I 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4505 
To improve the competitiveness of United States manufacturing by desig-
nating and supporting manufacturing communities, and for other pur-
poses. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 9, 2016 
Mr. CICILLINE (for himself, Mr. REED, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Mr. HANNA, Mr. 
DOGGETT, Mr. KATKO, Mrs. BUSTOS, and Mr. GARAMENDI) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Serv-
ices 
A BILL 
To improve the competitiveness of United States manufac-
turing by designating and supporting manufacturing 
communities, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Make It In America 
Manufacturing Communities Act’’. 
SEC. 2. PROGRAM TO DESIGNATE AND SUPPORT MANUFAC-
TURING COMMUNITIES. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
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(1) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 
term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 
meaning given such term in section 101 of the High-
er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 
(2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Commerce. 
(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Secretary 
shall establish a program to improve the competitiveness 
of United States manufacturing by— 
(1) designating consortiums as manufacturing 
communities under subsection (d); and 
(2) supporting manufacturing communities, as 
so designated, under subsection (c). 
(c) SUPPORT
FOR DESIGNATED MANUFACTURING 
COMMUNITIES.— 
(1) PREFERENTIAL CONSIDERATION.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 
subparagraph (D), in any case in which a mem-
ber of a consortium designated as a manufac-
turing community under subsection (d) seeks fi-
nancial or technical assistance under a partici-
pating program of a participating agency, the 
head of such agency may give preferential con-
sideration to such member with respect to the 
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awarding of such financial or technical assist-
ance if— 
(i) such head considers the award of 
the financial or technical assistance con-
sistent with the economic development 
strategy of the consortium; and 
(ii) the member otherwise meets all 
applicable requirements for the financial or 
technical assistance. 
(B) PARTICIPATING AGENCIES.—For pur-
poses of the program, the participating agencies 
are the following: 
(i) The Department of Agriculture. 
(ii) The Department of Commerce. 
(iii) The Department of Defense. 
(iv) The Department of Education. 
(v) The Department of Energy. 
(vi) The Department of Housing and 
Urban Development. 
(vii) The Department of Labor. 
(viii) The Department of Transpor-
tation. 
(ix) The Appalachian Regional Com-
mission. 
(x) The Delta Regional Authority. 
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how preference is given under subpara-
graph (A), including by requiring the con-
sortium to select which of the members 
should be given preference. 
(ii) COORDINATION.—In a case de-
scribed in clause (i) in which the head of 
the agency determines that more than one 
member of a consortium should be given 
preference under subparagraph (A) for fi-
nancial or technical assistance, the head of 
the agency may require such members to 
demonstrate coordination with each other 
in developing their applications for the fi-
nancial or technical assistance. 
(E) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
head of each participating agency shall submit 
to the Secretary a report specifying how the 
head will give preferential consideration under 
subparagraph (A). 
(2) TECHNICAL
ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary 
may make available to each consortium designated 
as a manufacturing community under subsection (d) 
a Federal point of contact to help the members of 
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the consortium access Federal funds and technical 
assistance. 
(3) FINANCIAL OR TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Under the program es-
tablished under subsection (b), the head of a 
participating agency may award financial or 
technical assistance to a member of a consor-
tium designated as a manufacturing community 
under subsection (d) as the head considers ap-
propriate for purposes of such program and 
consistent with the economic development strat-
egy of the consortium. 
(B) USE OF FUNDS.— 
(i) IN GENERAL.—A recipient of fi-
nancial or technical assistance under sub-
paragraph (A) may use the amount of such 
financial or technical assistance to support 
an investment in an ecosystem that will 
improve the competitiveness of United 
States manufacturing. 
(ii) INVESTMENTS
SUPPORTED.—In-
vestments supported under this subpara-
graph may include the following: 
(I) Infrastructure. 
(II) Access to capital. 
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(III) Promotion of exports and 
foreign direct investment. 
(IV) Equipment or facility up-
grades. 
(V) Workforce training or re-
training. 
(VI) Energy or process efficiency. 
(VII) Business incubators. 
(VIII) Site preparation. 
(IX) Advanced research. 
(X) Supply chain development. 
(4) COORDINATION.— 
(A) COORDINATION
BY
SECRETARY
OF 
COMMERCE.—The Secretary shall coordinate 
with the heads of the participating agencies to 
identify programs under paragraph (1)(C)(i). 
(B) INTER-AGENCY
COORDINATION.—The 
heads of the participating agencies shall coordi-
nate with each other— 
(i) to leverage complementary activi-
ties, including from non-Federal sources 
such as philanthropies; and 
(ii) to avoid duplication of efforts. 
(d) DESIGNATION
OF
MANUFACTURING
COMMU-
NITIES.— 
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(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (7), for purposes of the program established 
under subsection (b), the Secretary shall designate 
eligible consortiums as manufacturing communities 
through a competitive process. 
(2) ELIGIBLE CONSORTIUMS.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this 
section, an eligible consortium is a consortium 
that— 
(i) represents a region defined by the 
consortium in accordance with subpara-
graph (B); 
(ii) includes at least one— 
(I) institution of higher edu-
cation; 
(II) a private sector entity; and 
(III) a government entity; 
(iii) may include one or more— 
(I) private sector partners; 
(II) institutions of higher edu-
cation; 
(III) government entities; 
(IV) economic development and 
other community and labor groups; 
(V) financial institutions; or 
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(VI) utilities; 
(iv) has, as a lead applicant— 
(I) a district organization (as de-
fined in section 300.3 of title 13, 
Code of Federal Regulations, or suc-
cessor regulation); 
(II) an Indian tribe (as defined 
in section 4 of the Indian Self-Deter-
mination and Education Assistance 
Act (25 U.S.C. 450b)) or a consor-
tium of Indian tribes; 
(III) a State or a political sub-
division of a State, including a special 
purpose unit of a State or local gov-
ernment engaged in economic or in-
frastructure development activities, or 
a consortium of political subdivisions; 
(IV) an institution of higher edu-
cation or a consortium of institutions 
of higher education; or 
(V) a public or private nonprofit 
organization or association that is act-
ing in cooperation with officials of a 
political subdivision of a State. 
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(B) REGIONS.—For purposes of this sec-
tion and subject to approval by the Secretary, 
a consortium may define the region that it rep-
resents pursuant to paragraph (2)(A)(i), except 
that a region so defined shall be— 
(i) large enough to contain critical ele-
ments of the key technologies or supply 
chain prioritized by the consortium; and 
(ii) small enough to enable close col-
laboration among members of the consor-
tium. 
(3) DURATION.—Each designation under para-
graph (1) shall be for a period of 2 years. 
(4) RENEWAL.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Upon receipt of an ap-
plication submitted under subparagraph (B), 
the Secretary may, as the Secretary considers 
appropriate, renew a designation made under 
paragraph (1) for a period of 2 years. 
(B) APPLICATION FOR RENEWAL.—An eli-
gible consortium seeking a renewal under sub-
paragraph (A) shall submit to the Secretary an 
application therefor at such time, in such man-
ner, and containing such information as the 
Secretary may require. 
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(C) MODIFICATIONS
AUTHORIZED.—The 
Secretary may renew a designation under sub-
paragraph (A) for an eligible consortium that— 
(i) has changed its own composition, 
either by adding or removing members; or 
(ii) submits under subparagraph (B) a 
revision to the plan submitted under clause 
(iv) of paragraph (5)(B) or the strategy 
submitted under clause (v) of such para-
graph. 
(D) EVALUATION FOR RENEWAL.—In de-
termining whether to renew a designation of an 
eligible consortium under paragraph (1), the 
Secretary shall assess the eligible consortium 
using the following criteria: 
(i) The performance of the consortium 
against the terms of the consortium’s most 
recent designation under paragraph (1) 
and any post-designation awards the con-
sortium may have received. 
(ii) The progress the consortium has 
made 
with 
respect 
to 
project-specific 
metrics the consortium proposed in the 
consortium’s application for the most re-
cent designation under paragraph (1), par-
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ticularly with respect to those metrics that 
were designed to help communities track 
their own progress. 
(iii) Whether any changes to the com-
position of the eligible consortium, as de-
scribed in clause (i) of subparagraph (C), 
or revisions to the plan or strategy de-
scribed in clause (ii) of such subparagraph 
would improve the competitiveness of 
United States manufacturing. 
(iv) Such other criteria as the Sec-
retary considers appropriate. 
(5) APPLICATION FOR DESIGNATION.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible consortium 
seeking a designation under paragraph (1) shall 
submit to the Secretary an application therefor 
at such time and in such manner as the Sec-
retary may require. 
(B) CONTENTS.—Each application sub-
mitted to the Secretary by an eligible consor-
tium shall contain the following: 
(i) Description of the regional bound-
aries of the consortium. 
(ii) A description of the manufac-
turing concentration of the consortium, in-
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cluding an assessment of how the manufac-
turing concentration of the consortium 
competitively ranks nationally according to 
measures relating to employment, sales, lo-
cation quotients for an industry’s level of 
concentration, or such other measures as 
the Secretary considers appropriate. 
(iii) An integrated assessment of the 
local industrial ecosystem of the region of 
the consortium, which may include assess-
ment of workforce and training, supplier 
network, research and innovation, infra-
structure or site development, trade and 
international investment, operational im-
provements, and capital access components 
needed for manufacturing activities in such 
region. 
(iv) An evidence-based plan for devel-
oping components of such ecosystem (se-
lected by the consortium) by making— 
(I) specific investments to ad-
dress gaps in such ecosystem; and 
(II) the manufacturing of the re-
gion of the consortium uniquely com-
petitive. 
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(v) A description of the investments 
the consortium proposes and the imple-
mentation strategy the consortium intends 
to use to address gaps in such ecosystem. 
(vi) A description of outcome-based 
metrics, benchmarks, and milestones that 
the consortium will track and the evalua-
tion methods the consortium will use while 
designated as a manufacturing community 
to gauge performance of the strategy of 
the consortium to improve the manufac-
turing in the region of the consortium. 
(vii) Such other matters as the Sec-
retary considers appropriate. 
(6) EVALUATION OF APPLICATIONS.—The Sec-
retary shall evaluate each application received under 
paragraph (5) with respect to the following: 
(A) Whether the applicant demonstrates a 
significant level of regional cooperation in their 
proposal. 
(B) How the manufacturing concentration 
of the applicant competitively ranks nationally 
according to measures described in paragraph 
(5)(B)(ii). 
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(7) CERTAIN COMMUNITIES PREVIOUSLY REC-
OGNIZED.—Subject to subparagraph (B), each con-
sortium that was designated as a manufacturing 
community by the Secretary in carrying out the In-
vesting in Manufacturing Communities Partnership 
initiative of the Department of Commerce before the 
date of the enactment of this Act shall be deemed 
a manufacturing community designated under this 
subsection as long as such consortium is still des-
ignated as a manufacturing community by the Sec-
retary as part of such initiative. 
(e) RECEIPT OF TRANSFERRED FUNDS.—The Sec-
retary may accept amounts transferred to the Secretary 
from the head of another participating agency to carry out 
this section. 
Æ 
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