From offices in Boise, Post Falls, Twin Falls, and Pocatello, TechHelp Specialists help Idaho manufacturers, food processors and entrepreneurs improve their competitiveness through continuous product and process innovation.

Three men discuss a motorcycle clutch part.


About Us

About TechHelp

TechHelp Manufacturing Specialists help Idaho manufacturers, food processors and entrepreneurs/inventors improve their competitiveness through continuous product and process innovation. Our consultants provide services statewide from our university-based offices in Boise, Post Falls, Twin Falls, and Pocatello. Additionally, our services fall into three primary areas of practice that include:

  • Operational Excellence –  TechHelp’s  OE Team can help manufacturers produce products more efficiently and with higher quality. Our team of trusted advisors has experience in all phases of manufacturing and can help you make key operational improvements in Leadership, Lean Six Sigma, Quality, and more.
  • Food Manufacturing Excellence We bring a broad range of services to the food industry through site visits, needs assessments, on-site project work, on-site training, and public courses.  As a result, Manufacturing Specialists offer a wide range of services that can help food processors grow revenues, improve productivity & performance, and strengthen their global competitiveness. 
  • New Product and Market Development – We specialize in concept development, design engineering, and prototyping solutions. The NPD Team includes full-time Staff Engineers and BSU Mechanical Engineering student employees. Furthermore, we help Idaho inventors, entrepreneurs, and manufacturers develop new products and make improvements to existing ones. 

We are a partnership of Idaho’s three state universities. This partnership gives Idaho companies statewide access to our manufacturing specialists, university facilities, students, and faculty that can help meet their needs. 

As a part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NIST MEP), TechHelp gives Idaho companies access to the knowledge and expertise of a national network of 1,500 manufacturing experts at 50 Centers.

As Idaho’s Economic Development Administration University Center, TechHelp leverages university resources to create growth and jobs in rural and economically distressed areas of Idaho.

We give our clients access to a large network of local and national resources through our university, private sector, and national MEP partners.  

Image of TechHelp Partnerships, including Idaho State University, Boise State University, University of Idaho, EDA University Center, and MEP National Network.

 Partnerships

TechHelp partners with many private and public sector organizations to meet the needs of Idaho companies.

About NIST MEP

The MEP program is a federal public-private partnership that provides small and medium-sized manufacturers (SMMs) technology-based services they need to thrive in today’s economy and create well-paying manufacturing jobs. MEP is managed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and implemented through a network of industry-led centers located in every state. Additionally, MEP centers are not-for-profit corporations that employ industry experts who work directly with manufacturers. Manufacturing is one of our country’s greatest economic strengths, producing 11.7 percent of GDP. Over 99 percent of manufacturing firms in America are considered small, with less than 500 employees.

As a public-private partnership, MEP delivers a high return on investment to taxpayers. For example, a 2017 study by the Upjohn Institute for Employment Research conducted a study found that MEP generates an 8.7:1 return on investment.  In 2017, MEP clients reported $12.66 billion in new and retained sales and the creation or retention of 110,721 jobs. Considering that the average U.S. manufacturing worker earns more than $82,023 in wages and benefits per year, MEP clients are economic drivers in their communities. These clients are also increasing their capacity for the production of goods. Clients reported $3.5 billion in new investments directly attributed to their work with MEP.

 Working With Idaho Manufacturing Heroes

Rekluse Motorsports was born in 2001 when dirt bike enthusiast, Al Youngwerth, approached the TechHelp Team at the New Product Development Lab at Boise State with an idea for a better motorcycle clutch.

 Mechanical engineer (ME) student/employee, Sean Brown, sat with Al and helped him design and prototype his idea and turn it into a functional product. Sean earned his ME degree and stayed with Al to help build and grow Rekluse. By 2018, Sean, with a Boise State EMBA,  was the President of  Rekluse and Al had created a second company, known as Versabuilt, that makes practical automation solutions for the modern machine shop.

Rekluse’s story demonstrates TechHelp’s importance to the manufacturers, inventors, entrepreneurs, students, educational institutions, and communities of Idaho.  Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) recognized the importance of companies such as Rekluse by designating the company an “American Manufacturing Hero.”

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