CharityWatch Scrutinizes Dean Kamen's Federally Funded Nonprofit

The Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute (ARMI) is a member-based nonprofit organization whose mission is to advance the bioeconomy of the United States. “More than $215 million in federal money” has been allocated to ARMI, according to a November 19, 2023 article published by New Hampshire Public Radio (NHPR) entitled, “Private companies owned by Segway inventor reap millions from the federally funded nonprofit he runs.” Of the millions ARMI has received from the United States government, NHPR estimates “At least $34 million is flowing through ARMI to for-profit companies controlled by its executive director [Dean Kamen].” Also, important to add, Kamen not only acts as Executive Director for ARMI, but also its landlord, according to NHPR, which reported that Kamen has received "millions of dollars in rent from the nonprofit [ARMI] for the space it leases in his mill buildings."

“’It isn’t healthy for the nonprofit to allow any one person to have so much power--or for so much power to be centralized to one person that it’s impossible for the organization to make decisions independently,’ said CharityWatch Executive Director Laurie Styron, an expert in nonprofit accounting and governance, after reviewing ARMI’s [Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute] publicly available records.”

“Styron from CharityWatch said that without disclosures, there is no way for taxpayers to determine if ARMI is getting its money’s worth.”

“’If this property happens to be the amount of space that the nonprofit needs in an area that’s advantageous for the nonprofit’s mission and they’re getting the space at below market rate, then that ticks all the boxes for this to be a good transaction on its face,’ Styron said.”

Read NHPR’s complete article here for more information on Dean Kamen and his nonprofit, ARMI.

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