I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4505 

To improve the competitiveness of United States manufacturing by designating and supporting manufacturing communities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 9, 2016 

Mr. CICILLINE (for himself, Mr. REED, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Mr. HANNA, Mr. 

DOGGETT, Mr. KATKO, Mrs. BUSTOS, and Mr. GARAMENDI) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To improve the competitiveness of United States manufacturing by designating and supporting manufacturing 

communities, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Make It In America 

5 Manufacturing Communities Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PROGRAM TO DESIGNATE AND SUPPORT MANUFAC7 TURING COMMUNITIES. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

2 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

3 meaning given such term in section 101 of the High4 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

5 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

6 the Secretary of Commerce. 

7 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Secretary 

8 shall establish a program to improve the competitiveness 

9 of United States manufacturing by— 

10 (1) designating consortiums as manufacturing 

11 communities under subsection (d); and 

12 (2) supporting manufacturing communities, as 

13 so designated, under subsection (c). 

14 (c) SUPPORT FOR DESIGNATED MANUFACTURING

15 COMMUNITIES.— 

16 (1) PREFERENTIAL CONSIDERATION.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

18 subparagraph (D), in any case in which a mem19 ber of a consortium designated as a manufac20 turing community under subsection (d) seeks fi21 nancial or technical assistance under a partici22 pating program of a participating agency, the 

23 head of such agency may give preferential con24 sideration to such member with respect to the 


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1 awarding of such financial or technical assist2 ance if— 

3 (i) such head considers the award of 

4 the financial or technical assistance con5 sistent with the economic development 

6 strategy of the consortium; and 

7 (ii) the member otherwise meets all 

8 applicable requirements for the financial or 

9 technical assistance. 

10 (B) PARTICIPATING AGENCIES.—For pur11 poses of the program, the participating agencies 

12 are the following: 

13 (i) The Department of Agriculture. 

14 (ii) The Department of Commerce. 

15 (iii) The Department of Defense. 

16 (iv) The Department of Education. 

17 (v) The Department of Energy. 

18 (vi) The Department of Housing and 

19 Urban Development. 

20 (vii) The Department of Labor. 

21 (viii) The Department of Transpor22 tation. 

23 (ix) The Appalachian Regional Com24 mission. 

25 (x) The Delta Regional Authority. 


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1 (xi) The Environmental Protection 

2 Agency. 

3 (xii) The National Science Founda4 tion. 

5 (xiii) The Small Business Administra6 tion. 

7 (C) PARTICIPATING PROGRAMS.— 

8 (i) IN GENERAL.—The head of each 

9 participating agency shall identify each 

10 program administered by such partici11 pating agency that is applicable to the pro12 gram established under subsection (b). 

13 (ii) DESIGNATION.—For purposes of 

14 this section, a participating program is a 

15 program identified under clause (i). 

16 (D) MULTIPLE MEMBERS OF THE SAME

17 CONSORTIUM SEEKING THE SAME FINANCIAL

18 OR TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 

19 (i) IN GENERAL.—In a case in which 

20 a participating agency receives applications 

21 for the same financial or technical assist22 ance from more than one member of the 

23 same consortium designated as a manufac24 turing community under subsection (d), 

25 the head of such agency may determine 


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1 how preference is given under subpara2 graph (A), including by requiring the con3 sortium to select which of the members 

4 should be given preference. 

5 (ii) COORDINATION.—In a case de6 scribed in clause (i) in which the head of 

7 the agency determines that more than one 

8 member of a consortium should be given 

9 preference under subparagraph (A) for fi10 nancial or technical assistance, the head of 

11 the agency may require such members to 

12 demonstrate coordination with each other 

13 in developing their applications for the fi14 nancial or technical assistance. 

15 (E) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days 

16 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

17 head of each participating agency shall submit 

18 to the Secretary a report specifying how the 

19 head will give preferential consideration under 

20 subparagraph (A). 

21 (2) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary 

22 may make available to each consortium designated 

23 as a manufacturing community under subsection (d) 

24 a Federal point of contact to help the members of 


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1 the consortium access Federal funds and technical 

2 assistance. 

3 (3) FINANCIAL OR TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—Under the program es5 tablished under subsection (b), the head of a 

6 participating agency may award financial or 

7 technical assistance to a member of a consor8 tium designated as a manufacturing community 

9 under subsection (d) as the head considers ap10 propriate for purposes of such program and 

11 consistent with the economic development strat12 egy of the consortium. 

13 (B) USE OF FUNDS.— 

14 (i) IN GENERAL.—A recipient of fi15 nancial or technical assistance under sub16 paragraph (A) may use the amount of such 

17 financial or technical assistance to support 

18 an investment in an ecosystem that will 

19 improve the competitiveness of United 

20 States manufacturing. 

21 (ii) INVESTMENTS SUPPORTED.—In22 vestments supported under this subpara23 graph may include the following: 

24 (I) Infrastructure. 

25 (II) Access to capital. 


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1 (III) Promotion of exports and 

2 foreign direct investment. 

3 (IV) Equipment or facility up4 grades. 

5 (V) Workforce training or re6 training. 

7 (VI) Energy or process efficiency. 

8 (VII) Business incubators. 

9 (VIII) Site preparation. 

10 (IX) Advanced research. 

11 (X) Supply chain development. 

12 (4) COORDINATION.— 

13 (A) COORDINATION BY SECRETARY OF

14 COMMERCE.—The Secretary shall coordinate 

15 with the heads of the participating agencies to 

16 identify programs under paragraph (1)(C)(i). 

17 (B) INTER-AGENCY COORDINATION.—The 

18 heads of the participating agencies shall coordi19 nate with each other— 

20 (i) to leverage complementary activi21 ties, including from non-Federal sources 

22 such as philanthropies; and 

23 (ii) to avoid duplication of efforts. 

24 (d) DESIGNATION OF MANUFACTURING COMMU25 NITIES.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para2 graph (7), for purposes of the program established 

3 under subsection (b), the Secretary shall designate 

4 eligible consortiums as manufacturing communities 

5 through a competitive process. 

6 (2) ELIGIBLE CONSORTIUMS.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this 

8 section, an eligible consortium is a consortium 

9 that— 

10 (i) represents a region defined by the 

11 consortium in accordance with subpara12 graph (B); 

13 (ii) includes at least one— 

14 (I) institution of higher edu15 cation; 

16 (II) a private sector entity; and 

17 (III) a government entity; 

18 (iii) may include one or more— 

19 (I) private sector partners; 

20 (II) institutions of higher edu21 cation; 

22 (III) government entities; 

23 (IV) economic development and 

24 other community and labor groups; 

25 (V) financial institutions; or 


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1 (VI) utilities; 

2 (iv) has, as a lead applicant— 

3 (I) a district organization (as de4 fined in section 300.3 of title 13, 

5 Code of Federal Regulations, or suc6 cessor regulation); 

7 (II) an Indian tribe (as defined 

8 in section 4 of the Indian Self-Deter9 mination and Education Assistance 

10 Act (25 U.S.C. 450b)) or a consor11 tium of Indian tribes; 

12 (III) a State or a political sub13 division of a State, including a special 

14 purpose unit of a State or local gov15 ernment engaged in economic or in16 frastructure development activities, or 

17 a consortium of political subdivisions; 

18 (IV) an institution of higher edu19 cation or a consortium of institutions 

20 of higher education; or 

21 (V) a public or private nonprofit 

22 organization or association that is act23 ing in cooperation with officials of a 

24 political subdivision of a State. 


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1 (B) REGIONS.—For purposes of this sec2 tion and subject to approval by the Secretary, 

3 a consortium may define the region that it rep4 resents pursuant to paragraph (2)(A)(i), except 

5 that a region so defined shall be— 

6 (i) large enough to contain critical ele7 ments of the key technologies or supply 

8 chain prioritized by the consortium; and 

9 (ii) small enough to enable close col10 laboration among members of the consor11 tium. 

12 (3) DURATION.—Each designation under para13 graph (1) shall be for a period of 2 years. 

14 (4) RENEWAL.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—Upon receipt of an ap16 plication submitted under subparagraph (B), 

17 the Secretary may, as the Secretary considers 

18 appropriate, renew a designation made under 

19 paragraph (1) for a period of 2 years. 

20 (B) APPLICATION FOR RENEWAL.—An eli21 gible consortium seeking a renewal under sub22 paragraph (A) shall submit to the Secretary an 

23 application therefor at such time, in such man24 ner, and containing such information as the 

25 Secretary may require. 


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1 (C) MODIFICATIONS AUTHORIZED.—The 

2 Secretary may renew a designation under sub3 paragraph (A) for an eligible consortium that— 

4 (i) has changed its own composition, 

5 either by adding or removing members; or 

6 (ii) submits under subparagraph (B) a 

7 revision to the plan submitted under clause 

8 (iv) of paragraph (5)(B) or the strategy 

9 submitted under clause (v) of such para10 graph. 

11 (D) EVALUATION FOR RENEWAL.—In de12 termining whether to renew a designation of an 

13 eligible consortium under paragraph (1), the 

14 Secretary shall assess the eligible consortium 

15 using the following criteria: 

16 (i) The performance of the consortium 

17 against the terms of the consortium’s most 

18 recent designation under paragraph (1) 

19 and any post-designation awards the con20 sortium may have received. 

21 (ii) The progress the consortium has 

22 made with respect to project-specific 

23 metrics the consortium proposed in the 

24 consortium’s application for the most re25 cent designation under paragraph (1), parVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:19 Feb 10, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4505.IH H4505

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1 ticularly with respect to those metrics that 

2 were designed to help communities track 

3 their own progress. 

4 (iii) Whether any changes to the com5 position of the eligible consortium, as de6 scribed in clause (i) of subparagraph (C), 

7 or revisions to the plan or strategy de8 scribed in clause (ii) of such subparagraph 

9 would improve the competitiveness of 

10 United States manufacturing. 

11 (iv) Such other criteria as the Sec12 retary considers appropriate. 

13 (5) APPLICATION FOR DESIGNATION.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible consortium 

15 seeking a designation under paragraph (1) shall 

16 submit to the Secretary an application therefor 

17 at such time and in such manner as the Sec18 retary may require. 

19 (B) CONTENTS.—Each application sub20 mitted to the Secretary by an eligible consor21 tium shall contain the following: 

22 (i) Description of the regional bound23 aries of the consortium. 

24 (ii) A description of the manufac25 turing concentration of the consortium, inVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:19 Feb 10, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4505.IH H4505

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1 cluding an assessment of how the manufac2 turing concentration of the consortium 

3 competitively ranks nationally according to 

4 measures relating to employment, sales, lo5 cation quotients for an industry’s level of 

6 concentration, or such other measures as 

7 the Secretary considers appropriate. 

8 (iii) An integrated assessment of the 

9 local industrial ecosystem of the region of 

10 the consortium, which may include assess11 ment of workforce and training, supplier 

12 network, research and innovation, infra13 structure or site development, trade and 

14 international investment, operational im15 provements, and capital access components 

16 needed for manufacturing activities in such 

17 region. 

18 (iv) An evidence-based plan for devel19 oping components of such ecosystem (se20 lected by the consortium) by making— 

21 (I) specific investments to ad22 dress gaps in such ecosystem; and 

23 (II) the manufacturing of the re24 gion of the consortium uniquely com25 petitive. 


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1 (v) A description of the investments 

2 the consortium proposes and the imple3 mentation strategy the consortium intends 

4 to use to address gaps in such ecosystem. 

5 (vi) A description of outcome-based 

6 metrics, benchmarks, and milestones that 

7 the consortium will track and the evalua8 tion methods the consortium will use while 

9 designated as a manufacturing community 

10 to gauge performance of the strategy of 

11 the consortium to improve the manufac12 turing in the region of the consortium. 

13 (vii) Such other matters as the Sec14 retary considers appropriate. 

15 (6) EVALUATION OF APPLICATIONS.—The Sec16 retary shall evaluate each application received under 

17 paragraph (5) with respect to the following: 

18 (A) Whether the applicant demonstrates a 

19 significant level of regional cooperation in their 

20 proposal. 

21 (B) How the manufacturing concentration 

22 of the applicant competitively ranks nationally 

23 according to measures described in paragraph 

24 (5)(B)(ii). 


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1 (7) CERTAIN COMMUNITIES PREVIOUSLY REC2 OGNIZED.—Subject to subparagraph (B), each con3 sortium that was designated as a manufacturing 

4 community by the Secretary in carrying out the In5 vesting in Manufacturing Communities Partnership 

6 initiative of the Department of Commerce before the 

7 date of the enactment of this Act shall be deemed 

8 a manufacturing community designated under this 

9 subsection as long as such consortium is still des10 ignated as a manufacturing community by the Sec11 retary as part of such initiative. 

12 (e) RECEIPT OF TRANSFERRED FUNDS.—The Sec13 retary may accept amounts transferred to the Secretary 

14 from the head of another participating agency to carry out 

15 this section. 

Æ 


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