I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2631 

To improve the competitiveness of United States manufacturing by 

designating and supporting manufacturing communities. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 9, 2019 

Mr. CICILLINE (for himself, Mr. REED, Mr. RYAN, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mr. SCHRADER, and Mrs. BUSTOS) 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. 

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. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) MANUFACTURING COMMUNITY SUPPORT

9 PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Manufacturing Community 


pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 2631 IH

1 Support Program’’ means the program established 

2 under section 3(a). 

3 (2) PARTICIPATING AGENCY.—The term ‘‘par4 ticipating agency’’ means a Federal agency that 

5 elects to participate in the Manufacturing Commu6 nity Support Program. 

7 (3) PARTICIPATING PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘par8 ticipating program’’ means a program identified by 

9 a participating agency under section 3(c)(1)(C). 

10 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

11 the Secretary of Commerce. 

12 SEC. 3. PROGRAM TO DESIGNATE AND SUPPORT MANUFAC13 TURING COMMUNITIES. 

14 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary shall es15 tablish a program to improve the competitiveness of 

16 United States manufacturing— 

17 (1) by designating consortiums as manufac18 turing communities under subsection (b); and 

19 (2) by supporting manufacturing communities, 

20 as so designated, under subsection (c). 

21 (b) DESIGNATION OF MANUFACTURING COMMU22 NITIES.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para24 graph (7), for purposes of the Manufacturing Com25 munity Support Program, the Secretary shall desVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:37 May 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2631.IH H2631

pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 2631 IH

1 ignate eligible consortiums as manufacturing com2 munities through a competitive process. 

3 (2) ELIGIBLE CONSORTIUMS.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible consortium 

5 is a consortium that— 

6 (i) represents a region defined by the 

7 consortium in accordance with subpara8 graph (B); 

9 (ii) includes at least one— 

10 (I) institution of higher edu11 cation; 

12 (II) private sector entity; and 

13 (III) government entity; 

14 (iii) may include one or more— 

15 (I) private sector partners; 

16 (II) institutions of higher edu17 cation; 

18 (III) government entities; 

19 (IV) economic development and 

20 other community and labor groups; 

21 (V) financial institutions; or 

22 (VI) utilities; and 

23 (iv) has, as a lead applicant— 

24 (I) a district organization (as de25 fined in section 300.3 of title 13, 


pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 2631 IH

1 Code of Federal Regulations, or suc2 cessor regulation); 

3 (II) an Indian tribe (as defined 

4 in section 4 of the Indian Self-Deter5 mination and Education Assistance 

6 Act (25 U.S.C. 450b)) or a consor7 tium of Indian tribes; 

8 (III) a State or a political sub9 division of a State, including a special 

10 purpose unit of a State or local gov11 ernment engaged in economic or in12 frastructure development activities, or 

13 a consortium of political subdivisions; 

14 (IV) an institution of higher edu15 cation or a consortium of institutions 

16 of higher education; or 

17 (V) a public or private nonprofit 

18 organization or association that has 

19 an application that is supported by a 

20 State, a political subdivision of a 

21 State, or a native community. 

22 (B) REGIONS.—Subject to approval by the 

23 Secretary, a consortium may define the region 

24 that it represents if the region— 


pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 2631 IH

1 (i) is large enough to contain critical 

2 elements of the key technologies or supply 

3 chain prioritized by the consortium; and 

4 (ii) is small enough to enable close 

5 collaboration among members of the con6 sortium. 

7 (3) DURATION.—Each designation under para8 graph (1) shall be for a period of two years. 

9 (4) RENEWAL.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—Upon receipt of an ap11 plication submitted under subparagraph (B), 

12 the Secretary may renew a designation made 

13 under paragraph (1) for up to two additional 

14 two-year periods. Any designation as a manu15 facturing community or renewal of such des16 ignation that is in effect before the date of the 

17 enactment of this Act shall count toward the 

18 limit set forth in this subparagraph. 

19 (B) APPLICATION FOR RENEWAL.—An eli20 gible consortium seeking a renewal under sub21 paragraph (A) shall submit an application to 

22 the Secretary at such time, in such manner, 

23 and containing such information as the Sec24 retary may require. 


pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 2631 IH

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 composition, either 

5 by adding or removing members; or 

6 (ii) as part of its application under 

7 subparagraph (B), submits a revision to 

8 the plan submitted under paragraph 

9 (5)(B)(iv) or the strategy submitted under 

10 paragraph (5)(B)(v). 

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 based upon— 

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 18:37 May 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2631.IH H2631

pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 2631 IH

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 or revi6 sions to the plan or strategy described in 

7 subparagraph (C)(ii) would improve the 

8 competitiveness of United States manufac9 turing; and 

10 (iv) such other criteria as the Sec11 retary considers appropriate. 

12 (5) APPLICATION FOR DESIGNATION.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible consortium 

14 seeking a designation under paragraph (1) shall 

15 submit an application to the Secretary at such 

16 time and in such manner as the Secretary may 

17 require. 

18 (B) CONTENTS.—Each application sub19 mitted to the Secretary under subparagraph (A) 

20 shall include— 

21 (i) a description of the regional 

22 boundaries of the consortium; 

23 (ii) a description of the manufacturing 

24 concentration of the consortium, including 

25 an assessment of how the manufacturing 


pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 2631 IH

1 concentration of the consortium competi2 tively ranks nationally according to meas3 ures relating to employment, sales, location 

4 quotients for an industry’s level of con5 centration, or such other measures as the 

6 Secretary considers appropriate; 

7 (iii) an integrated assessment of the 

8 local industrial ecosystem of the region of 

9 the consortium, which may include assess10 ment of workforce and training, such as 

11 that involving women and underrep12 resented minorities, supplier network, re13 search and innovation, infrastructure or 

14 site development, trade and international 

15 investment, operational improvements, and 

16 capital access components needed for man17 ufacturing activities in such region; 

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

21 (I) by making specific invest22 ments to address gaps in such eco23 system; and 


pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 2631 IH

1 (II) by making the manufac2 turing of the region of the consortium 

3 uniquely competitive; 

4 (v) a description of the investments 

5 the consortium proposes and the imple6 mentation strategy the consortium intends 

7 to use to address gaps in such ecosystem; 

8 (vi) a description of the outcome9 based metrics, benchmarks, and milestones 

10 that the consortium will track and the 

11 evaluation methods the consortium will use 

12 while designated as a manufacturing com13 munity to gauge performance of the strat14 egy of the consortium to improve the man15 ufacturing in the region of the consortium; 

16 and 

17 (vii) such other matters as the Sec18 retary considers appropriate. 

19 (6) EVALUATION OF APPLICATIONS.—The Sec20 retary shall evaluate each application received under 

21 paragraph (5) to determine— 

22 (A) whether the applicant demonstrates a 

23 significant level of regional cooperation in their 

24 proposal; and 


pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
10 

•HR 2631 IH

1 (B) how the manufacturing concentration 

2 of the applicant competitively ranks nationally 

3 according to measures described in paragraph 

4 (5)(B)(ii). 

5 (7) CERTAIN COMMUNITIES PREVIOUSLY REC6 OGNIZED.—Each consortium that was designated as 

7 a manufacturing community by the Secretary in car8 rying out the Investing in Manufacturing Commu9 nities Partnership initiative of the Department of 

10 Commerce before the date of the enactment of this 

11 Act shall be deemed a manufacturing community 

12 designated under this subsection if such consortium 

13 is still designated as a manufacturing community by 

14 the Secretary as part of such initiative. 

15 (c) SUPPORT FOR DESIGNATED MANUFACTURING

16 COMMUNITIES.— 

17 (1) PREFERENTIAL CONSIDERATION.— 

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

19 subparagraph (D), if a member of a consortium 

20 designated as a manufacturing community 

21 under subsection (b) seeks financial or technical 

22 assistance under a participating program of a 

23 participating agency, the head of such agency 

24 may give preferential consideration to such 


pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
11 

•HR 2631 IH

1 member with respect to the awarding of such fi2 nancial or technical assistance 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.—The Sec11 retary shall invite other Federal agencies to be12 come participating agencies of the Manufac13 turing Community Support Program. 

14 (C) PARTICIPATING PROGRAMS.—The head 

15 of each participating agency shall identify all 

16 programs administered by such participating 

17 agency that are applicable to the Manufacturing 

18 Community Support Program. 

19 (D) MULTIPLE MEMBERS OF THE SAME

20 CONSORTIUM SEEKING THE SAME FINANCIAL

21 OR TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 

22 (i) IN GENERAL.—If a participating 

23 agency receives applications for the same 

24 financial or technical assistance from more 

25 than one member of the same consortium 


pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
12 

•HR 2631 IH

1 designated as a manufacturing community 

2 under subsection (b), the head of such 

3 agency may determine how preference will 

4 be given under subparagraph (A), includ5 ing by requiring the consortium to select 

6 which of the members should be given 

7 preference. 

8 (ii) COORDINATION.—If the head of a 

9 participating agency determines that more 

10 than one member of a consortium should 

11 be given preference for financial or tech12 nical assistance under subparagraph (A), 

13 he or she may require such members to 

14 demonstrate coordination with each other 

15 in developing their applications for the fi16 nancial or technical assistance. 

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

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

19 head of each participating agency shall submit 

20 a report to the Secretary that specifies how the 

21 head will give preferential consideration under 

22 subparagraph (A). 

23 (2) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary 

24 may make a Federal point of contact available to 

25 each consortium designated as a manufacturing 


pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
13 

•HR 2631 IH

1 community under subsection (b) to help the mem2 bers of the consortium access Federal funds and 

3 technical assistance. 

4 (3) FINANCIAL AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—Under the Manufac6 turing Community Support Program, the head 

7 of a participating agency may award financial 

8 or technical assistance to a member of a consor9 tium designated as a manufacturing community 

10 under subsection (b) as he or she considers ap11 propriate for purposes of such program and 

12 consistent with the economic development strat13 egy of the consortium. 

14 (B) USE OF FUNDS.— 

15 (i) IN GENERAL.—A recipient of fi16 nancial or technical assistance under sub17 paragraph (A) may use such financial or 

18 technical assistance to support an invest19 ment in an ecosystem that will improve the 

20 competitiveness of United States manufac21 turing. 

22 (ii) INVESTMENTS SUPPORTED.—In23 vestments supported under this subpara24 graph may include— 

25 (I) infrastructure; 


pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
14 

•HR 2631 IH

1 (II) access to capital; 

2 (III) promotion of exports and 

3 foreign direct investment; 

4 (IV) equipment or facility up5 grades; 

6 (V) workforce training, retrain7 ing, or recruitment and retention, in8 cluding that of women and underrep9 resented minorities; 

10 (VI) energy or process efficiency; 

11 (VII) business incubators; 

12 (VIII) site preparation; 

13 (IX) advanced research; 

14 (X) supply chain development; 

15 and 

16 (XI) small business assistance. 

17 (4) COORDINATION.— 

18 (A) COORDINATION BY SECRETARY OF

19 COMMERCE.—The Secretary shall coordinate 

20 with the heads of the participating agencies to 

21 identify programs under paragraph (1)(C). 

22 (B) INTER-AGENCY COORDINATION.—The 

23 heads of the participating agencies shall coordi24 nate with each other— 


pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS
15 

•HR 2631 IH

1 (i) to leverage complementary activi2 ties, including from non-Federal sources, 

3 such as philanthropies; and 

4 (ii) to avoid duplication of efforts. 

5 (d) RECEIPT OF TRANSFERRED FUNDS.—The Sec6 retary may accept amounts transferred to the Secretary 

7 from the head of another participating agency to carry out 

8 this section. 

Æ 


pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS