I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1240 
To promote industry growth and competitiveness and to improve worker 
training, retention, and advancement, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 29, 2011 
Mr. LOEBSACK (for himself and Mr. PLATTS) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To promote industry growth and competitiveness and to im-
prove worker training, retention, and advancement, 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 ‘‘Strengthening Employ-
ment Clusters to Organize Regional Success Act of 2011’’ 
or the ‘‘SECTORS Act of 2011’’. 
SEC. 2. INDUSTRY OR SECTOR PARTNERSHIP GRANT. 
(a) AMENDMENT.—Subtitle D of title I of the Work-
force Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2911 et seq.) 
is amended by inserting after section 171 the following: 
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‘‘SEC. 171A. INDUSTRY OR SECTOR PARTNERSHIP GRANT 
PROGRAM. 
‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this section to 
promote industry or sector partnerships that lead collabo-
rative planning, resource alignment, and training efforts 
across multiple firms for a range of workers employed or 
potentially employed by a targeted industry cluster, in 
order to encourage industry growth and competitiveness 
and to improve worker training, retention, and advance-
ment in targeted industry clusters, including by devel-
oping— 
‘‘(1) immediate strategies for regions and com-
munities to fulfill pressing skilled workforce needs; 
‘‘(2) long-term plans to grow targeted industry 
clusters with better training and a more productive 
workforce; 
‘‘(3) core competencies and competitive advan-
tages for regions and communities undergoing struc-
tural economic redevelopment; and 
‘‘(4) skill standards, career ladders, job re-
definitions, employer practices, and shared training 
and support capacities that facilitate the advance-
ment of workers at all skill levels. 
‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) CAREER LADDER.—The term ‘career lad-
der’ means an identified series of positions, work ex-
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periences, and educational benchmarks or credentials 
that offer occupational and financial advancement 
within a specified career field or related fields over 
time. 
‘‘(2) ECONOMIC SELF-SUFFICIENCY.—The term 
‘economic self-sufficiency’ means, with respect to a 
worker, earning a wage sufficient to support a fam-
ily adequately over time, based on factors such as— 
‘‘(A) family size; 
‘‘(B) the number and ages of children in 
the family; 
‘‘(C) the cost of living in the worker’s com-
munity; and 
‘‘(D) other factors that may vary by re-
gion. 
‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en-
tity’ means— 
‘‘(A) an industry or sector partnership; or 
‘‘(B) an eligible State agency. 
‘‘(4) ELIGIBLE STATE AGENCY.—The term ‘eli-
gible State agency’ means a State agency designated 
by the Governor of the State in which the State 
agency is located for the purposes of the grant pro-
gram under this section. 
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‘‘(5) HIGH-PRIORITY OCCUPATION.—The term 
‘high-priority occupation’ means an occupation 
that— 
‘‘(A) has a significant presence in an in-
dustry cluster; 
‘‘(B) is in demand by employers; 
‘‘(C) pays family-sustaining wages that en-
able workers to achieve economic self-suffi-
ciency, or can reasonably be expected to lead to 
such wages; 
‘‘(D) has or is in the process of developing 
a documented career ladder; and 
‘‘(E) has a significant impact on a region’s 
economic development strategy. 
‘‘(6) INDUSTRY CLUSTER.—The term ‘industry 
cluster’ means a concentration of interconnected 
businesses, suppliers, research and development enti-
ties, service providers, and associated institutions in 
a particular field that are linked by common work-
force needs. 
‘‘(7) INDUSTRY
OR
SECTOR
PARTNERSHIP.— 
The term ‘industry or sector partnership’ means a 
workforce collaborative that is described as follows: 
‘‘(A) REQUIRED MEMBERS.— 
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‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—An industry or 
sector partnership is a workforce collabo-
rative that organizes key stakeholders in a 
targeted industry cluster into a working 
group that focuses on the workforce needs 
of the targeted industry cluster and in-
cludes, at the appropriate stage of develop-
ment of the partnership— 
‘‘(I) representatives of multiple 
firms or employers in the targeted in-
dustry cluster, including small- and 
medium-sized employers when prac-
ticable; 
‘‘(II) one or more representatives 
of State labor organizations, central 
labor coalitions, or other labor organi-
zations, except in instances where no 
labor representation exists; 
‘‘(III) one or more representa-
tives of local boards; 
‘‘(IV) one or more representa-
tives of postsecondary educational in-
stitutions or other training providers; 
and 
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‘‘(V) one or more representatives 
of State workforce agencies or other 
entities providing employment serv-
ices. 
‘‘(ii) DIVERSE
AND
DISTINCT
REP-
RESENTATION.—No individual may serve 
as a member in an industry or sector part-
nership, as defined in this paragraph, for 
more than one of the required categories 
described in subclauses (I) through (V) of 
clause (i). 
‘‘(B) AUTHORIZED MEMBERS.—An indus-
try or sector partnership may include represent-
atives of— 
‘‘(i) State or local government; 
‘‘(ii) State or local economic develop-
ment agencies; 
‘‘(iii) other State or local agencies; 
‘‘(iv) chambers of commerce; 
‘‘(v) nonprofit organizations; 
‘‘(vi) philanthropic organizations; 
‘‘(vii) economic development organiza-
tions; 
‘‘(viii) industry associations; and 
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‘‘(ix) other organizations, as deter-
mined necessary by the members com-
prising the industry or sector partnership. 
‘‘(8) INDUSTRY-RECOGNIZED.—The term ‘in-
dustry-recognized’, used with respect to a credential, 
means a credential that— 
‘‘(A) is sought or accepted by businesses 
within the industry or sector involved as a rec-
ognized, preferred, or required credential for re-
cruitment, screening, or hiring purposes; and 
‘‘(B) is endorsed by a nationally recognized 
trade association or organization representing a 
significant part of the industry or sector, where 
appropriate. 
‘‘(9) NATIONALLY PORTABLE.—The term ‘na-
tionally portable’, used with respect to a credential, 
means a credential that is sought or accepted by 
businesses within the industry sector involved, across 
multiple States, as a recognized, preferred, or re-
quired credential for recruitment, screening, or hir-
ing purposes. 
‘‘(10) TARGETED
INDUSTRY
CLUSTER.—The 
term ‘targeted industry cluster’ means an industry 
cluster that has— 
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‘‘(A) economic impact in a local or regional 
area, such as advanced manufacturing, clean 
energy technology, and health care; 
‘‘(B) immediate workforce development 
needs, such as advanced manufacturing, clean 
energy, technology, and health care; and 
‘‘(C) documented career opportunities. 
‘‘(c) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—From amounts appro-
priated to carry out this section, the Secretary shall 
award, on a competitive basis, grants described in 
paragraph (3) to eligible entities to enable the eligi-
ble entities to plan and implement, respectively, the 
eligible entities’ strategic objectives in accordance 
with subsection (d)(2)(D). 
‘‘(2) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.— 
‘‘(A) IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS.—An im-
plementation grant awarded under paragraph 
(3)(A) may not exceed a total of $2,500,000 for 
a 3-year period. 
‘‘(B) RENEWAL GRANTS.—A renewal grant 
awarded under paragraph (3)(C) may not ex-
ceed a total of $1,500,000 for a 3-year period. 
‘‘(3) 
IMPLEMENTATION
AND
RENEWAL 
GRANTS.— 
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‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary may 
award an implementation grant under this sec-
tion to an eligible entity that has established, or 
is in the process of establishing, an industry or 
sector partnership. 
‘‘(B) 
DURATION.—An 
implementation 
grant shall be for a duration of not more than 
3 years, and may be renewed in accordance 
with subparagraph (C). 
‘‘(C) 
RENEWAL.—The 
Secretary 
may 
renew an implementation grant for not more 
than 3 years. A renewal of such grant shall be 
subject to the requirements of this section, ex-
cept that the Secretary shall— 
‘‘(i) prioritize renewals to eligible enti-
ties that can demonstrate the long-term 
sustainability of an industry or sector part-
nership funded under this section; and 
‘‘(ii) require assurances that the eligi-
ble entity will leverage, in accordance with 
subparagraph (D)(ii), each year of the 
grant period, additional funding sources 
for the non-Federal share of the grant 
which shall— 
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‘‘(I) be in an amount greater 
than— 
‘‘(aa) the non-Federal share 
requirement described in sub-
paragraph (D)(i)(III); and 
‘‘(bb) for the second and 
third year of the grant period, 
the non-Federal share amount 
the eligible entity provided for 
the preceding year of the grant; 
and 
‘‘(II) include at least a 50 per-
cent cash match from the State, the 
industry cluster, or some combination 
thereof, of the eligible entity. 
‘‘(D) 
FEDERAL
AND
NON-FEDERAL 
SHARE.— 
‘‘(i) FEDERAL
SHARE.—Except as 
provided in subparagraph (C)(ii) and 
clause (iii), the Federal share of a grant 
under this section shall be— 
‘‘(I) 90 percent of the costs of 
the activities described in subsection 
(f), in the first year of the grant; 
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‘‘(II) 80 percent of such costs in 
the second year of the grant; and 
‘‘(III) 70 percent of such costs in 
the third year of the grant. 
‘‘(ii) NON-FEDERAL.—The non-Fed-
eral share of a grant under this section 
may be in cash or in-kind, and may come 
from State, local, philanthropic, private, or 
other sources. 
‘‘(iii) 
EXCEPTION.—The 
Secretary 
may require the Federal share of a grant 
under this section to be 100 percent if an 
eligible entity receiving such grant is lo-
cated in a State or local area that is re-
ceiving a national emergency grant under 
section 173. 
‘‘(4) FISCAL AGENT.—Each eligible entity re-
ceiving a grant under this section that is an industry 
or sector partnership shall designate an entity in the 
partnership as the fiscal agent for purposes of this 
grant. 
‘‘(5) USE OF GRANT FUNDS DURING GRANT PE-
RIODS.—An eligible entity receiving grant funds 
under a grant under this section shall expend grant 
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funds or obligate grant funds to be expended by the 
last day of the grant period. 
‘‘(d) APPLICATION PROCESS.— 
‘‘(1) IDENTIFICATION OF A TARGETED INDUS-
TRY
CLUSTER.—In order to qualify for a grant 
under this section, an eligible entity shall identify a 
targeted industry cluster that could benefit from 
such grant by— 
‘‘(A) working with businesses, industry as-
sociations and organizations, labor organiza-
tions, State boards, local boards, economic de-
velopment agencies, and other organizations 
that the eligible entity determines necessary, to 
identify an appropriate targeted industry clus-
ter based on criteria that include, at a min-
imum— 
‘‘(i) data showing the competitiveness 
of the industry cluster; 
‘‘(ii) the importance of the industry 
cluster to the economic development of the 
area served by the eligible entity, including 
estimation of jobs created or preserved; 
‘‘(iii) the identification of supply and 
distribution chains within the industry 
cluster; and 
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