Boise State’s TechHelp seeks small state support for Studio Blue director, highlights workforce impact

TechHelp, the Boise State University program that provides engineering and product‑development assistance to Idaho manufacturers, told the Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee on Wednesday it seeks modest state support to sustain its Studio Blue new‑product development program and its director position.

Why it matters: TechHelp provides applied design, prototyping and manufacturing assistance to small and medium manufacturers across Idaho. Committee members pressed the program on how success is measured and whether state support multiplies economic and workforce outcomes.

Kevin Campbell, a Legislative Services analyst presenting the budget, said TechHelp is largely personnel‑funded and has a small, stable appropriation. The program requested a small personnel increase tied to the Studio Blue director position and has previously relied on federal grants that expired in September 2024.

Brad McDonald, TechHelp’s executive director, described Studio Blue as the program’s workforce arm that helps manufacturers with design, create and launch activities and provides extended student experience: “By the time they've completed our program, [students] will have up to 2,000 hours of experience,” McDonald said. He told the committee TechHelp’s principal measures of impact are standardized national “impact metrics,” including new and retained jobs, sales, cost savings, investments, number of clients served and client satisfaction as measured by net promoter scores.

McDonald said TechHelp participates in a national network that reports those metrics, and that an independent contractor surveys clients; he described consistently high net promoter scores across recent quarters. Committee members asked for documentation of the impact metrics; McDonald agreed to provide the reports and said the program partners with Idaho State University, the University of Idaho and the Idaho Manufacturing Alliance to reach firms statewide.

Members also queried why TechHelp’s Studio Blue director has had partial grant support rather than a fully funded, permanent state position. McDonald said grant funding for the director role had declined and that the requested state support is intended to stabilize the position and allow predictable student and client pipelines. He summarized the program’s priorities in three words: “workforce, workforce, workforce,” and asked for continued, predictable state investment to sustain the program’s assistance to manufacturers and on‑the‑job student training.

TechHelp did not receive final committee approval for a staffing change at the hearing; the director said he would follow up with impact reports and program documentation.