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Boise State TechHelp describes Studio Blue work for manufacturers; seeks modest state support for director role
Summary
TechHelp’s director told the committee the Studio Blue product-development arm supports small and medium manufacturers statewide, uses standardized impact metrics, and requests modest state funding to backfill a director position as federal grant dollars declined.
Brad McDonald, executive director of TechHelp at Boise State University, told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee that TechHelp guides small and medium manufacturers across Idaho in product design, prototyping, testing and business support.
McDonald described Studio Blue as TechHelp’s new product‑development unit and said it now emphasizes three pillars — design, create and launch — while providing students with substantial hands‑on experience. TechHelp participates in the national Manufacturing Extension Partnership network and uses standard “impact metrics” tracked across quarters to measure retained and new jobs, sales, cost savings, client counts and related results. McDonald said an independent third party collects client surveys and that TechHelp reported strong net promoter scores.
The program’s state appropriation is modest and TechHelp has declined grant funding for Studio Blue; McDonald said the largest federal grant funding that helped establish the center expired in September 2024. TechHelp asked for a small ongoing state personnel enhancement tied to the Studio Blue director position; the agency characterized the request as a partial position request ($5,000 in personnel costs in the legislative request) to help sustain that director role as grant funding declined.
Committee members pressed on the nature of the request and how the modest state amount would be used. McDonald said the $5,000 would go toward the center director’s salary and that TechHelp also uses layered funding — program revenue, state appropriation and grant match — to sustain operations. He said TechHelp aims to expand workforce experience for students and continue supporting manufacturers across Idaho.
Ending: TechHelp agreed to provide the committee its impact‑metric reports and quarterly survey results and to supply additional written details on Studio Blue’s operations and funding sources. No formal committee vote on the modest director funding request was recorded in the transcript.
