II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3687 

To require the Secretary of Commerce to establish the Manufacturing 

Communities Support Program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 17, 2022 

Mrs. GILLIBRAND (for herself, Mr. MORAN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mrs. CAPITO, 

Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, and Mr. KELLY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Commerce to establish the Manufacturing Communities Support Program, 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 ‘‘Made in America Man5 ufacturing Communities Act of 2022’’. 

6 SEC. 2. MANUFACTURING COMMUNITIES. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.— 

8 (1) ELIGIBLE CONSORTIUM.—The term ‘‘eligi9 ble consortium’’ means a consortium that meets the 


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1 eligibility criteria established by the Secretary under 

2 subsection (c)(2)(A). 

3 (2) MANUFACTURING COMMUNITY.—The term 

4 ‘‘manufacturing community’’ means an eligible con5 sortium designated by the Secretary under sub6 section (c)(1). 

7 (3) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The term 

8 ‘‘nonprofit organization’’ means an organization ex9 empt from taxation and described in paragraph (3), 

10 (5), or (6) of section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue 

11 Code of 1986. 

12 (4) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means 

13 the Manufacturing Communities Support Program 

14 established under subsection (b)(1). 

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

16 the Secretary of Commerce. 

17 (6) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN.—The term 

18 ‘‘small business concern’’ means the term as defined 

19 under section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 

20 U.S.C. 632). 

21 (b) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 

23 a program to be known as the ‘‘Manufacturing Com24 munities Support Program’’, under which the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 15:45 Feb 23, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3687.IS S3687

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1 retary shall designate and support eligible consor2 tiums as manufacturing communities. 

3 (2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Program 

4 shall be to strengthen the manufacturing base of the 

5 United States by making long-term investments in 

6 manufacturing communities by supporting— 

7 (A) critical skills; 

8 (B) facilities; 

9 (C) research and development; and 

10 (D) small business concerns. 

11 (c) DESIGNATION OF MANUFACTURING COMMU12 NITIES.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall des14 ignate an eligible consortium as a manufacturing 

15 community through a competitive process. 

16 (2) ELIGIBLE CONSORTIUMS.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall es18 tablish criteria for a consortium to be eligible 

19 for a designation as a manufacturing commu20 nity under paragraph (1). 

21 (B) CONSIDERATIONS.—In developing eli22 gibility criteria under subparagraph (A), the 

23 Secretary shall consider the merits of— 

24 (i) including members from academia, 

25 commercial industry, nonprofit organizaVerDate Sep 11 2014 15:45 Feb 23, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3687.IS S3687

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1 tions, and State and local governmental or2 ganizations; 

3 (ii) supporting efforts in geographical 

4 regions that have capabilities in key tech5 nologies or manufacturing base supply 

6 chains that the Secretary determines to be 

7 critical to codifying the supply chains of 

8 the United States; and 

9 (iii) the optimal composition and size 

10 of a consortium to promote effectiveness, 

11 collaboration, and efficiency. 

12 (3) DURATION.—Each designation under para13 graph (1) shall be for a 5-year period. 

14 (4) RENEWAL.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may 

16 renew a designation made under paragraph (1) 

17 for not more than 2 additional 2-year periods. 

18 (B) CRITERIA FOR RENEWAL.— 

19 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

20 establish criteria for the renewal of a des21 ignation under subparagraph (A). 

22 (ii) CONSIDERATIONS.—In estab23 lishing criteria for a renewal under clause 

24 (i) the Secretary shall consider, with reVerDate Sep 11 2014 15:45 Feb 23, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3687.IS S3687

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1 spect to the manufacturing community 

2 seeking a renewal— 

3 (I) the performance of the manu4 facturing community in meeting the 

5 established goals of the Program; 

6 (II) the progress the manufac7 turing community has made with re8 spect to project-specific metrics, par9 ticularly with respect to metrics de10 signed to help manufacturing commu11 nities track their own progress; 

12 (III) whether any changes to the 

13 composition of the manufacturing 

14 community or revisions of the plan of 

15 the manufacturing community would 

16 improve the capabilities of the manu17 facturing base of the United States; 

18 and 

19 (IV) any other criteria the Sec20 retary determines appropriate. 

21 (5) APPLICATION FOR DESIGNATION.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible consortium 

23 seeking a designation under paragraph (1) shall 

24 submit an application to the Secretary at such 


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1 time and in such manner as the Secretary may 

2 require. 

3 (B) CONSIDERATIONS.—In developing ap4 plication procedures under subparagraph (A), 

5 the Secretary shall consider the inclusion of, 

6 with respect to an eligible consortium— 

7 (i) a description of the regional 

8 boundaries of the eligible consortium and 

9 the manufacturing capacity of the region; 

10 (ii) an evidence-based plan for en11 hancing the manufacturing base in the 

12 United States through the efforts of the el13 igible consortium; 

14 (iii) the investments the eligible con15 sortium proposes and the strategy of the 

16 eligible consortium to address gaps in the 

17 manufacturing base of the United States; 

18 (iv) a description of the outcome19 based metrics, benchmarks, and milestones 

20 that will track and the evaluation methods 

21 that will be used to gauge performance of 

22 the eligible consortium; 

23 (v) a plan to ensure that members of 

24 the eligible consortium are representative 


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1 of the proposed location of the manufac2 turing community; 

3 (vi) a community that had previously 

4 received a designation by the Investing in 

5 Manufacturing Communities Partnership 

6 of the Economic Development Administra7 tion; and 

8 (vii) any other matters the Secretary 

9 determines appropriate. 

10 (C) STRATEGIC PLANNING ASSISTANCE.— 

11 The Secretary shall provide strategic planning 

12 assistance for eligible consortiums that lack ex13 perience applying for Federal assistance to en14 sure such eligible consortiums may submit an 

15 application that meets the procedures estab16 lished by the Secretary under this paragraph. 

17 (d) FINANCIAL AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—As appropriate and for pur19 poses of the Program, the Secretary may award fi20 nancial or technical assistance to a member of an el21 igible consortium that has been designated as a 

22 manufacturing community. 

23 (2) USE OF FUNDS.—A recipient of financial or 

24 technical assistance under paragraph (1) shall use 

25 the financial or technical assistance to support an 


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1 investment that will improve the manufacturing base 

2 of the United States. 

3 (3) INVESTMENTS SUPPORTED.—Investments 

4 supported under this subsection may include activi5 ties relating to— 

6 (A) equipment or facility upgrades; 

7 (B) workforce training, retraining, or re8 cruitment and retention, including for women, 

9 underrepresented minorities, and veterans; 

10 (C) business incubators; 

11 (D) advanced research and commercializa12 tion, including with Federal laboratories and 

13 depots; 

14 (E) supply chain development; and 

15 (F) assistance for small business concerns. 

16 (e) OTHER FEDERAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary 

17 may make a Federal point of contact available to each eli18 gible consortium designated as a manufacturing commu19 nity to help such consortium and the members of such 

20 consortium access Federal financial and technical assist21 ance. 

22 (f) RECEIPT OF TRANSFERRED FUNDS.—The Sec23 retary may accept amounts transferred to the Secretary 

24 from the head of an agency or a State or local govern25 mental organization to carry out this section. 


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1 (g) REPORT.—Not later than 6 years after the date 

2 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit 

3 to the Congress, and make publicly available, a report that 

4 identifies the best practices for an eligible consortium— 

5 (1) to be designated as a manufacturing com6 munity; and 

7 (2) to renew the manufacturing community des8 ignation. 

Æ 


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