MAKING AN IMPACT ON U.S. MANUFACTURING

Embedding MEP into NNMI 

Manufacturing Institutes 

Competition

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

May 2016
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A. EMBEDDING	MEP	INTO	NNMI	INSTITUTES	BACKGROUND.....................................................................2

B. OVERALL	COMPETITIVE PROCESS.........................................................................................................................2

C. APPLICATION	AND	SUBMISSION	INFORMATION..........................................................................................3

D. BUDGET.................................................................................................................................................................................3

E. EVALUATION	CRITERIA...............................................................................................................................................3

F. REVIEW	AND	SELECTION	PROCESS.......................................................................................................................6

G. ELIGIBILITY ........................................................................................................................................................................6
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2016 Embedding MEP into NNMI Manufacturing Institutes Competition

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

The	below	FAQs	are	for	informational	purposes	only	and	are	intended	solely	to	assist	potential	

applicants	in	better	understanding	the	MEP	program,	intent	of	FFO	and	the	application	

requirements	set	forth in	the	FFO.		The	FAQs	do	not	and	are	not	intended	to	supersede,	modify,	

or	otherwise	alter	applicable	statutory	or	regulatory	requirements	or	the	specific	application	

requirements	set	forth	in	the	FFO.		In	all	cases,	MEP	statutory	and	regulatory	mandates,	and	

the	requirements	set	forth	in	the	FFO,	shall	prevail	over	any	inconsistencies	contained	in	the	

below	FAQs.			Please	note	that	recently	added	questions	have	been	identified	by	the	date	

in	which	they	were	added	to	this	document.		Any	previous	responses	that	have	been	

updated	have	also	been	identified	by	an	“updated	date”.

A. EMBEDDING	MEP	INTO	NNMI	INSTITUTES	BACKGROUND

B. OVERALL	COMPETITIVE	PROCESS

1. What is the anticipated schedule for notification of awardees?

We anticipate the review, selection and award processing to conclude by end of summer 

2016. The anticipated start date for awards made under this opportunity is expected to be 

October 2016.

2. May unsuccessful applicants request a debriefing?

Yes. Unsuccessful applicants may request a debriefing, which will provide constructive 

feedback that can assist applicants to develop improved proposals in the future. Briefings 

should take the form of advice to applicants on the strengths and weaknesses of their own 

proposals in terms of the published evaluation and review criteria.

3. Can the applicant engage in conversation with NIST MEP after submitting their 

application? 

No, MEP Staff cannot engage in conversations related to the competition or your 

application once the FFO has published. All questions related to the competition must be 

directed to mepffo@nist.gov. NIST MEP will review the question(s) and provide a 

response as appropriate. 

4. How can an applicant track and check their application submission in grants.gov?

Applicants should carefully follow specific Grants.gov instructions at www.grants.gov to 

ensure the attachments will be accepted by the Grants.gov system. A receipt from 

Grants.gov indicates only that an application was transferred to a system. It does not 

provide details concerning whether all attachments (or how many attachments) transferred 

successfully.
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Applicants can use Grants.gov’s Download Submitted Applications feature to check that 

all of the required attachments were contained in their submission. 

After submitting the application, follow the directions found in the Grants.gov Online 

Users Guide (http://go.usa.gov/cjaEh). Click first on Applicants; then click on Applicant 

Actions; go then to the “Check My Application Status” option, and choose Download 

Submitted Applications. If any, or all, of the required attachments are absent from the 

submission, follow the attachment directions found in the Full Announcement/FFO 

document, resubmit the application, and check again for the presence of the required 

attachments. 

The Grants.gov Online Users Guide available at the Grants.gov site 

(http://go.usa.gov/cjaEh) provides important information on checking the status of 

applications. 

Applicants can track their submission in the Grants.gov system by following the 

procedures at the Grants.gov site (http://go.usa.gov/cjamz). It can take up to two business 

days for an application to fully move through the Grants.gov system to NIST. 

NIST uses the Tracking Numbers assigned by Grants.gov, and does not issue Agency 

Tracking Numbers.Grants.gov

C. APPLICATION	AND	SUBMISSION	INFORMATION

D. BUDGET	

E. EVALUATION	CRITERIA

1. Will you be approving embedding multiple MEP Center resources at the same 

NNMI. For instance if Center A applied to embed a full or partial FTE at the NNMI 

for Additive will you also approve another MEP Center (Center B) staff to embedded 

their too. Will there be a cap of the number of FTEs per NNMI?

It is at the discretion of the NNMI Institute to determine how many MEP center personnel 

(from multiple MEP Centers) they want to imbed within their facility.

Per the FFO, Section IV.2.a.12(a), a) Each application must include a Letter of 

Commitment from an authorized representative of: (i) the MEP Center applicant; (ii) each 

Institute that will be participating in the project; and from (iii) other MEP Centers that will 

be participating in the project. Each letter should describe the submitting organization’s 

commitment to and activities in support of the proposed project.
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2. Is an entire FTE (1.0) required to be embedded at each NNMI requested or can an 

MEP Center request to embed .5 of an FTE at multiple NNMI’s.

Per Section I of the FFO, proposed approaches are required to fund the embedding of 

MEP Center representatives in residence at NNMI Institutes at a total level of effort and 

time commitment equal to or greater than 1.0 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff each 

year. This 1.0 FTE requirement for embedded MEP Center personnel represents the 

minimum level of effort, and embedding of MEP Center personnel at levels of effort and 

time commitment totaling more than 1.0 FTE each year are encouraged. This 1.0 FTE 

requirement may be met via the embedding of multiple MEP representatives in NNMI 

Institutes, but any single MEP Center personnel must be embedded at a level of effort of 

0.5 FTE staff year or greater to be counted toward the overall annual 1.0 FTE 

requirement. It is required that the embedded MEP Center personnel must operate in 

residence at the participating Institutes.

3. Regarding the requirement that “... any single MEP Center personnel must be 

embedded at a level of effort of 0.5 FTE staff year or greater to be counted toward 

the overall annual 1.0 FTE requirement” – if the proposed project length is for 2 

years, does a single person embedded for .25 FTE in year 1 and .25 FTE in year 2 

meet this requirement? Or is it a minimum of 0.5 FTE per year?

Per Section I of the FFO, proposed approaches are required to fund the embedding of MEP Center 

representatives in residence at NNMI Institutes at a total level of effort and time commitment 

equal to or greater than 1.0 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff each year. This 1.0 FTE requirement 

for embedded MEP Center personnel represents the minimum level of effort, and embedding of 

MEP Center personnel at levels of effort and time commitment totaling more than 1.0 FTE each 

year are encouraged. This 1.0 FTE requirement may be met via the embedding of multiple 

MEP representatives in NNMI Institutes, but any single MEP Center personnel must be 

embedded at a level of effort of 0.5 FTE staff year or greater to be counted toward the 

overall annual 1.0 FTE requirement. It is required that the embedded MEP Center 

personnel must operate in residence at the participating Institutes.

4. Is	it	a	requirement	that	proposed	embedded	personnel	be	current	MEP	staff?	Can	NIST	

provide	guidance	on	its	attitude	toward	or	scoring	of	applications	that	propose	a	new	

hire for	embedded	staff?

Per Section V.d of the FFO, Reviewers will assess the quality, merit, and extent to which 

the following is evident when evaluating the qualifications of the applicant and of program 

management:

i. Proposed personnel identified from the MEP Center(s) to be embedded within the 

participating NNMI Institute(s) have the appropriate education, technical 

background, and experience assisting small U.S. manufacturers, especially in areas 

relating to technology acceleration and working with supply chains, to 
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appropriately represent the involved MEP Center(s) to the involved NNMI 

Institute(s);

ii. Key personnel are identified in the participating NNMI Institute(s), the 

participating MEP Center(s), and other participating organizations to appropriately 

support the activities of the proposed pilot project, including the embedding of 

personnel; 

iii. Proposed management structure and organizational roles are clearly defined and 

aligned to plan, direct, monitor, organize and oversee the implementation of the 

proposed approach to achieve project objectives, and the proposed organizational 

structure flows logically from the specified approach to the project deliverables; 

and

iv. Proposed organizational structures and participating personnel from the MEP 

Center(s) and NNMI Institute(s) are ready to begin project operations upon receipt 

of funding award.

5. If an MEP Center is proposing to embed a person at an NNMI headquarters can 

another FTE or partial FTE be embedded at one of the NNMI satellite nodes.

Yes. The FFO states that proposed approaches are required to fund the embedding of 

MEP Center representatives in residence at NNMI Institutes at a total level of effort and 

time commitment equal to or greater than 1.0 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff each year. 

This 1.0 FTE requirement for embedded MEP Center personnel represents the minimum 

level of effort, and embedding of MEP Center personnel at levels of effort and time 

commitment totaling more than 1.0 FTE each year are encouraged. This 1.0 FTE 

requirement may be met via the embedding of multiple MEP staff members in NNMI 

Institutes, but any single MEP Center personnel must be embedded at a level of effort of 

0.5 FTE staff year or greater to be counted toward the overall annual 1.0 FTE requirement. 

It is required that the embedded MEP Center personnel operate in residence at the 

participating Institutes. Applicants may also propose approaches that involve the 

participation of multiple NNMI Institutes, as well as multiple MEP Centers.

It is up to the MEP Center and NNMI Institute to determine the best approach for the 

embedding. It must comply with the requirements set for the in the FFO.

6. We are a team representing four states exploring the interest of submitting a 

proposal through 4 MEPs to the funding opportunity 2016-NIST-MEP-ENNMI-01. 

As we meet with MEPs in our respective states one question that is of concern is the 

period of time that MEP representatives must spent on site. The solicitation mentions 

up to two years in residence, can you provide more information with regards to this 

expectation, as for example does the residence period needs to be continuous? Can a 

set of forum/workshops be designed within NNMIs to accelerate technology 
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transfer/education so that the MEP representative(s) is on site at extended periods, 

but not continuously.

The FFO states that proposed approaches are required to fund the embedding of MEP 

Center representatives in residence at NNMI Institutes at a total level of effort and time 

commitment equal to or greater than 1.0 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff each year.

This 1.0 FTE requirement for embedded MEP Center personnel represents the minimum 

level of effort, and embedding of MEP Center personnel at levels of effort and time 

commitment totaling more than 1.0 FTE each year are encouraged. This 1.0 FTE 

requirement may be met via the embedding of multiple MEP staff members in NNMI 

Institutes, but any single MEP Center personnel must be embedded at a level of effort of 

0.5 FTE staff year or greater to be counted toward the overall annual 1.0 FTE requirement. 

It is required that the embedded MEP Center personnel operate in residence at the 

participating Institutes. Applicants may also propose approaches that involve the 

participation of multiple NNMI Institutes, as well as multiple MEP Centers. A proposal 

that fails to meet these requirements will be deemed as unresponsive to this FFO.

F. REVIEW	AND	SELECTION	PROCESS

G. ELIGIBILITY

1. Can a center request to be embedded at an NNMI that is currently under FFO 

competition but will be awarded before October1st?

Per Section III of the FFO, an applicant MEP Center must form a collaboration, 

teaming arrangement, or other appropriate relationship with one or more of the current 

established and operating NNMI Institutes. 

Per Section III of the FFO, eligibility for this program is contingent upon an applicant 

being a NIST MEP Center at the time of application, at the time of award, and for the 

entire period of performance for awards issued pursuant to this FFO. NIST reserves 

the right to take appropriate action, which may include not making an award, or 

terminating an award or a portion thereof, should an MEP Center fail to maintain its 

eligibility at all required times. NIST further reserves the right to take appropriate 

action, including terminating an award or a portion thereof, if an Institute does not 

maintain its designation as such during any time during the period of performance for 

awards issued pursuant to this FFO.

2. It is allowable for an MEP to simultaneously serve as the LEAD on a funded 

application, and also as a FUNDED subrecipient or contractor on another funded 

application, correct?
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Per Section III of the FFO, An MEP Center may serve as the lead MEP 

Center/applicant on only one proposal. There are no restrictions on the number of 

applications in which MEP Centers or NNMI Institutes can be proposed as 

collaborators.