Penn State DuBois Campus to Become Regional Manufacturing Hub With $39.9M Federal Grant

Penn State has received a $39.9 million federal grant to establish a regional manufacturing hub at one of its seven campuses slated for closure next year.

The DuBois Center for Innovation Regional Manufacturing Hub will redevelop facilities on the university’s DuBois campus for an initiative “designed to transform and grow north central Pennsylvania’s manufacturing economy and accelerate innovation in the region’s industry for pressed materials,” according to a news release.

Led by Penn State with a coalition of regional partners, the project will create an advanced manufacturing and workforce hub serving Cameron, Clearfield, Elk, Jefferson, McKean and Potter counties. In addition to the funding from the U.S. Economic Development Administration, the university says it is expected to draw additional public and private commitments, including an investment of up to $150 million from Bunting Magnetics & Magnetic Applications, which has operated a manufacturing plant in DuBois for 34 years.

Andrew Read, senior vice president for research at Penn State, whose office oversees the university’s commercialization efforts, said the center is an opportunity to accelerate economic development in the region while strengthening one of the state’s most important manufacturing clusters.

“The DuBois Center for Innovation will provide the United States the domestic pressed materials production needed for a strategic manufacturing capability essential to economic and national security and technological leadership, while creating opportunities for businesses and workers across north central Pennsylvania,” Read said.

The center will be located in the DuBois Educational Foundation Building, which is expected to be transferred to the ownership of the foundation as part of the project’s implementation.

Construction and redevelopment will begin in the coming months, and the Center for Innovation will be operational in about 16 months, according to the university.

“This is about turning a challenge into an opportunity for DuBois and the entire region,” U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick said in a statement. “I’m proud to have helped push this project forward and am grateful to Secretary [of Commerce Howard] Lutnick for investing in Pennsylvania’s future. This is a major win for Pennsylvania workers.”

Federal funding will support facility redevelopment to house advanced manufacturing laboratories, training centers and collaborative research space; creation of a shared applied research and development center focused on pressed materials innovation; development of workforce training programs and apprenticeships; expansion of entrepreneurship, commercialization and business-growth services; and establishment of a long-term effort to coordinate industry collaboration, investment and economic development efforts.

“This project will significantly enhance the regional talent pipeline and global competitiveness in an area facing persistent workforce shortages,” U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson, R-Howard, said in a statement. “The DCI will reduce development timelines and accelerate the commercialization of new materials. The inclusion of coordinated R&D, upskilling opportunities, and private-sector partnerships further demonstrates a commitment to reducing long-term operational risks and improving regional economic resilience.”

Lutnick said in a statement that the center “will train hundreds of workers each year and give companies the tools they need to stay at the front of American manufacturing.”

According to the university, goals include training approximately 150 workers annually by year five, supporting 50 apprentices within three years and contributing to the creation of 200 jobs at regional companies.

Penn State says the center will work to help manufacturers expand into sectors such as as aerospace, defense, medical devices and energy, while integrating artificial intelligence, advanced analytics and digital manufacturing tools into development and production.

Robert Bunting, president and CEO of Bunting Magnetics Co. and Magnet Applications Inc., said in a statement that the collaboration between industry and academic researchers will create new jobs and bolster the national supply chain.

“Magnet Applications has made magnets in DuBois since 1992 and is the only U.S. makers of bonded neodymium magnets,” Bunting said. “The DuBois Center for Innovation gives our engineers and Penn State researchers one place to work on what comes next: finishing rare-earth magnets here for defense, aerospace and energy customers. That means skilled manufacturing jobs in north central Pennsylvania and a magnet supply chain America controls.”

It marks the latest post-closure repurposing plans for the Penn State campuses that will be shuttered after the spring semester.

The university earlier this year began leasing space in the Swift Building at the DuBois campus to Mount Aloysius College for “transitional use” through at least spring 2027.

In July the Board of Trustees approved the sales of the 12.74-acre Shenango campus in Mercer County to JCL Development LLC for $1 million and the 57.31-acre Wilkes-Barre campus in Luzerne County to HGC Development LLC for $5.25 million.

The Shenango campus’ new owner, a Sharon-based community developer focused on adaptive reuse and restoration projects, plans to redevelop the campus as a “hub for education, workforce training, economic development and cultural enrichment,” according to the university.

At the Wilkes-Barre campus, HGC Development, a subsidiary of the nearby Huntsville Golf Club, plans to repurpose the property as a multi-use site. It will include a complementary golf club, an event and conference venue and an educational hub centered on a partnership with Misericordia University, which has announced it will establish what will be the first law school in Northeastern Pennsylvania on the property.

Plans have not yet been announced for the futures of the four other campuses closing in 2027: Fayette, Mont Alto, New Kensington and York.

Sara Thorndike, senior vice president for finance and business, said in July that each of the campuses is “on its own path and its own timeline,” adding that there are “very, very active conversations ongoing.”

“Our goal is to find a positive path forward,” Thorndike said. “Again, even though that may be different for each campus, several campuses and their communities have opted for more public processes. Some have leaned into local organizations to help advance a process, and several have identified opportunities early on, like Shenango and Wilkes-Barre, which did not necessitate as as robust of a public dialogue.”