committee members asked TechHelp for its impact data and for more detail on the director position’s funding history. McDonald said he would provide the committee the impact metrics and quarterly reports used by the national network and noted TechHelp works statewide with Idaho State University, University of Idaho and the Idaho Manufacturing Alliance as partners.
No formal vote was taken at this hearing.
