[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 26 (Tuesday, February 9, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6355-6358]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-2799]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Institute of Standards and Technology

[Docket Number: 100114022-0024-01]


Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Availability of Funds 
for Three Regions Including the State of Arizona, Chicago Region of the 
State of Illinois and the Identified Counties in Central Pennsylvania

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The National Institute of Standards and Technology invites 
proposals from qualified organizations for funding projects that 
provide manufacturing extension services to primarily small- and 
medium-sized manufacturers in the United States. These projects will 
establish manufacturing extension centers under

[[Page 6356]]

the Manufacturing Extension Partnership Program. Proposals are invited 
for the establishment or continuation of manufacturing extension 
service within three discrete geographic areas located in Illinois, 
Arizona and Central Pennsylvania. The three areas are detailed further 
in the section entitled SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

DATES: All applications must be received or postmarked no later than 5 
p.m. Eastern Time on April 12, 2010. Late proposals will not be 
reviewed.

ADDRESSES: Hard copy submissions should be sent to: National Institute 
of Standards and Technology, Manufacturing Extension Partnership, c/o 
Diane Henderson, 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 4800, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-
4800. Electronic submissions should be uploaded to http://www.Grants.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: A paper copy of the Federal Register 
Notice (FRN) may be obtained by calling (301) 975-6328. Administrative, 
budget, cost-sharing, and eligibility questions should be addressed to 
Diane Henderson at Tel: (301) 975-5105; E-mail: 
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#dfbbb6beb1baf1b7bab1bbbaadacb0b19fb1b6acabf1b8b0a9"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="06626f676863286e636862637475696846686f757228616970">[email protected]</span></a>; Fax: (301) 963-6556. Project evaluation 
criteria and other programmatic questions should be addressed to Alex 
Folk at Tel: (301) 975-8089; E-mail: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#1f7e737a6731797073745f71766c6b31787069"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="7f1e131a0751191013143f11160c0b51181009">[email protected]</span></a>; Fax: (301) 
963-6556. Grants Administration questions should be addressed to: 
Grants and Agreements Management Division; National Institute of 
Standards and Technology; 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 1650; Gaithersburg, MD 
20899-1650; Tel: (301) 975-6328. For assistance with using Grants.gov 
contact <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#2f5c5a5f5f405d5b6f485d4e415b5c01484059"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="61121411110e1315210613000f15124f060e17">[email protected]</span></a> or call 800-518-4726. All questions and 
responses will be posted on the MEP Web site, http://www.mep.nist.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Electronic access: Applicants are strongly 
encouraged to read the Federal Funding Opportunity (FFO) announcement 
available at http://www.Grants.gov for complete information about this 
program, all program requirements, and instructions for applying by 
paper or electronically.

    Authority: 15 U.S.C. 278k, as implemented in 15 CFR Part 290.

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Name and Number: Measurement 
and Engineering Research and Standards--11.611.

    Program Description: The National Institute of Standards and 
Technology invites proposals from qualified organizations for funding 
projects that provide manufacturing extension services to primarily 
small- and medium-sized manufacturers in the United States. These 
projects will establish manufacturing extension centers under the 
Manufacturing Extension Partnership Program. Proposals are invited for 
the establishment or expansion of manufacturing extension service 
within three discrete geographic areas located in Illinois, Arizona and 
Central Pennsylvania. The three areas are further detailed below:
    <bullet> Chicago Region of Illinois--The region includes: McHenry, 
Kane, DuPage, Cooke, Chicago, Will and Lake counties.
    <bullet> Arizona--The region includes the entire state of Arizona.
    <bullet> Central Pennsylvania--The region includes: Bedford, Blair, 
Centre, Clinton, Huntingdon, Juniata, Lycoming, Mifflin, Montour, 
Northumberland, Snyder, and Union counties.
    The objective of the projects funded under this program is to 
provide manufacturing extension services to primarily small- and 
medium-sized manufacturers in the United States. These services are 
provided through the coordinated efforts of a regionally-based 
manufacturing extension center and local technology resources. The 
management and operational structure of the manufacturing extension 
center is not prescribed, but should be based upon the characteristics 
of the manufacturers in the regional and locally available resources 
with demonstrated experience working with manufacturers. The proposal 
should include plans for integration into the MEP national system and 
linkages to appropriate national resources. It is not the intent of 
this program that the centers perform research and development. Please 
see full program description in the FFO announcement.
    Funding Availability: NIST anticipates that up to $3,875,000 in 
cooperative agreements will be available to support manufacturing 
extension centers under this announcement. The funding level for 
individual awards is not prescribed. NIST anticipates funding 3 awards 
at the level of up to $1,000,000 for the state of Arizona, up to 
$2,500,000 for the Chicago region of Illinois and up to $375,000 for 
the Central Pennsylvania region. The projects awarded under this 
program will have a budget and performance period of one year. Each 
project may be renewed on an annual basis subject to the review 
requirements described in 15 CFR 290.8. Renewal of each award shall be 
at the sole discretion of NIST and shall be based upon satisfactory 
performance, priority of the need for the service, existing legislative 
authority, and availability of funds. Projects are expected to start 
within 30 days of award notice.
    Cost Share Requirements: A non-federal cost share contribution from 
the applicant is required. At a minimum, the applicant must provide per 
the following table cost share towards the total capital, operating and 
maintenance costs for the center.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               Maximum
                  Year of center operation                    NIST share
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-3........................................................        \1/2\
4..........................................................        \2/5\
5 and beyond...............................................        \1/3\
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The applicant's share of the center expenses may include cash and 
in-kind contributions. However, at least 50% of the applicant's total 
cost share (cash plus in-kind) must be in cash. Applicants are 
encouraged to propose more than the minimum cost share. The source and 
detailed rationale of the cost share, both cash and in-kind, must be 
documented in the budget submitted with the proposal and will be 
considered as part of the evaluation review.
    Eligibility: Each Award recipient must be a U.S.-based not-for-
profit institution or organization. For the purpose of this 
solicitation, not-for-profit organizations include universities and 
state and local governments. Eligible applicants may be consortia of 
non-profit institutions. Existing and previous centers and partners are 
eligible as well as organizations without prior experience in the MEP 
program.
    Application Requirements: Applications must be submitted in 
accordance with the requirements set forth in the corresponding FFO 
announcement.
    Evaluation Criteria: All qualified proposals will be evaluated 
based on the applicant's ability to align the program criteria to NIST 
MEP's Next Generation Strategy: Continuous Improvement, Technology 
Acceleration, Supplier Development, Sustainability and Workforce. The 
NIST MEP Next Generation Strategy can be found at http://www.mep.nist.gov.
    Applications from existing or previous MEP manufacturing extension 
Centers or partners must contain specific information that addresses 
whether the applicant's past performance with the program is indicative 
of expected performance under a possible new award and describing how 
and why performance is expected to be the same or different.
    The following criteria will be utilized by an evaluation panel to 
rate the

[[Page 6357]]

proposals. Each proposal should address all four evaluation criteria, 
which are assigned equal weighting.
    (1) Identification of Target Firms in Proposed Region. Does the 
proposal clearly address the entire service region, providing for a 
large enough population of target firms of small- and medium-sized 
manufacturers that the applicant understands and can serve, and which 
is not presently served by an existing Center?
    i. Market Analysis. Demonstrated understanding of the service 
region's manufacturing base, including business size, industry types, 
product mix, and technology requirements.
    ii. Geographical Location. Physical size, concentration of 
industry, and economic significance of the service region's 
manufacturing base. Geographical diversity of the Center as compared to 
existing Centers will be a factor in evaluation of proposals.
    (2) Technology Resources. Does the proposal assure strength in 
technical personnel and programmatic resources, full-time staff, 
facilities, equipment, and linkages to external sources of technology 
to develop and transfer technologies related to NIST research results 
and expertise in the technical areas noted in the MEP regulations found 
at 15 CFR Part 290 as well as from other sources of technology research 
and development?
    (3) Technology Delivery Mechanisms. Does the proposal clearly and 
sharply define an effective methodology for delivering advanced 
manufacturing technology to small- and medium-sized manufacturers and 
mechanism(s) for accelerating the adoption of technologies for both 
process improvement and new product adoption?
    i. Linkages. Development of effective partnerships or linkages to 
third parties such as industry, universities, nonprofit economic 
organizations, and state governments who will amplify the Center's 
technology delivery to reach a large number of clients in its service 
region.
    ii. Program Leverage. Provision of an effective strategy to amplify 
the Center's technology delivery approaches to achieve the proposed 
objectives as described in 15 CFR 290.3(e).
    (4) Management and Financial Plan. Does the proposal define a 
management structure and assure management personnel to carry out 
development and operation of an effective Center?
    i. Organizational Structure. Completeness and appropriateness of 
the organizational structure, and its focus on the mission of the 
Center. Assurance of local full-time top management of the Center. This 
includes a clearly presented Oversight Board structure with a 
membership representing small- and medium-sized manufacturers in the 
region. MEP has determined that centers clearly benefit when a majority 
or more of its Board members/Trustees compose a membership representing 
principally small and medium manufacturing as well as committed 
partners and do not have dual obligations to more than one Center. Two-
thirds of the members of the Center's oversight board must not be 
members of any other MEP Center boards.
    ii. Program Management. Effectiveness of the planned methodology of 
program management. This includes committed local partners and 
demonstrated experience of the leadership team in manufacturing, 
outreach and partnership development.
    iii. Internal Evaluation. Effectiveness of the planned continuous 
internal evaluation of program activities. The proposal must provide 
the methodology for continuous internal evaluation of the program 
activities and demonstrate the effectiveness of defined methodology.
    iv. Plans for Financial Cost Share. Demonstrated stability and 
duration of the applicant's funding commitments as well as the 
percentage of operating and capital costs guaranteed by the applicant. 
Identification of the sources of cost share and the general terms of 
funding commitments. The total level of cost share and detailed 
rationale of the cost share, both cash and in-kind, must be documented 
in the budget submitted with the proposal and will be considered as 
part of the evaluation review. Applicants proposing more than the 
minimum required cost share will be assessed more favorably in 
proportion to any increased cost share amount.
    v. Budget. Suitability and focus of the applicant's detailed one-
year budget and budget outline for years 2-5 and beyond.
    Review and Selection Process: Proposal evaluation and selection 
will consist of four principal phases: Proposal qualification, proposal 
review, site visits and award determination.

a. Proposal Qualification

    NIST will review all proposals to assure compliance with the 
proposal content as described in 15 CFR 290.5 and the provisions of 
this notice. Proposals that satisfy these requirements will be 
designated as qualified proposals. Non-qualified proposals will not be 
evaluated and applicants will be notified of disqualification.

b. Proposal Review

    NIST will appoint an evaluation panel, consisting of at least one 
non-Federal Government employee and at least two Federal Government 
employees, to conduct independent and objective reviews and evaluations 
of all qualified proposals in accordance with the evaluation criteria 
set forth in this notice. Based upon this review, the each reviewer 
will assign a numeric score for each qualified proposal based on the 
evaluation criteria. The reviewers may discuss the proposal with each 
other, but scores will be determined on an individual basis, not as a 
consensus. Proposals with an average score of 70 or higher out of 100 
will be deemed finalists and will receive site visits.

c. Site Visits

    NIST representatives (the same evaluation panel reviewers) will 
visit each finalist organization. Finalists will be reviewed and 
numeric scores adjusted using the criteria set forth in Sec.  290.6 of 
these procedures assigning equal weight to each of the four categories. 
NIST may enter into negotiations with the finalists concerning any 
aspect of their proposal.
    Proposals are then ranked based on the sum of the reviewers' final 
numeric scores. The ranked proposals are then submitted to the 
Selecting Official, the Director of the NIST MEP Program.

d. Award Determination

    The Director of the NIST MEP Program shall make funding 
recommendations to NIST Grants Officer based on the rank order of 
applicants and the following selection factors: Availability of Federal 
funds, the need to assure appropriate regional distribution, and 
whether the project duplicates other projects funded by the Department 
of Commerce or other Federal agencies.
    The final approval of selected applications and award of financial 
assistance will be made by the NIST Grants Officer based on compliance 
with application requirements as published in this notice, compliance 
with applicable legal and regulatory requirements, and whether the 
recommended applicants appear to be responsible. Applicants may be 
asked to modify objectives, work plans, or budgets and provide 
supplemental information required by the agency prior to award. As a 
result of the selection process, NIST may fund all, some, or parts of 
the eligible applications submitted, or none at all. The decision of 
the Grants Officer is final.

[[Page 6358]]

    Unsuccessful applicants will be notified in writing. The Program 
will retain one copy of each unsuccessful application for three years 
for record keeping purposes. The remaining copies will be destroyed.
    The Department of Commerce Pre-Award Notification Requirements for 
Grants and Cooperative Agreements: The Department of Commerce Pre-Award 
Notification Requirements for Grants and Cooperative Agreements, which 
are contained in the Federal Register Notice of February 11, 2008 (73 
FR 7696), are applicable to this notice. Please refer to http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/.
    Dun and Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering System: On the form SF-
424 items 8.b. and 8.c., the applicant's 9-digit Employer/Taxpayer 
Identification Number (EIN/TIN) and 9-digit Dun and Bradstreet Data 
Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number must be consistent with the 
information on the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) (http://www.ccr.gov) and Automated Standard Application for Payment System 
(ASAP). For complex organizations with multiple EIN/TIN and DUNS 
numbers, the EIN/TIN and DUNS number MUST be the numbers for the 
applying organization. Organizations that provide incorrect/
inconsistent EIN/TIN and DUNS numbers may experience significant delays 
in receiving funds if their proposal is selected for funding. Please 
confirm that the EIN/TIN and DUNS number are consistent with the 
information on the CCR and ASAP.
    Paperwork Reduction Act: The standard forms in the application kit 
involve a collection of information subject to the Paperwork Reduction 
Act. The use of Standard Forms 424, 424A, 424B, SF-LLL, and CD-346 have 
been approved by OMB under the respective Control Numbers 0348-0043, 
0348-0044, 0348-0040, 0348-0046, and 0605-0001. MEP program-specific 
application requirements have been approved by OMB under Control Number 
0693-0056.
    Notwithstanding any other provision of the law, no person is 
required to respond to, nor shall any person be subject to a penalty 
for failure to comply with, a collection of information subject to the 
requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act, unless that collection of 
information displays a currently valid OMB Control Number.
    Funding Availability and Limitation of Liability: The funding 
periods and funding amounts referenced in this notice and request for 
proposals are subject to the availability of funds, as well as to 
Department of Commerce and NIST priorities at the time of award. The 
Department of Commerce and NIST will not be held responsible for 
proposal preparation costs. Publication of this notice does not 
obligate the Department of Commerce or NIST to award any specific grant 
or cooperative agreement or to obligate all or any part of available 
funds.
    Executive Order 12866: This funding notice was determined to be not 
significant for purposes of Executive Order 12866.
    Executive Order 13132 (Federalism): It has been determined that 
this notice does not contain policies with federalism implications as 
that term is defined in Executive Order 13132.
    Executive Order 12372: Applications under this program are not 
subject to Executive Order 12372, ``Intergovernmental Review of Federal 
Programs.''
    Administrative Procedure Act/Regulatory Flexibility Act: Notice and 
comment are not required under the Administrative Procedure Act (5 
U.S.C. 553) or any other law, for rules relating to public property, 
loans, grants, benefits or contracts (5 U.S.C. 553 (a)). Because notice 
and comment are not required under 5 U.S.C 553, or any other law, for 
rules relating to public property, loans, grants, benefits or contracts 
(5 U.S.C.553(a)), a Regulatory Flexibility Analysis is not required and 
has not been prepared for this notice, 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.

    Dated: February 4, 2010.
Marc G. Stanley,
Acting Deputy Directo.
[FR Doc. 2010-2799 Filed 2-8-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-13-P


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