157 
‘‘(i) private experts, none of whom are 
connected with the Center evaluated by the 
panel; and 
‘‘(ii) Federal officials. 
‘‘(C) CHAIRPERSON.—For each evaluation 
panel appointed under subparagraph (B), the 
Secretary shall appoint a chairperson who is an 
official of the Institute. 
‘‘(2) FIFTH
YEAR
EVALUATIONS
BY
SEC-
RETARY.—In the fifth year of operation of a Center, 
the Secretary shall conduct a review of the Center. 
‘‘(3) PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT.—In evalu-
ating a Center an evaluation panel or the Secretary, 
as applicable, shall measure the performance of the 
Center against— 
‘‘(A) the objective specified in subsection 
(c); 
‘‘(B) the performance metrics under sub-
section (f)(2)(C); and 
‘‘(C) such other criterion as considered ap-
propriate by the Secretary. 
‘‘(4) POSITIVE EVALUATIONS.—If an evaluation 
of a Center is positive, the Secretary may continue 
to provide financial assistance for the Center— 
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‘‘(A) in the case of an evaluation occurring 
in the third year of a Center, through the fifth 
year of the Center; 
‘‘(B) in the case of an evaluation occurring 
in the fifth year of a Center, through the eighth 
year of the Center; and 
‘‘(C) in the case of an evaluation occurring 
in the eighth year of a Center, through the 
tenth year of the Center. 
‘‘(5) OTHER THAN POSITIVE EVALUATIONS.— 
‘‘(A) PROBATION.—If an evaluation of a 
Center is other than positive, the Secretary 
shall put the Center on probation during the 
period beginning on the date that the Center 
receives notice under subparagraph (B)(i) and 
ending on the date that the reevaluation is com-
plete under subparagraph (B)(iii). 
‘‘(B) NOTICE AND REEVALUATION.—If a 
Center receives an evaluation that is other than 
positive, the evaluation panel or Secretary, as 
applicable, shall— 
‘‘(i) notify the Center of the reason, 
including any deficiencies in the perform-
ance of the Center identified during the 
evaluation; 
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‘‘(ii) assist the Center in remedying 
the deficiencies by providing the Center, 
not less frequently than once every 3 
months, an analysis of the Center, if con-
sidered appropriate by the panel or Sec-
retary, as applicable; and 
‘‘(iii) reevaluate the Center not later 
than 1 year after the date of the notice 
under clause (i). 
‘‘(C) CONTINUED
SUPPORT
DURING
PE-
RIOD OF PROBATION.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary 
may continue to provide financial assist-
ance under subsection (e) for a Center 
during the probation period. 
‘‘(ii) POST PROBATION.—After the pe-
riod of probation, the Secretary shall not 
provide any financial assistance unless the 
Center has received a positive evaluation 
under subparagraph (B)(iii). 
‘‘(6) FAILURE TO REMEDY.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If a Center fails to 
remedy a deficiency or to show significant im-
provement in performance before the end of the 
probation period under paragraph (5), the Sec-
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retary shall conduct a competition to select an 
operator for the Center under subsection (h). 
‘‘(B) TREATMENT OF CENTERS SUBJECT 
TO NEW COMPETITION.—Upon the selection of 
an operator for a Center under subsection (h), 
the Center shall be considered a new Center 
and the calculation of the years of operation of 
that Center for purposes of paragraphs (1) 
through (5) of this subsection and subsection 
(h)(1) shall start anew. 
‘‘(h) REAPPLICATION COMPETITION FOR FINANCIAL 
ASSISTANCE AFTER 10 YEARS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If an eligible entity has op-
erated a Center under this section for a period of 10 
consecutive years, the Secretary shall conduct a com-
petition to select an eligible entity to operate the 
Center in accordance with the process plan under 
subsection (i). 
‘‘(2) INCUMBENT ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—An eli-
gible entity that has received financial assistance 
under this section for a period of 10 consecutive 
years and that the Secretary determines is in good 
standing shall be eligible to compete in the competi-
tion under paragraph (1). 
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‘‘(3) TREATMENT OF CENTERS SUBJECT TO RE-
APPLICATION COMPETITION.—Upon the selection of 
an operator for a Center under paragraph (1), the 
Center shall be considered a new Center and the cal-
culation of the years of operation of that Center for 
purposes of paragraphs (1) through (5) of sub-
section (g) shall start anew. 
‘‘(i) PROCESS PLAN.—Not later than 180 days after 
the date of the enactment of the American Innovation and 
Competitiveness Act, the Secretary shall implement and 
submit to Congress a plan for how the Institute will con-
duct an evaluation, competition, and reapplication com-
petition under this section. 
‘‘(j) OPERATIONAL REQUIREMENTS.— 
‘‘(1) PROTECTION OF CONFIDENTIAL INFORMA-
TION OF CENTER CLIENTS.—The following informa-
tion, if obtained by the Federal Government in con-
nection with an activity of a Center or the Program, 
shall be exempt from public disclosure under section 
552 of title 5, United States Code: 
‘‘(A) Information on the business operation 
of any participant in the Program or of a client 
of a Center. 
‘‘(B) Trade secrets of any client of a Cen-
ter. 
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‘‘(k) OVERSIGHT BOARDS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—As a condition on receipt of 
financial assistance for a Center under subsection 
(e), an eligible entity shall establish a board to over-
see the operations of the Center. 
‘‘(2) STANDARDS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall es-
tablish appropriate standards for each board 
described under paragraph (1). 
‘‘(B) CONSIDERATIONS.—In establishing 
the standards, the Director shall take into ac-
count the type and organizational structure of 
an eligible entity. 
‘‘(C) 
REQUIREMENTS.—The 
standards 
shall address— 
‘‘(i) membership; 
‘‘(ii) composition; 
‘‘(iii) term limits; 
‘‘(iv) conflicts of interest; and 
‘‘(v) such other requirements as the 
Director considers necessary. 
‘‘(3) MEMBERSHIP.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Each board estab-
lished under paragraph (1) shall be composed 
of members as follows: 
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‘‘(i) The membership of each board 
shall be representative of stakeholders in 
the region in which the Center is located. 
‘‘(ii) A majority of the members of the 
board shall be selected from among indi-
viduals who own or are employed by small 
or medium-sized manufacturers. 
‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—A member of a board 
established under paragraph (1) may not serve 
on more than 1 board established under that 
paragraph. 
‘‘(4) BYLAWS.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Each board estab-
lished under paragraph (1) shall adopt and sub-
mit to the Director bylaws to govern the oper-
ation of the board. 
‘‘(B) CONFLICTS
OF
INTEREST.—Bylaws 
adopted under subparagraph (A) shall include 
policies to minimize conflicts of interest, includ-
ing such policies relating to disclosure of rela-
tionships and recusal as may be necessary to 
minimize conflicts of interest. 
‘‘(l) ACCEPTANCE OF FUNDS.—In addition to such 
sums as may be appropriated to the Secretary and Direc-
tor to operate the Program, the Secretary and Director 
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may also accept funds from other Federal departments 
and agencies and from the private sector under section 
2(c)(7) of this Act (15 U.S.C. 272(c)(7)), to be available 
to the extent provided by appropriations Acts, for the pur-
pose of strengthening United States manufacturing. 
‘‘(m) MEP ADVISORY BOARD.— 
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established 
within the Institute a Manufacturing Extension 
Partnership Advisory Board. 
‘‘(2) MEMBERSHIP.— 
‘‘(A) COMPOSITION.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The MEP Advi-
sory Board shall consist of not fewer than 
10 members appointed by the Director and 
broadly representative of stakeholders. 
‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENTS.—Of the mem-
bers appointed under clause (i)— 
‘‘(I) at least 2 members shall be 
employed by or on an advisory board 
for a Center; 
‘‘(II) at least 5 members shall be 
from United States small businesses 
in the manufacturing sector; and 
‘‘(III) at least 1 member shall 
represent a community college. 
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‘‘(iii) LIMITATION.—No member of 
the MEP Advisory Board shall be an em-
ployee of the Federal Government. 
‘‘(B) TERM.—Except as provided in sub-
paragraph (C), the term of office of each mem-
ber of the MEP Advisory Board shall be 3 
years. 
‘‘(C) VACANCIES.—Any member appointed 
to fill a vacancy occurring prior to the expira-
tion of the term for which his predecessor was 
appointed shall be appointed for the remainder 
of such term. 
‘‘(D) SERVING
CONSECUTIVE
TERMS.— 
Any person who has completed 2 consecutive 
full terms of service on the MEP Advisory 
Board shall thereafter be ineligible for appoint-
ment during the 1-year period following the ex-
piration of the second such term. 
‘‘(3) MEETINGS.—The MEP Advisory Board 
shall— 
‘‘(A) meet not less than biannually; and 
‘‘(B) provide to the Director— 
‘‘(i) advice on the activities, plans, 
and policies of the Program; 
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‘‘(ii) assessments of the soundness of 
the plans and strategies of the Program; 
and 
‘‘(iii) assessments of current perform-
ance against the plans of the Program. 
‘‘(4) FACA APPLICABILITY.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In discharging its du-
ties under this subsection, the MEP Advisory 
Board shall function solely in an advisory ca-
pacity, in accordance with the Federal Advisory 
Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.). 
‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—Section 14 of the Fed-
eral Advisory Committee Act shall not apply to 
the MEP Advisory Board. 
‘‘(5) ANNUAL REPORT.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—At a minimum, the 
MEP Advisory Board shall transmit an annual 
report to the Secretary for transmittal to Con-
gress not later than 30 days after the submis-
sion to Congress of the President’s annual 
budget under section 1105 of title 31, United 
States Code. 
‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—The report shall ad-
dress the status of the Program and describe 
the relevant sections of the programmatic plan-
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ning document and updates thereto transmitted 
to Congress by the Director under subsections 
(c) and (d) of section 23 (15 U.S.C. 278i). 
‘‘(n) SMALL MANUFACTURERS.— 
‘‘(1) EVALUATION OF OBSTACLES.—As part of 
the Program, the Director shall— 
‘‘(A) identify obstacles that prevent small 
manufacturers from effectively competing in the 
global market; 
‘‘(B) implement a comprehensive plan to 
train the Centers to address the obstacles iden-
tified in paragraph (2); and 
‘‘(C) facilitate improved communication be-
tween the Centers to assist such manufacturers 
in implementing appropriate, targeted solutions 
to the obstacles identified in paragraph (2). 
‘‘(2) DEVELOPMENT
OF
OPEN
ACCESS
RE-
SOURCES.—As part of the Program, the Secretary 
shall develop open access resources that address best 
practices related to inventory sourcing, supply chain 
management, manufacturing techniques, available 
Federal resources, and other topics to further the 
competitiveness and profitability of small manufac-
turers.’’. 
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(c) COMPETITIVE AWARDS PROGRAM.—The National 
Institute of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 271 
et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 25 the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘SEC. 25A. COMPETITIVE AWARDS PROGRAM. 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director shall establish 
within the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership 
under section 25 (15 U.S.C. 278k) and section 26 (15 
U.S.C. 278l) a program of competitive awards among par-
ticipants described in subsection (b) of this section for the 
purposes described in subsection (c). 
‘‘(b) PARTICIPANTS.—Participants receiving awards 
under this section shall be Centers, or a consortium of 
Centers. 
‘‘(c) PURPOSE, THEMES, AND REIMBURSEMENT.— 
‘‘(1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the program 
established under subsection (a) is to add capabili-
ties to the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Part-
nership, including the development of projects to 
solve new or emerging manufacturing problems as 
determined by the Director, in consultation with the 
Director of the Hollings Manufacturing Extension 
Partnership, the MEP Advisory Board, other Fed-
eral agencies, and small and medium-sized manufac-
turers. 
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‘‘(2) THEMES.—The Director may identify one 
or more themes for a competition carried out under 
this section, which may vary from year to year, as 
the Director considers appropriate after assessing 
the needs of manufacturers and the success of pre-
vious competitions. 
‘‘(3) REIMBURSEMENT.—Centers may be reim-
bursed for costs incurred by the Centers under this 
section. 
‘‘(d) APPLICATIONS.—Applications for awards under 
this section shall be submitted in such manner, at such 
time, and containing such information as the Director 
shall require in consultation with the MEP Advisory 
Board. 
‘‘(e) SELECTION.— 
‘‘(1) 
PEER
REVIEW
AND
COMPETITIVELY 
AWARDED.—The Director shall ensure that awards 
under this section are peer reviewed and competi-
tively awarded. 
‘‘(2) GEOGRAPHIC
DIVERSITY.—The Director 
shall endeavor to have broad geographic diversity 
among selected proposals. 
‘‘(3) CRITERIA.—The Director shall select ap-
plications to receive awards that the Director deter-
mines will achieve one or more of the following: 
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‘‘(A) Improve the competitiveness of indus-
tries in the region in which the Center or Cen-
ters are located. 
‘‘(B) Create jobs or train newly hired em-
ployees. 
‘‘(C) Promote the transfer and commer-
cialization of research and technology from in-
stitutions of higher education, national labora-
tories or other federally funded research pro-
grams, and nonprofit research institutes. 
‘‘(D) Recruit a diverse manufacturing 
workforce, including through outreach to under-
represented populations, including individuals 
identified in section 33 or section 34 of the 
Science and Engineering Equal Opportunities 
Act (42 U.S.C. 1885a, 1885b). 
‘‘(E) Such other result as the Director de-
termines will advance the objective set forth in 
section 25(c) (15 U.S.C. 278k) or in section 26 
(15 U.S.C. 278l). 
‘‘(f) 
PROGRAM
CONTRIBUTION.—Recipients 
of 
awards under this section shall not be required to provide 
a matching contribution. 
‘‘(g) GLOBAL MARKETPLACE PROJECTS.—In making 
an award under this section, the Director, in consultation 
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with the MEP Advisory Board and the Secretary, may 
take into consideration whether an application has signifi-
cant potential for enhancing the competitiveness of small 
and medium-sized United States manufacturers in the 
global marketplace. 
‘‘(h) DURATION.—The duration of an award under 
this section shall be for not more than 3 years. 
‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—The terms used in this section 
have the meanings given the terms in section 25 (15 
U.S.C. 278k).’’. 
(d) REPORTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 
General of the United States, in consultation with 
the MEP Advisory Board (as defined in section 25 
of the National Institute of Standards and Tech-
nology Act (15 U.S.C. 278k)), shall submit to the 
appropriate committees of Congress a report ana-
lyzing— 
(A) the effectiveness of the changes in the 
cost share to Centers under section 25 of the 
National Institute of Standards and Technology 
Act (15 U.S.C. 278k); 
(B) the engagement in services and the 
characteristics of services provided by 2 types of 
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Centers, including volume and type of service; 
and 
(C) whether the cost-sharing ratio has any 
effect on the services provided by either type of 
Center. 
(2) INDEPENDENT ASSESSMENT.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years 
after the date of submission of the report under 
paragraph (1), the Director of NIST shall con-
tract with an independent organization to per-
form an assessment of the implementation of 
the reapplication competition process. 
(B) CONSULTATION.—The independent or-
ganization performing the assessment under 
subparagraph (A) may consult with the MEP 
Advisory Board (as defined in section 25 of the 
National Institute of Standards and Technology 
Act (15 U.S.C. 278k)). 
(3) COMPARISON OF CENTERS.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Di-
rector shall submit to the appropriate commit-
tees of Congress a report providing information 
on the first and second years of operations for 
Centers (as defined in section 25 of the Na-
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tional Institute of Standards and Technology 
Act (15 U.S.C. 278k)) operating from new com-
petitions or recompetition as compared to long-
standing Centers. 
(B) CONTENTS.—The report shall provide 
detail on the engagement in services provided 
by Centers and the characteristics of services 
provided, including volume and type of services, 
so that the appropriate committees of Congress 
can evaluate whether the cost-sharing ratio has 
an effect on the services provided at Centers. 
(e) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) DEFINITIONS.—Section 2199(3) of title 10, 
United States Code, is amended— 
(A) by striking ‘‘regional center’’ and in-
serting ‘‘manufacturing extension center’’; 
(B) by inserting ‘‘and best business prac-
tices’’ before ‘‘referred’’; and 
(C) by striking ‘‘25(a)’’ and inserting 
‘‘25(b)’’. 
(2) ENTERPRISE
INTEGRATION
INITIATIVE.— 
Section 3(a) of the Enterprise Integration Act of 
2002 (15 U.S.C. 278g–5(a)) is amended by inserting 
‘‘Hollings’’ before ‘‘Manufacturing Extension Part-
nership’’. 
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