[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 78 (Monday, April 24, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20075-20078]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-10012]



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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration
[Docket No. 950329080-5080-01]


Special American Business Internship Training Program (SABIT)

AGENCY: International Trade Administration, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This Notice announces availability of funds for the Special 
American Business Internship Training Program (SABIT), for training 
business executives and scientists (also referred to as ``interns'') 
from the New Independent States (NIS) of the former Soviet Union. The 
Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration (ITA) 
established the SABIT program in September 1990 to assist the former 
Soviet Union's transition to a market economy. Since that time, SABIT 
has been matching business executives and scientists from the NIS with 
U.S. firms which provide them with three to six months of hands-on 
training in a market economy.
    Under the SABIT program, qualified U.S. firms will receive funds 
through a cooperative agreement with ITA to help defray the cost of 
hosting interns. ITA will interview and recommend eligible interns to 
participating companies. Interns may be from any of the following 
Independent States: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, 
Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and 
Uzbekistan. The U.S. firms will be expected to provide the interns with 
a hands-on, non-academic, executive training program designed to 
maximize their exposure to management or commercially-oriented 
scientific operations. At the end of the training program, interns must 
return to the NIS.

DATES: The closing date for applications is April 30, 1996. An original 
and two copies of the application (Standard Form 424 (Rev. 4-92) and 
supplemental material) are to be sent to the address designated in the 
Application Kit and postmarked by the closing date. Applications will 
be considered on a ``rolling'' basis as they are received, subject to 
the availability of funds. If available funds are depleted prior to the 
closing date, a notice to that effect will be published in the Federal 
Register. Processing of complete applications takes approximately two 
to three months.

ADDRESSES: Request for Applications: Competitive Application kits will 
be available from ITA starting on the day [[Page 20076]] this notice is 
published. To obtain a copy of the Application Kit please telephone 
(202) 482-0073, or facsimile (202) 482-2443 (these are not toll free 
numbers) or send a written request with two self-addressed mailing 
labels to Liesel C. Duhon, Acting Director, SABIT Program, HCHB Room 
3319, U.S. Department of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, 
NW., Washington, DC 20230. Only one copy of the Application Kit will be 
provided to each organization requesting it, but it may be reproduced 
by the requester.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Liesel C. Duhon, Acting Director, 
SABIT Program, U.S. Department of Commerce, phone--(202) 482-0073, 
facsimile--(202) 482-2443. These are not toll free numbers.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: SABIT exposes NIS business managers and 
scientists to a completely new way of thinking in which demand, 
consumer satisfaction, and profits drive production. Senior-level 
interns visiting the U.S. for internship programs with public or 
private sector companies will be exposed to an environment which will 
provide them with practical knowledge for transforming their countries' 
enterprises and economies to the free market. The program provides 
first-hand, eye-opening experience to managers and scientists which 
cannot be duplicated by American managers travelling to their 
territories.
    Business Executives: SABIT assists economic restructuring in the 
NIS by providing top-level business managers with practical training in 
American methods of innovation and management in such areas as 
strategic planning, financing, production, distribution, marketing, 
accounting, wholesaling, and labor relations. This first-hand 
experience in the U.S. economy enables interns to become leaders in 
establishing and operating a market economy in the NIS, and creates a 
unique opportunity for U.S. firms to familiarize key executives from 
the NIS with their products and services.
    Scientists: SABIT provides opportunities for gifted scientists to 
apply their skills to peaceful research and development in the civilian 
sector, in areas such as defense conversion, medical research, and the 
environment, and exposes them to the role of scientific research in a 
market economy where applicability of research relates to business 
success. Sponsoring firms in the U.S. scientific community also benefit 
from exchanging information and ideas, and different approaches to new 
technologies.
    All internships are for three to six months; however, ITA reserves 
the right to allow an intern to stay for a shorter period if the U.S. 
company agrees and the intern demonstrates a need for a shorter 
internship based on his or her management responsibilities.
    Funding Availability: Pursuant to section 632(a) of the Foreign 
Assistance Act of 1961, as amended (the ``Act'') funding for the 
program will be provided by the United States Agency for International 
Development (A.I.D). ITA will award financial assistance and administer 
the program pursuant to the authority contained in section 635(b) of 
the Act. The estimated amount of financial assistance available for the 
program is $1.4 million. Additional funding may become available during 
this funding period.
    Funding Instrument and Project Duration: Federal assistance will be 
awarded pursuant to a cooperative agreement between ITA and the 
recipient firm. ITA will reimburse companies for the round trip 
international travel of each intern from the intern's home city in the 
NIS to the U.S. internship site, upon submission to ITA of the travel 
invoice and the form SF-270, ``Request for Advance or Reimbursement.'' 
Travel under the program is subject to the Fly America Act. Recipient 
firms provide $30 per day directly to interns; ITA will reimburse 
companies for this stipend of $30 per day per intern for up to six 
months, upon submission by company of an end-of-internship report and 
form SF-270. Each award will have a cap of $7,500 per intern for total 
cost of airline travel and stipend. ITA reserves the right to allow an 
award to exceed this amount in cases of unusually high costs, such as 
airfare from remote regions of the NIS. There are no specific matching 
requirements for the awards. Host firms, however, are expected to bear 
the costs beyond those covered by the award, including: visa fees, 
housing, insurance, any food and incidentals costs beyond $30 per day, 
any training-related travel within the U.S., and provision of the 
hands-on training for the interns.
    U.S. firms wishing to utilize SABIT in order to be matched with an 
intern without applying for financial assistance may do so. Such firms 
will be responsible for all costs, including travel expenses, related 
to sponsoring the intern.
    Eligibility: Eligible applicants for the SABIT program will be any 
for profit or non-profit U.S. corporation, association, organization or 
other public or private entity. Branches or divisions of the federal 
government are not eligible.
    Evaluation Criteria: Consideration for financial assistance will be 
given to those SABIT proposals which:
    (1) Demonstrate a commitment to the intent and goals of the program 
to provide practical, on-the-job, non-academic, non-classroom, 
training: in the case of manager interns, an appropriate management 
training experience, or, in the case of scientist interns, a practical, 
commercially-oriented scientific training experience.
    (2) Respond to the priority needs of senior business managers and 
scientists in the NIS, as determined by ITA. Host firms must be solidly 
committed to interns' return to their own countries upon completion of 
the internships.
    (3) Present a realistic work plan describing in detail the training 
program to be provided to the SABIT intern(s). Work plans must include 
the following: (a) Whether Applicant is applying to host managers or 
scientists, or both (and the number of each); (b) the duration of the 
internship (at least three but not more than six months.) As noted 
above, ITA reserves the right to allow an intern with very senior 
management responsibilities to stay for a shorter period (minimum of 
one month) if the U.S. company agrees and the intern demonstrates a 
compelling need for a shorter internship based on his or her management 
responsibilities; (c) the location(s) of the internship; (d) the name, 
address, and telephone number of the designated internship coordinator; 
(e) name(s) of division(s) in which the intern(s) will be placed; (f) 
the individual(s) in the U.S. company under whose supervision the 
intern will train; (g) the proposed internship training activities. The 
components of the training activities must be described in as much 
detail as possible, preferably on a week-by-week basis. The description 
of the training activities should include an accounting of what the 
intern's(s') duties and responsibilities will be during the training; 
(h) the anticipated housing arrangements to be provided for the 
intern(s). Note that housing arrangements should be suitable for mid- 
and senior-level professionals, and that each intern must be provided 
with a private room.
    (4) Include a brief objectives section indicating why the Applicant 
wishes to provide an internship to a manager(s) or scientist(s) from 
the NIS, and how the proposed internship would further the purpose of 
the SABIT program as described above. If Applicant is nominating a 
specific individual for training, this objectives section must describe 
any existing relationship between the Applicant and the 
individual. [[Page 20077]] 
    (5) Provide a general description of the profile of the intern(s) 
the Applicant would like to host, including: educational background; 
occupational/professional background (including number of years and 
areas of experience); size and nature of organization at which the 
intern(s) is/are presently employed; preference for the region of the 
NIS where the intern(s) is/are employed; and whether Applicant is open 
to sponsoring interns from a variety of NIS countries.
    (6) Indicate whether Applicant organization operates in one or more 
of the following business sectors: (a) Agribusiness (including food 
processing and distribution, and agricultural equipment), (b) Defense 
conversion, (c) Energy, (d) Environment (including environmental clean-
up), (e) Financial services (including banking and accounting), (f) 
Housing, construction and infrastructure, (g) Medical equipment, 
supplies, pharmaceuticals, and health care management, (h) Product 
standards and quality control, (i) Telecommunications, and (j) 
Transportation. Applicant proposal must provide an explanation 
including description and extent of involvement in the sector(s). While 
Applicants involved in any industry sector may apply to the program, 
priority consideration is given to those operating in the above 
sectors.
    Evaluation criteria 1-6 will be weighted equally. ITA does not 
guarantee that it will match Applicant with the profile provided to 
SABIT.
    Additional Information: Applicants must submit: (1) Evidence of 
adequate financial resources of Applicant organization to cover the 
costs involved in providing an internship(s). As evidence of such 
resources, Applicant should submit financial statements audited by an 
outside organization or an annual report including such statements. If 
these are not available, a letter should be provided from the 
Applicant's bank or outside accountant attesting to the financial 
capability of the firm to undertake the scope of work involved in 
training an intern under the SABIT program. (2) Evidence of a 
satisfactory record of performance in grants, contracts and/or 
cooperative agreements with the Federal Government, if applicable. 
(Applicants who are or have been deficient in current or recent 
performance in their grants, contracts, and/or cooperative agreements 
with the Federal Government shall be presumed to be unable to meet this 
requirement). (3) A statement that the Applicant will provide medical 
insurance coverage for interns during their internships. Recipients 
will be required to submit proof of the interns' medical insurance 
coverage to the Federal Program Officer, before the interns' arrivals. 
The insurance coverage must include an accident and comprehensive 
medical insurance program as well as coverage for accidental death, 
emergency medical evacuation, and repatriation.
    Selection Procedures: Each application will receive an independent, 
objective review by one or more three or four-member ITA review panels 
qualified to evaluate applications submitted under the program. 
Applications will be evaluated on a competitive, ``rolling'' basis as 
they are received in accordance with the selection criteria set forth 
above. Awards will be made to those applications which successfully 
meet the selection criteria. If funds are not available for all those 
applications which successfully meet the criteria, awards will be made 
to the first applications received which successfully do so. ITA review 
panel(s) reserve(s) the right to reject any application; to limit the 
number of interns per applicant; to waive informalities and minor 
irregularities in applications received; and to consider other than 
competitive procedures to distribute assistance under this program and 
in accordance with the law. ITA review panel(s) reserve(s) the right to 
make awards based on U.S. geographic and organization size diversity 
among applicants. Recipients may be eligible, pursuant to approval of 
an amendment to the award, to host additional interns under the 
program.
    Other Requirements: All applicants are advised of the following:
    1. No award of Federal funds shall be made to an Applicant who has 
an outstanding delinquent Federal debt until either the delinquent 
account is paid in full, a negotiated repayment schedule is established 
and at least one payment is received, or other arrangements 
satisfactory to DOC are made.
    2. A false statement on the application is grounds for denial or 
termination of funds and grounds for possible punishment by a fine or 
imprisonment as provided in 18 U.S.C.1001.
    3. Recipients and subrecipients are subject to all Federal laws and 
Federal and Departmental regulations, policies and procedures 
applicable to financial assistance awards.
    4. Participating companies will be required to comply with all 
relevant U.S. tax and export regulations. Export controls may relate 
not only to licensing of products for export, but also to technical 
data transfer.
    5. Applications under this program are not subject to Executive 
Order 12372, ``Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs.''
    6. If applicants incur any costs prior to an award being made, they 
do solely at their own risk of not being reimbursed by the Government. 
Notwithstanding any verbal or written assurance that may have been 
received, there is no obligation on the part of DOC to cover pre-award 
costs.
    7. Past performance: Unsatisfactory performance by an applicant 
under prior Federal awards may result in an application not being 
considered for funding.
    8. No obligation for future funding: If an application is selected 
for funding, DOC has no obligation to provide any additional future 
funding in connection with that award. Renewal of an award to increase 
funding or extend the period of performance is at the total discretion 
of DOC.
    9. Primary Applicant Certifications: All primary applicants must 
submit a completed Form CD-511, ``Certifications Regarding Debarment, 
Suspension and Other Responsibility Matters; Drug-Free Workplace 
Requirements and Lobbying,'' and the following explanations are hereby 
provided:
    (a) Nonprocurement Debarment and Suspension: Prospective 
participants (as defined at 15 CFR Part 26, Section 105) are subject to 
15 CFR Part 26, ``Nonprocurement Debarment and Suspension'' and the 
related section of the certification form prescribed above applies.
    (b) Drug Free Workplace: Grantees (as defined at 15 CFR Part 26, 
Section 605) are subject to 15 CFR Part 26, Subpart F, ``Governmentwide 
Requirements for Drug-Free Workplace (Grants)'' and the related section 
of the certification form prescribed above applies.
    (c) Anti-Lobbying: Funds provided under the SABIT program may not 
be used for lobbying activities. Persons (as defined at 15 CFR Part 28, 
Section 105) are subject to the lobbying provisions of 31 U.S.C. 1352, 
``Limitation on use of appropriated funds to influence certain Federal 
contracting and financial transactions,'' and the lobbying section of 
the certification form prescribed above applies to applications/bids 
for grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts for more than 
$100,000, and loans and loan guarantees for more than $150,000, or the 
single family maximum mortgage limit for affected programs, whichever 
is greater.
    (d) Anti-Lobbying Disclosures: Any applicant that has paid or will 
pay for lobbying in connection with this award [[Page 20078]] using any 
funds must submit an SF-LLL, ``Disclosure of Lobbying Activities,'' as 
required under 15 CFR Part 28, Appendix B.
    10. Lower Tier Certifications: Recipients shall require applicants/
bidders for subgrants, contracts, subcontracts, or other lower tier 
covered transactions at any tier under the award to submit, if 
applicable, a completed Form CD-512, ``Certifications Regarding 
Debarment, Suspension, Ineligibility and Voluntary Exclusion--Lower 
Tier Covered Transactions and Lobbying'' and disclosure form, SF-LLL, 
``Disclosure of Lobbying Activities.'' Form CD-512 is intended for the 
use of recipients and should not be transmitted to DOC. SF-LLL 
submitted by any tier recipient or subrecipient should be submitted to 
DOC in accordance with the instructions contained in the award 
document.
    11. Indirect Costs: Indirect costs are not allowed under the SABIT 
program.
    12. Buy-American-made equipment or products: Applicants are hereby 
notified that any equipment or products authorized to be purchased with 
funding provided under this program must be American-made to the 
maximum extent feasible in accordance with Public Law 103-121, Sections 
606. (a) and (b).
    13. The following statutes apply to this program: Restriction on 
Assistance to the Government of Azerbaijan (Section 907 of the FREEDOM 
Support Act, Public Law 102-511); Chapter 11 of Part I of the Foreign 
Assistance Act of 1961, as amended, including section 498A (b), 
regarding ineligibility for assistance; provisions in annual Foreign 
Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 
including the following provisions contained in Public Law 103-87: Use 
of American Resources (Section 559 of the Foreign Operation, Export 
Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1995, Pub. L. 103-
87); Impact on Jobs in the United States (Section 545 of the Foreign 
Operation, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 
1995, Pub. L. 103-87); Bumpers Amendment (Section 513(b) of the Foreign 
Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 
1994, Pub. L. 103-87); Lautenberg Amendment (Section 513(b) of the 
Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs 
Appropriations Act, 1994, Pub. L. 103-87); and Section 660(a) of the 
Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended.

    Dated: April 18, 1995.
Liesel C. Duhon,
Acting Director, SABIT Program.
[FR Doc. 95-10012 Filed 4-21-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-HE-P