,,ii #aadth ,,congress #b;d ,session ,s4 #bebf ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,february #i1 #bjaf ,mrs4 ,gillibrand 7for herself1 ,mr4 ,kirk1 ,mr4 ,moran1 ,mr4 ,blumenthal1 and ,mr4 ,coons7 introduced the following bill2 which was read twice and referred to the ,committee on ,commerce1 ,science1 and ,transportation ,a ,,bill ,to improve the competitiveness of ,united ,states manufacturing by designating and supporting manufacturing communities1 and for other purposes4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,made in ,america ,manufacturing ,communities ,act of #bjaf4 #b4 ,program to designate and support manufacturing communities 7a7 ,definitions ,in this section3 7#a7 ,institution of higher education ,the term institution of higher education has the meaning given such term in section #aja of the ,higher ,education ,act of #aife 7#bj ,u4,s4,c4 #ajja74 7#b7 ,secretary ,the term ,secretary means the ,secretary of ,commerce4 7b7 ,establishment of program ,the ,secretary shall establish a program to improve the competitiveness of ,united ,states manufacturing by-- 7#a7 designating consortiums as manufacturing communities under subsection 7d72 and 7#b7 supporting manufacturing communities1 as so designated1 under subsection 7c74 7c7 ,support for designated manufacturing communities 7#a7 ,preferential consideration 7,a7 ,in general ,except as provided in subparagraph 7,d71 in any case in which a member of a consortium designated as a manufacturing community under subsection 7d7 seeks financial or technical assistance under a participating program of a participating agency1 the head of such agency may give preferential consideration to such member with respect to the awarding of such financial or technical assistance if-- 7i7 such head considers the award of the financial or technical assistance consistent with the economic development strategy of the consortium2 and 7ii7 the member otherwise meets all applicable requirements for the financial or technical assistance4 7,b7 ,participating agencies ,for purposes of the program1 the participating agencies are the following3 7i7 ,the ,department of ,agriculture4 7ii7 ,the ,department of ,commerce4 7iii7 ,the ,department of ,defense4 7iv7 ,the ,department of ,education4 7v7 ,the ,department of ,energy4 7vi7 ,the ,department of ,housing and ,urban ,development4 7vii7 ,the ,department of ,labor4 7viii7 ,the ,department of ,transportation4 7ix7 ,the ,appalachian ,regional ,commission4 7x7 ,the ,delta ,regional ,authority4 7xi7 ,the ,environmental ,protection ,agency4 7xii7 ,the ,national ,science ,foundation4 7xiii7 ,the ,small ,business ,administration4 7,c7 ,participating programs 7i7 ,in general ,the head of each participating agency shall identify each program administered by such participating agency that is applicable to the program established under subsection 7b74 7ii7 ,designation ,for purposes of this section1 a participating program is a program identified under clause 7i74 7,d7 ,multiple members of the same consortium seeking the same financial or technical assistance 7i7 ,in general ,in a case in which a participating agency receives applications for the same financial or technical assistance from more than one member of the same consortium designated as a manufacturing community under subsection 7d71 the head of such agency may determine how preference is given under subparagraph 7,a71 including by requiring the consortium to select which of the members should be given preference4 7ii7 ,coordination ,in a case described in clause 7i7 in which the head of the agency determines that more than one member of a consortium should be given preference under subparagraph 7,a7 for financial or technical assistance1 the head of the agency may require such members to demonstrate coordination with each other in developing their applications for the financial or technical assistance4 7,e7 ,report ,not later than #ij days after the date of the enactment of this ,act1 the head of each participating agency shall submit to the ,secretary a report specifying how the head will give preferential consideration under subparagraph 7,a74 7#b7 ,technical assistance ,the ,secretary may make available to each consortium designated as a manufacturing community under subsection 7d7 a ,federal point of contact to help the members of the consortium access ,federal funds and technical assistance4 7#c7 ,financial and technical assistance 7,a7 ,in general ,under the program established under subsection 7b71 the head of a participating agency may award financial or technical assistance to a member of a consortium designated as a manufacturing community under subsection 7d7 as the head considers appropriate for purposes of such program and consistent with the economic development strategy of the consortium4 7,b7 ,use of funds 7i7 ,in general ,a recipient of financial or technical assistance under subparagraph 7,a7 may use the amount of such financial or technical assistance to support an investment in an ecosystem that will improve the competitiveness of ,united ,states manufacturing4 7ii7 ,investments supported ,investments supported under this subparagraph may include the following3 7,i7 ,infrastructure4 7,,ii7 ,access to capital4 7,,iii7 ,promotion of exports and foreign direct investment4 7,,iv7 ,equipment or facility upgrades4 7,v7 ,workforce training or retraining4 7,,vi7 ,energy or process efficiency4 7,,vii7 ,business incubators4 7,,viii7 ,site preparation4 7,,ix7 ,advanced research4 7,x7 ,supply chain development4 7#d7 ,coordination 7,a7 ,coordination by ,secretary of ,commerce ,the ,secretary shall coordinate with the heads of the participating agencies to identify programs under paragraph 7#a77;,c77i74 7,b7 ,inter-agency coordination ,the heads of the participating agencies shall coordinate with each other-- 7i7 to leverage complementary activities1 including from non-,federal sources such as philanthropies2 and 7ii7 to avoid duplication of efforts4 7d7 ,designation of manufacturing communities 7#a7 ,in general ,except as provided in paragraph 7#g71 for purposes of the program established under subsection 7b71 the ,secretary shall designate eligible consortiums as manufacturing communities through a competitive process4 7#b7 ,eligible consortiums 7,a7 ,in general ,for purposes of this section1 an eligible consortium is a consortium that-- 7i7 represents a region defined by the consortium in accordance with subparagraph 7,b72 7ii7 includes at least one-- 7,i7 institution of higher education2 7,,ii7 a private sector entity2 and 7,,iii7 a government entity2 7iii7 may include one or more-- 7,i7 private sector partners2 7,,ii7 institutions of higher education2 7,,iii7 government entities2 7,,iv7 economic development and other community and labor groups2 7,v7 financial institutions2 or 7,,vi7 utilities2 7iv7 has1 as a lead applicant-- 7,i7 a district organization 7as defined in section #cjj4c of title #ac1 ,code of ,federal ,regulations1 or successor regulation72 7,,ii7 an ,indian tribe 7as defined in section #d of the ,indian ,self-,determination and ,education ,assistance ,act 7#be ,u4,s4,c4 #dej;b77 or a consortium of ,indian tribes2 7,,iii7 a ,state or a political subdivision of a ,state1 including a special purpose unit of a ,state or local government engaged in economic or infrastructure development activities1 or a consortium of political subdivisions2 7,,iv7 an institution of higher education or a consortium of institutions of higher education2 or 7,v7 a public or private nonprofit organization or association that is acting in cooperation with officials of a political subdivision of a ,state4 7,b7 ,regions ,for purposes of this section and subject to approval by the ,secretary1 a consortium may define the region that it represents pursuant to paragraph 7#b77;,a77i71 except that a region so defined shall be-- 7i7 large enough to contain critical elements of the key technologies or supply chain prioritized by the consortium2 and 7ii7 small enough to enable close collaboration among members of the consortium4 7#c7 ,duration ,each designation under paragraph 7#a7 shall be for a period of #b years4 7#d7 ,renewal 7,a7 ,in general ,upon receipt of an application submitted under subparagraph 7,b71 the ,secretary may1 as the ,secretary considers appropriate1 renew a designation made under paragraph 7#a7 for a period of #b years4 7,b7 ,application for renewal ,an eligible consortium seeking a renewal under subparagraph 7,a7 shall submit to the ,secretary an application therefor at such time1 in such manner1 and containing such information as the ,secretary may require4 7,c7 ,modifications authorized ,the ,secretary may renew a designation under subparagraph 7,a7 for an eligible consortium that-- 7i7 has changed its own composition1 either by adding or removing members2 or 7ii7 submits under subparagraph 7,b7 a revision to the plan submitted under clause 7iv7 of paragraph 7#e77;,b7 or the strategy submitted under clause 7v7 of such paragraph4 7,d7 ,evaluation for renewal ,in determining whether to renew a designation of an eligible consortium under paragraph 7#a71 the ,secretary shall assess the eligible consortium using the following criteria3 7i7 ,the performance of the consortium against the terms of the consortium's most recent designation under paragraph 7#a7 and any post-designation awards the consortium may have received4 7ii7 ,the progress the consortium has made with respect to project-specific metrics the consortium proposed in the consortium's application for the most recent designation under paragraph 7#a71 particularly with respect to those metrics that were designed to help communities track their own progress4 7iii7 ,whether any changes to the composition of the eligible consortium1 as described in clause 7i7 of subparagraph 7,c71 or revisions to the plan or strategy described in clause 7ii7 of such subparagraph would improve the competitiveness of ,united ,states manufacturing4 7iv7 ,such other criteria as the ,secretary considers appropriate4 7#e7 ,application for designation 7,a7 ,in general ,an eligible consortium seeking a designation under paragraph 7#a7 shall submit to the ,secretary an application therefor at such time and in such manner as the ,secretary may require4 7,b7 ,contents ,each application submitted to the ,secretary by an eligible consortium shall contain the following3 7i7 ,description of the regional boundaries of the consortium4 7ii7 ,a description of the manufacturing concentration of the consortium1 including an assessment of how the manufacturing concentration of the consortium competitively ranks nationally according to measures relating to employment1 sales1 location quotients for an industry's level of concentration1 or such other measures as the ,secretary considers appropriate4 7iii7 ,an integrated assessment of the local industrial ecosystem of the region of the consortium1 which may include assessment of workforce and training1 supplier network1 research and innovation1 infrastructure or site development1 trade and international investment1 operational improvements1 and capital access components needed for manufacturing activities in such region4 7iv7 ,an evidence-based plan for developing components of such ecosystem 7selected by the consortium7 by making-- 7,i7 specific investments to address gaps in such ecosystem2 and 7,,ii7 the manufacturing of the region of the consortium uniquely competitive4 7v7 ,a description of the investments the consortium proposes and the implementation strategy the consortium intends to use to address gaps in such ecosystem4 7vi7 ,a description of outcome-based metrics1 benchmarks1 and milestones that the consortium will track and the evaluation methods the consortium will use while designated as a manufacturing community to gauge performance of the strategy of the consortium to improve the manufacturing in the region of the consortium4 7vii7 ,such other matters as the ,secretary considers appropriate4 7#f7 ,evaluation of applications ,the ,secretary shall evaluate each application received under paragraph 7#e7 with respect to the following3 7,a7 ,whether the applicant demonstrates a significant level of regional cooperation in their proposal4 7,b7 ,how the manufacturing concentration of the applicant competitively ranks nationally according to measures described in paragraph 7#e77;,b77ii74 7#g7 ,certain communities previously recognized ,subject to subparagraph 7,b71 each consortium that was designated as a manufacturing community by the ,secretary in carrying out the ,investing in ,manufacturing ,communities ,partnership initiative of the ,department of ,commerce before the date of the enactment of this ,act shall be deemed a manufacturing community designated under this subsection as long as such consortium is still designated as a manufacturing community by the ,secretary as part of such initiative4 7e7 ,receipt of transferred funds ,the ,secretary may accept amounts transferred to the ,secretary from the head of another participating agency to carry out this section4