ARMI getting $100 million more from feds

May 9—MANCHESTER — Inventor Dean Kamen spilled the news about getting a $100 million federal grant he hopes will help make Manchester a major hub for regenerative medicine.

"You don't have a workforce if you don't have people living here," Kamen said during a panel discussion in the Millyard on Thursday.

Much of that $100 million going to the Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute will be devoted for workforce development, he said.

In late 2016, the Department of Defense awarded $80 million to help create ARMI, which Kamen founded in the Millyard.

The latest $100 million from the Department of Defense "was an extension of our original contract," said Julie Lenzer, ARMI's chief innovation officer, after the event.

Jennifer MacDonald, chief operating officer at ARMI, said she wasn't allowed to talk about the grant, which wasn't previously announced.

"There's really good news coming," she said in an interview. "We're proud of our excellent relationship with our DoD funders."

At the same event, Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais said his job includes planning for years out.

"We have to be thinking futuristically about how we can build the infrastructure and support" for future jobs, Ruais said. "The city of Manchester stands on the precipice of doing some incredible things."

ARMI also has received more than $200 million from nearly 200 partners, including universities, nonprofit organizations and private industry.

In 2022, a $44 million federal grant was designed to help produce the infrastructure for mass-producing human cells and organs as well as provide a path for students not ticketed for college to find a good-paying job.

That grant from the U.S. Commerce Department provides funds to expand education opportunities as well as make advances in the regenerative medicine field through ARMI.