Featured Stories
SBA Awards $50 Million to Technical Schools and Community Colleges in Support of Small Manufacturers
WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 -- The Small Business Administration issued the following news release on Aug. 5, 2026:
* * *
SBA Awards $50 Million to Technical Schools and Community Colleges in Support of Small Manufacturers
Competitive E2G Grants Target Key Areas for Reindustrialization
-
Today, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced it has awarded $50 million in grants to 11 organizations that will provide training and technical assistance to support small manufacturers in SBA's Empower to Grow (E2G) Program. The Manufacturing in America E2G Grant Initiative will enable these organizations
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 -- The Small Business Administration issued the following news release on Aug. 5, 2026:
* * *
SBA Awards $50 Million to Technical Schools and Community Colleges in Support of Small Manufacturers
Competitive E2G Grants Target Key Areas for Reindustrialization
-
Today, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced it has awarded $50 million in grants to 11 organizations that will provide training and technical assistance to support small manufacturers in SBA's Empower to Grow (E2G) Program. The Manufacturing in America E2G Grant Initiative will enable these organizationsto deliver hands-on training that builds technical proficiency, helping small manufacturers in critical industries strengthen America's industrial dominance.
"As part of the Trump SBA's efforts to support the return to Made in America, the agency is empowering 11 technical schools to offer training for small manufacturers to accelerate our nation's industrial comeback," said SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler. "These new E2G manufacturing grants build on our existing programs for small manufacturers, which make up 98% of all producers in America, creating a powerful network of advisors to rebuild our industrial leadership across critical industries while supporting our national and economic security."
Through E2G, eligible U.S. small businesses will receive a comprehensive package of free courses, practical workshops, and one-on-one advising designed to expand their operations, workforce, regulatory compliance, and competitiveness in government contracting.
The E2G Program manufacturing grant recipients are:
Fletcher Technical Community College
Geographic Scope: Southeast Louisiana shipbuilding corridor of Terrebonne, Lafourche, Assumption, St. Mary, Iberia, and St. Martin.
Total Proposed Budget: $4.99 million
Description of Training Services: Fletcher Technical Community College will provide hands-on, in-person technical bootcamps in the core shipbuilding trades of ship fitting, pipefitting, pipe welding, and marine electrical and build business-side capacity through hands-on, manufacturing-specific instruction in federal contracting, system registration, financial management, and capability development. Fletcher puts its existing manufacturing and business assets to work for the small firms that supply the region's shipbuilding industry.
Iowa Valley Community College District (IVCCD)
Geographic Scope: Hardin, Marshall, Poweshiek and Tama Counties
Total Proposed Budget: $5 million
Description of Training Services: IVCCD will provide hands-on, in-person training and technical assistance in robotics, automation, industrial software, advanced manufacturing, welding, machine tool competencies, industrial maintenance, and related workforce pathways, and will build on training already delivered through Iowa Valley Business and Community Solutions. It will also expand capacity through the Robotics and Automation AAS program launching at Marshalltown Community College (MCC) in the Fall, and will draw on MCC's existing Advanced Manufacturing, welding, machine tool, and electromechanical instructional foundation.
Lehigh Carbon Community College (LCCC)
Geographic Scope: Lehigh, Carbon, and Schuylkill counties in eastern Pennsylvania
Total Proposed Budget: $1.43 million
Description of Training Services: LCCC's Customizable Mobile Training (CMT) program will provide industry-standard employee training directly to small-to-mid-sized manufacturers in Lehigh, Carbon, and Schuylkill counties in eastern Pennsylvania. By delivering customizable training in areas such as advanced manufacturing, mechatronics, electrical and mechanical systems, programmable logic controllers, electronics, smart manufacturing, and maintenance fundamentals, LCCC will improve small manufacturers' efficiencies and productivity. Conducting training on site at manufacturers' facilities will reduce interruptions in workflow, allow for smaller and more focused training cohorts, and ensure employees are obtaining relevant industry-recognized credentials.
Maine Community College System (MCCS)
Geographic Scope: Maine
Total Proposed Budget: $5 million
Description of Training Services: MCCS will provide existing, employer-validated Manufacturing Technician Training (MTT), Advanced Manufacturing Technician Training (AMTT), Computer Numerical Control (CNC) Precision Machining, MIG and TIG Welding, Foundations of Machining, Maritime Pipefitting and Marine Machine Mechanic, Industrial Welding, and Introduction to Quality Assurance (QA) training curricula to employees and prospective hires of E2G-eligible small manufacturers across Maine, providing hands-on instruction in fabrication, machining, welding, blueprint reading, QA and advanced manufacturing technologies. MCCS delivers hands-on manufacturing training to small businesses statewide through its colleges, the Maine Quality Center, and the Harold Alfond Center for the Advancement of Maine's Workforce.
Mott Community College
Geographic Scope: Flint and Genesse County regions of Michigan
Total Proposed Budget: $3.75 million
Description of Training Services: MCC will provide training that strengthens the operational capacity, financial viability, and contract readiness of small manufacturing businesses in the Flint/Genesee County region. This initiative accelerates professional certification in high demand fields, including welding, multi-skilled robotics, CNC machining, CDL, information technology, and public works. MCC's project will achieve the following four primary goals: modernize and optimize the shop floor operations and technical proficiencies of small manufacturers to eliminate production inefficiencies and mitigate local labor shortages; build a robust commercial and federal procurement infrastructure for participating employers, expanding their access to diversified supply chain and capital; establish replicable technical assistance model within MCC corporate services that permanently bridges the gap between small manufacturers and industry needs; strengthen the workforce of participating small manufacturers by delivering talent acquisition services and direct training pathways.
Mid-State Technical College
Geographic Scope: Central Wisconsin - Wisconsin Rapids, Stevens Point, Marshfield, Plover, Adams, and surrounding rural manufacturing communities
Total Proposed Budget: $5 million
Description of Training Services: Mid-State Technical College will provide a comprehensive portfolio of workforce development and manufacturing technical assistance services designed to strengthen both individual workforce capabilities and small business competitiveness. Training offerings are organized into five stackable certificate pathways that allow participants to build foundational manufacturing skills while advancing into specialized areas of quality management, manufacturing engineering, advanced manufacturing, supply chain development, and workforce leadership. Courses include hands-on instruction in manufacturing operations, industry-recognized certifications, environmental health and safety, quality systems, lean manufacturing, process improvement, supplier quality, advanced manufacturing technologies, workforce development systems, and program management practices.
Nassau County Board of Cooperative Educational Services
Geographic Scope: Long Island Defense Industrial Base Companies
Total Proposed Budget: $5 million
Description of Training Services: The Long Island Defense Manufacturing Resilience Initiative has two integrated components, workforce development and technical assistance. It will provide upgraded hands-on training in welding, advanced electrical, and industrial piping, delivered through modernized labs and two Festo-built mobile VR/AR training vehicles. This is a business service that supplies eligible defense industrial base firms with the skilled new hires and upskilled incumbent workers they need to grow capability and capacity.
Oregon State University
Geographic Scope: Western Oregon
Total Proposed Budget: $5 million
Description of Training Services: Through its College of Engineering and its community college partners, OSU has extensive experience providing hands-on, in-person technical assistance, tools, and training to small manufacturing businesses. OSU has the demonstrated capacity to deliver manufacturing-related training and technical assistance to small business concerns, supported by its advanced manufacturing faculty, laboratories, and federal grant-management infrastructure. Firms will receive training and assistance tied to real production and business-development needs. Workers will gain practical skills in machining, welding, additive manufacturing, inspection, robotics, smart manufacturing, lean manufacturing, energy efficiency, quality systems, and federal contracts.
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Geographic Scope: Cameron, Hidalgo, Willacy, Brooks, Zapata and Starr counties, Texas
Total Proposed Budget: $5 million
Description of Training Services: The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley's project goal is Elevating Manufacturing through AI-Driven Practical Oriented Workforce Education and Regional Growth in the Rio Grande Valley (EMPOWER-RGV). It will help establish a critical framework and infrastructure designed to bolster the domestic industrial base and restore American manufacturing leadership through investment focused on small manufacturing firms. EMPOWER-RGV will equip small manufacturing firms with hands-on training, operational efficiencies, and technical proficiencies required to compete in a rapidly evolving regional manufacturing ecosystem. With proposed programs, EMPOWER-RGV will further enhance the ability of small manufacturing firms in securing high-value subcontracts from large prime firms, winning federal contracts, and effectively scaling their operations.
Virginia Manufacturers Association, Inc. (VMA)
Geographic Scope: Virginia, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania.
Total Proposed Budget: $4.8 million
Description of Training Services: VMA has extensive experience providing hands-on, in-person technical assistance, tools, and training to small manufacturing businesses in Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. It has the capacity to provide manufacturing-related training and technical assistance to small businesses through the Manufacturing Skills Institute's (MSI's) national credentialing system, its Virginia community college partnership network, and an integrated delivery model serving small manufacturers.
Yuma/La Paz Counties Community College District Arizona Western College (AWC)
Geographic Scope: Yuma County and the surrounding Southwest Arizona region
Total Proposed Budget: $5 million
Description of Training Services: Arizona Western College (AWC) operates the Manufacturing Business and Automation Accelerator (MBAA), an integrated, 12-month technical assistance initiative that will provide hands-on manufacturing training and comprehensive business advisement to small manufacturers and manufacturing startups across Southwest Arizona. AWC is a regionally accredited community college with more than 60 years of continuous operation that includes a dedicated manufacturing training facility in Wellton, Arizona, equipped for hands-on, in-person technical instruction.
The SBA has committed to rebuilding American supply chains and domestic manufacturing through a series of targeted initiatives. This year, the agency waived loan fees for manufacturing NAICS codes, established the first-ever loan program dedicated to American manufacturers, and modernized the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program so more private capital flows into critical, supply chain sensitive industries. The agency also announced a new 90% Made in America Loan Guarantee for small manufacturers and continues to promote existing programs such as the asset-based 7(a) Working Capital Pilot (WCP) Program.
To learn more about the Manufacturing grants, visit: www.sba.gov/priorities/american-manufacturers. Additional questions or requests for assistance should be submitted via email to e2g@sba.gov.
* * *
About the Empower to Grow Program
The Empower to Grow program, formerly known as 7(j) Management and Technical Assistance program, provides eligible U.S. small businesses with free business courses, tailored training, and one-on-one consulting to support their growth, operations, hiring, regulatory compliance, and government contracting competitiveness. The Empower to Grow program uplifts businesses to be procurement ready for federal, state, and local government contracts. For more questions about the Empower to Grow program, visit: Empower to Grow Program.
* * *
About the U.S. Small Business Administration
The U.S. Small Business Administration helps power the American dream of entrepreneurship. As the leading voice for small businesses within the federal government, the SBA empowers job creators with the resources and support they need to start, grow, and expand their businesses or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.
* * *
Original text here: https://legacy.sba.gov/articles?keyword=&article_type=137&field_article_authoring_office_target_id=All&langcode=All
SBA Announces $10 Million in Grant Funding for the Tribal College and University Manufacturing E2G Initiative
WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 -- The Small Business Administration issued the following news release on Aug. 5, 2026:
* * *
SBA Announces $10 Million in Grant Funding for the Tribal College and University Manufacturing E2G Initiative
Funding Targets Tribal Colleges and Training Hubs to Strengthen Domestic Manufacturing and Critical Supply Chains
-
Today, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced it is seeking funding proposals from tribal colleges, community colleges, and other trade schools on or near tribal lands under its Manufacturing in America Empower to Grow (E2G) Grant Initiative.
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, Aug. 6 -- The Small Business Administration issued the following news release on Aug. 5, 2026:
* * *
SBA Announces $10 Million in Grant Funding for the Tribal College and University Manufacturing E2G Initiative
Funding Targets Tribal Colleges and Training Hubs to Strengthen Domestic Manufacturing and Critical Supply Chains
-
Today, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced it is seeking funding proposals from tribal colleges, community colleges, and other trade schools on or near tribal lands under its Manufacturing in America Empower to Grow (E2G) Grant Initiative.This grant opportunity will award up to five grants totaling up to $10 million to expand hands on, in person manufacturing training and rapid reskilling for employees of 8(a) and HUBZone eligible small businesses in critical industries. Through E2G, eligible U.S. small businesses receive a comprehensive package of free courses, practical workshops, and one on one advising to strengthen their operations, workforce, regulatory compliance, and competitiveness in government contracting.
"Under President Trump's leadership, the SBA has made it a priority to invest in small manufacturers and the communities that support them," said Administrator Kelly Loeffler. "By partnering with tribal colleges and training institutions through our latest grant opportunity, we are expanding hands on, in person manufacturing training and launching rapid reskilling efforts that will strengthen domestic supply chains, prepare skilled workers, and ensure Native American entrepreneurs and tribal enterprises play a leading role in America's industrial comeback."
The SBA's Office of Native American Affairs (ONAA) established this funding opportunity as part of its mission to ensure that Native American-owned small businesses have full access to the business development and expansion tools available through the SBA's entrepreneurial development, lending, and procurement programs.
Eligible applicants must be one of the following types of institutions:
* A Tribal College or University (TCU).
* A community college located on or near tribal lands or Indian lands.
* A trade or vocational school that primarily serves federally recognized Indian tribes, Alaska Native villages or organizations or Native Hawaiian communities.
* A tribal-serving institution with established manufacturing or skilled labor training programs.
Additionally, eligible applicants:
* Must be in existence continually for at least three years.
* Must have experience providing hands-on, in-person technical assistance, tools, or training related to manufacturing or skilled labor to small businesses on a regional or national basis.
* Must demonstrate they have the capacity to provide manufacturing-related training and technical assistance to small businesses.
The SBA has committed to rebuilding American supply chains and domestic manufacturing through a series of targeted initiatives. This year, the agency waived loan fees for manufacturing NAICS codes, established the first-ever loan program dedicated to American manufacturers, and modernized the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program so more private capital flows into critical, supply chain sensitive industries. The agency also announced a new 90% Made in America Loan Guarantee for small manufacturers and continues to promote existing programs such as the asset-based 7(a) Working Capital Pilot (WCP) Program. Through its ongoing Supplier Matchmaking Expo series and its Make Onshoring Great Again Portal, the agency has also played an active role in helping large companies source small suppliers to onshore supply chains across industries.
Applicants must submit proposals electronically through Grants.gov. The deadline for proposal submissions is Aug. 24 by 11:59 p.m. ET. To learn more about this grant opportunity, click here.
The SBA will host two webinars on the following dates to inform the public about the grants. Registration is required through the links below:
* Wed, Aug. 5: 1:00 p.m. ET
* Wed, Aug. 12: 1:00 p.m. ET
Additional questions or requests for assistance should be submitted via email to ONAA@sba.gov.
* * *
About the Empower to Grow Program
The Empower to Grow program, formerly known as 7(j) Management and Technical Assistance program, provides eligible U.S. small businesses with free business courses, tailored training, and one-on-one consulting to support their growth, operations, hiring, regulatory compliance, and government contracting competitiveness. The Empower to Grow program uplifts businesses to be procurement ready for federal, state, and local government contracts. For more questions about the Empower to Grow program, visit: Empower to Grow Program.
* * *
About the U.S. Small Business Administration
The U.S. Small Business Administration helps power the American dream of entrepreneurship. As the leading voice for small businesses within the federal government, the SBA empowers job creators with the resources and support they need to start, grow, and expand their businesses or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.
* * *
Original text here: https://legacy.sba.gov/article/2026/08/05/sba-announces-10-million-grant-funding-tribal-college-university-manufacturing-e2g-initiative
NASA's Perseverance Rover Watches Earth Vanish Behind Martian Moon
PASADENA, California, Aug. 6 (TNSres) -- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory issued the following news:
* * *
NASA's Perseverance Rover Watches Earth Vanish Behind Martian Moon
The first observation of its kind captures our home planet slipping behind Phobos in the Martian evening sky.
Earth and the Martian moon Phobos dance together in a series of images recently acquired by NASA's Perseverance Mars rover. Earth appears as a point of light in the Martian sky, disappearing behind the crescent of Phobos, the larger of Mars' two moons.
This is the first time humanity has captured from the surface
... Show Full Article
PASADENA, California, Aug. 6 (TNSres) -- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory issued the following news:
* * *
NASA's Perseverance Rover Watches Earth Vanish Behind Martian Moon
The first observation of its kind captures our home planet slipping behind Phobos in the Martian evening sky.
Earth and the Martian moon Phobos dance together in a series of images recently acquired by NASA's Perseverance Mars rover. Earth appears as a point of light in the Martian sky, disappearing behind the crescent of Phobos, the larger of Mars' two moons.
This is the first time humanity has captured from the surfaceof another planet an observation of Earth disappearing behind an object.
The image sequence was taken by the rover's Mastcam-Z instrument at about 7 p.m. local solar time (the Martian evening time where the rover is located) on July 2, the 1,907th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. In the composite image, Earth travels from the upper left of the frame toward the lower right while Phobos, moving from lower left to upper right, sweeps across its path. In the third frame of the sequence, the two meet, and our planet winks out behind the little moon's shadowed edge.
"The composite image makes for a unique Earth self-portrait, taken from the surface of another planet, with a Phobos photobomb," said Justin Maki, the Mastcam-Z deputy principal investigator and imaging scientist for Perseverance at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
From where Perseverance sits on the rim of Mars' Jezero Crater, the two objects could hardly look more different. Phobos, a lumpy, potato-shaped moon about 17 miles (27 kilometers) across at its widest, orbits so close to Mars (4,850 miles, or 7,800 kilometers, away) that when the images were taken, Phobos appears roughly one-third the width of Earth's Moon as seen from our planet. Some 195 million miles (314 million kilometers) away at the time, Earth is reduced to a single, pixel-size dot.
"Phobos crosses the Martian sky three times a day, and Earth is visible for months at a stretch, but catching one directly behind the other takes planning and a little luck," said Mark Lemmon, a Mastcam-Z co-investigator at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado, who planned the observation and assembled the composite.
Transits, occultations, eclipses
Astronomers call the event captured in this observation an occultation: when a larger-appearing body completely blocks the one behind it from the viewer's standpoint. By contrast, an eclipse occurs when one object moves into the shadow of another. When the Moon passes through Earth's shadow, it's called a lunar eclipse; when one object that appears to be the same size as another blocks it, like when the Moon passes before the Sun, it's known as a solar eclipse.
When the roles are reversed, with a smaller-looking object crossing the face of a larger-looking one, astronomers call that a transit. Perseverance has observed those, too: when Phobos or Deimos crosses the disk of the Sun as seen from Mars. These are sometimes described informally as "Martian solar eclipses."
More about Perseverance
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which is managed by Caltech, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover on behalf of the agency's Science Mission Directorate in Washington, as part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program portfolio. Arizona State University leads the operations of the rover's Mastcam-Z instrument, working in collaboration with Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego, on the design, fabrication, testing, and operation of the cameras.
For more about Perseverance:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/mars-2020-perseverance/
* * *
Original text here: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-perseverance-rover-watches-earth-vanish-behind-martian-moon/
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics: 'Little Red Dots' May Be Pulsating Monster Stars That Created Early-Universe Black Holes, Study Finds
CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, Aug. 6 (TNSxrep) -- The Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics issued the following news release:
* * *
'Little red dots' may be pulsating monster stars that created early-universe black holes, study finds
New study accounts for three of the LRDs' observed properties, getting us closer than any previous work to understanding the mysterious space objects
-
Astronomers have speculated about the mysterious "little red dots" seen through the James Webb Space Telescope's images of the early universe: they could be galaxies, black holes, quasi-stars, starbursts...or
... Show Full Article
CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, Aug. 6 (TNSxrep) -- The Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics issued the following news release:
* * *
'Little red dots' may be pulsating monster stars that created early-universe black holes, study finds
New study accounts for three of the LRDs' observed properties, getting us closer than any previous work to understanding the mysterious space objects
-
Astronomers have speculated about the mysterious "little red dots" seen through the James Webb Space Telescope's images of the early universe: they could be galaxies, black holes, quasi-stars, starbursts...orsomething else entirely.
Now, in a new study, researchers show that a particular type of star, called a supermassive star, can account for the LRDs' surprising characteristics, including their unusual spectra, their compact appearance in the sky and their abundance of nitrogen.
"To my knowledge, it is the first model that can explain so many of the observed properties at once, from the spectra to the morphology to the chemical signatures," said Devesh Nandal of the Harvard College Observatory, part of the Center for Astrophysics. "Even competing scenarios are now invoking supermassive stars as the central engine."
The LRDs are compact, red, and extremely bright sources of light, and whatever is emitting the light existed when the universe was less than a billion years old. Their spectrum of light shows hydrogen occurring in ways that the current astronomical models of young galaxies or ordinary active galactic nuclei can't explain.
But many observed LRDs don't have the strong X ray or radio emission that astronomers would expect from a growing supermassive black hole.
"Little red dots are mysterious because they combine clues that do not usually fit together," said Nandal. "They seem to be telling us that something very luminous is hidden inside dense gas."
In earlier work, Nandal and collaborators showed that monster stars with masses around 100,000 times that of the Sun can reproduce key spectra very much like LRDs, including unusual hydrogen patterns.
The new study looks at whether those stars can also create the dense "cocoons" of gas that make LRDs look so compact in James Webb images.
The researchers tracked the lifespans and evolution of some known monster stars and analyzed how they appear through our telescopes to blink and lose mass. They found that these stars don't lose mass late in their life like many stars do. Instead, they undergo discrete, powerful pulsation episodes that the researchers call "strange mode." This unusual behavior ejects shell-like shapes of gas.
"The spectrum and the morphology are two sides of the same physical problem," said Nandal. "The spectrum tells us what kind of source is producing the light and how that light is processed, while the shape tells us where the surrounding material is and how compact it must be."
Based on their models, the researchers show that a single supermassive star can create both the spectral signatures and the compact gas shell seen in LRDs.
The researchers note that ejected material is mainly hydrogen and helium, but also contains nitrogen. Observations of LRDs are beginning to reveal similar nitrogen rich spectra, which are another piece of evidence for their giant star theory.
After its last ejection, these stars continue to evolve until they undergo direct collapse, forming a seed of a supermassive black hole.
"What I find most fascinating is that this result brings together many independent clues in one physical picture," said Nandal.
The team's next goal is to turn these properties into full predictions for the detailed spectra of LRDs, so that James Webb observations can directly test their theory.
* * *
About the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian
The Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian is a collaboration between the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and the Harvard College Observatory designed to ask, and ultimately answer, humanity's greatest unresolved questions about the universe.
* * *
Original text here: https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/news/little-red-dots-may-be-pulsating-monster-stars-created-early-universe-black-holes-study-finds
Postal Service IG: Technical Errors Caused Revenue Loss
WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 (TNSLrpt) -- The U.S. Postal Service Inspector General issued the following audit report (No. 25-130-2-R26) on July 29, 2026, entitled "Technical Errors Caused Revenue Loss."
Here are excerpts:
* * *
Introduction
This management alert presents the issues the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (OIG) identified during the Effectiveness of Package Verification Solutions audit (Project Number 25-130). Our objective is to provide immediate notification of these issues.
Background
The Postal Service uses two key systems to scan packages and verify that shippers paid
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 (TNSLrpt) -- The U.S. Postal Service Inspector General issued the following audit report (No. 25-130-2-R26) on July 29, 2026, entitled "Technical Errors Caused Revenue Loss."
Here are excerpts:
* * *
Introduction
This management alert presents the issues the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (OIG) identified during the Effectiveness of Package Verification Solutions audit (Project Number 25-130). Our objective is to provide immediate notification of these issues.
Background
The Postal Service uses two key systems to scan packages and verify that shippers paidthe accurate price. Its Automated Package Verification (APV) system identifies insufficient postage by comparing shippers' reported package measurements against measurements captured on Postal Service processing equipment, charging any additional postage due, and refunding overpayments. Since it was introduced in 2017, APV has increased Postal Service postage collection by $1.1 billion. The Postal Service also uses Product Tracking and Reporting (PTR) to track machine scans. PTR contains tracking data for each package, including machine names and measurements.
The Postal Service has several types of machines in its network that can capture package measurements. Generally, APV compares measurements collected on different machines across the network to determine which are the most "trusted" or precise. To be trusted, the machine must be on the Postal Service's programmed list of machines that it has tested and considers capable of producing accurate measurements.
A key machine, which processed approximately 49 percent of packages in mail processing facilities from October through December 2025, is the Automated Parcel Bundle Sorter (APBS) (see Figure 1). These machines produced about 62 percent of all trusted weights and 18 percent of all trusted dimensions for the Postal Service. Formerly, this machine was known as the Small Parcel and Bundle Sorter, and it was labelled as SPBSTS (Small Parcel Bundle Sorter Tracking System) in the Postal Service's systems and corresponding data. In 2011, it was upgraded to improve operational capabilities and was renamed the APBS.
* * *
View the original text at: https://www.uspsoig.gov/sites/default/files/reports/2026-07/25-130-2-r26.pdf
Postal Service IG: Postal Applications of Artificial Intelligence
WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 (TNSLrpt) -- The U.S. Postal Service Inspector General issued the following white paper (No. RISC-WP-26-003) on August 3, 2026, entitled "Postal Applications of Artificial Intelligence."
Here are excerpts:
* * *
Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping the postal and logistics sector worldwide. AI is becoming central to how postal operators inform decisions, reduce costs, improve customer service, and streamline operations. Internationally, postal operators are deploying AI to tackle challenges across five operational categories: mail and parcel processing, delivery
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 (TNSLrpt) -- The U.S. Postal Service Inspector General issued the following white paper (No. RISC-WP-26-003) on August 3, 2026, entitled "Postal Applications of Artificial Intelligence."
Here are excerpts:
* * *
Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping the postal and logistics sector worldwide. AI is becoming central to how postal operators inform decisions, reduce costs, improve customer service, and streamline operations. Internationally, postal operators are deploying AI to tackle challenges across five operational categories: mail and parcel processing, deliveryoperations, retail operations, customer experience, and back office and support.
Although AI experimentation across the postal sector is widespread, broad adoption beyond traditional tools like Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and chatbots remains limited. Most operators still use AI for narrow, well-defined tasks rather than end-to-end process management or autonomous decision-making.
The Postal Service is no exception. They were the first U.S. government entity to operationalize early forms of AI, deploying OCR in 1965 to boost sorting machines' ability to read handwritten addresses and accelerate mail processing. USPS continues to explore the use of AI to solve problems across operations, and currently has over 35 approved or testing use cases ranging from address recognition to customer assistance and internal AI tools. Its vast data collection serves as a strategic asset to fuel future innovation backed by an expanding governance structure.
Successful implementations rely on strategic focus, sustained funding, modern data infrastructure, and workforce readiness. To drive innovation without fragmenting efforts, most operators -- including the Postal Service -- favor a hybrid management approach that pairs bottom-up team experimentation with top-down strategic alignment.
Interviews with postal operators highlight several future priorities: expanding physical AI, computer vision, digital twins, back-office and sales applications, and agentic AI. In practice, the postal and logistics sector is actively transitioning toward mature systems that coordinate operational flows and optimize performance in real time. In this environment, staying competitive will require USPS to move beyond standalone use cases and leverage AI to revitalize its core operational processes, even amidst ongoing resource constraints.
* * *
View the original text at:
Federal Housing Finance Agency IG: Audit of the Federal Housing Finance Agency's Information Security Programs and Practices Fiscal Year 2026
WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 (TNSrep) -- The Federal Housing Finance Agency Inspector General issued the following report (No. AUD-2026-004) entitled "Audit of the Federal Housing Finance Agency's Information Security Programs and Practices Fiscal Year 2026".
Here are excerpts:
* * *
The Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 (FISMA) requires federal agencies, among other things, to develop, document, and implement agency-wide information security programs and practices to protect information and information systems, including those provided or managed by another agency, contractor, or
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 (TNSrep) -- The Federal Housing Finance Agency Inspector General issued the following report (No. AUD-2026-004) entitled "Audit of the Federal Housing Finance Agency's Information Security Programs and Practices Fiscal Year 2026".
Here are excerpts:
* * *
The Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 (FISMA) requires federal agencies, among other things, to develop, document, and implement agency-wide information security programs and practices to protect information and information systems, including those provided or managed by another agency, contractor, orother source. Additionally, federal agencies must undergo an annual independent evaluation of their information security programs and practices to determine the effectiveness of such program and practices.
Pursuant to FISMA, we contracted with Sikich CPA LLC (herein referred to as "Sikich"), a certified independent public accounting firm, to conduct the fiscal year (FY) 2026 independent evaluation of the Agency's (collectively, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and the FHFA Office of Inspector General (OIG)) information security programs and practices. Sikich conducted its evaluation as a performance audit under generally accepted government auditing standards. The objectives of this performance audit were to: (1) evaluate the effectiveness of the Agency's information security programs and practices, including compliance with FISMA and related information security policies, procedures, standards, and guidelines; and (2) respond to the FY 2025 Inspector General FISMA Reporting Metrics.1 Sikich reviewed selected controls mapped to these metrics for a sample of information systems in the Agency's FISMA inventories of reportable information systems.
Sikich concluded that, while the Agency complied with FISMA and related information security policies and procedures, standards, and guidelines, the Agency's information security programs and practices were not effective. Specifically, the Agency is at an overall maturity Level 2 - Defined. Sikich identified 2 new weaknesses in 4 of the 6 Cybersecurity Functions and within 4 of the 10 IG FISMA Metric domains. To address these weaknesses, Sikich made four new recommendations to assist the Agency in strengthening its information security programs and practices and noted five open recommendations from prior audits.
In connection with the contract, we reviewed Sikich's report and related documentation and inquired of its representatives. Our review, as differentiated from an audit in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards, was not intended to enable us to conclude, and we do not conclude, on the effectiveness of the Agency's implementation of its information security programs and practices and compliance with FISMA and related information security policies, procedures, standards, and guidelines. Sikich is responsible for the attached auditor's report dated July 22, 2026, and the conclusions expressed therein. Our review found no instances where Sikich did not comply, in all material respects, with generally accepted government auditing standards.
* * *
The report is posted at: https://www.fhfaoig.gov/sites/default/files/AUD-2026-004.pdf
