Since 1996, NIST MEP has sponsored a national survey of center clients by independent survey experts. The survey asks clients to report on the business impact of the services provided by their local center. NIST MEP surveys clients for two primary purposes:
- Collect aggregate information on program performance indicators to report to various stakeholders on program performance. The survey provides information about the quantifiable impacts clients attribute to the services provided by MEP Centers. NIST MEP also conducts other episodic studies to evaluate the system’s impact that corroborate and complement the survey results.
- Provide center-specific program performance and impact information for center use. Centers use this information to communicate results to their own stakeholders at both the state and federal level. Center management and NIST MEP use these results to evaluate center performance and effectiveness. The MEP review process places a strong emphasis on a center’s ability to demonstrate impacts based on the survey results.
The survey results also provide MEP Centers with a tool to measure their center’s performance and effectiveness as well as benchmark their performance against other centers and performance standards. In addition, the data allows NIST MEP to gauge the impact of the national MEP system on America’s small manufacturers and its impact on the national and regional economies.