146 
to govern the operation of the board, including 
a conflict of interest policy to ensure relevant 
relationships are disclosed and proper recusal 
procedures are in place. 
‘‘(C) LIMITATION.—Board members may 
not serve simultaneously on more than one Cen-
ter’s oversight board or serve as a contractor 
providing services to a Center. 
‘‘(7) PROTECTION OF CONFIDENTIAL INFORMA-
TION.—The Secretary shall ensure that the following 
are not publically disclosed: 
‘‘(A) Confidential information on the busi-
ness operations of— 
‘‘(i) a participant under the program; 
or 
‘‘(ii) a client of a Center. 
‘‘(B) Trade secrets possessed by any client 
of a Center. 
‘‘(8) PATENT RIGHTS.—The provisions of chap-
ter 18 of title 35, United States Code, shall apply, 
to the extent not inconsistent with this section, to 
the promotion of technology from research by Cen-
ters under this section except for contracts for such 
specific technology extension or transfer services as 
may be specified by statute or by the Director. 
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‘‘(d) REPORTING AND AUDITING REQUIREMENTS.— 
The Director shall establish procedures regarding Center 
financial reporting and auditing to ensure that awards are 
used for the purposes specified in this section and are in 
accordance with sound accounting practices. 
‘‘(e) ACCEPTANCE OF FUNDS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to such sums 
as may be appropriated to the Secretary and Direc-
tor to operate the Hollings Manufacturing Extension 
Partnership, the Secretary and Director also may 
accept funds from other Federal departments and 
agencies and, under section 2(c)(7), from the private 
sector for the purpose of strengthening United 
States manufacturing. 
‘‘(2) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.— 
‘‘(A) FUNDS ACCEPTED FROM OTHER FED-
ERAL DEPARTMENTS OR AGENCIES.—The Di-
rector shall determine whether funds accepted 
from other Federal departments or agencies 
shall be counted in the calculation of the Fed-
eral share of capital and annual operating and 
maintenance costs under subsection (c). 
‘‘(B) FUNDS ACCEPTED FROM THE PRI-
VATE SECTOR.—Funds accepted from the pri-
vate sector under section 2(c)(7), if allocated to 
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a Center, may not be considered in the calcula-
tion of the Federal share under subsection (c) 
of this section. 
‘‘(f) MEP ADVISORY BOARD.— 
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established 
within the Institute a Manufacturing Extension 
Partnership Advisory Board (in this subsection re-
ferred to as the ‘MEP Advisory Board’). 
‘‘(2) MEMBERSHIP.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The MEP Advisory 
Board shall consist of not fewer than 10 mem-
bers broadly representative of stakeholders, to 
be appointed by the Director. At least 2 mem-
bers shall be employed by or on an advisory 
board for the Centers, at least 1 member shall 
represent a community college, and at least 5 
other members shall be from United States 
small businesses in the manufacturing sector. 
No member shall be an employee of the Federal 
Government. 
‘‘(B) TERM.—Except as provided in sub-
paragraph (C) or (D), the term of office of each 
member of the MEP Advisory Board shall be 3 
years. 
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