ent who agrees to collaborate with local workforce 
investment area boards. 
‘‘(6) COST
SHARE.—The Secretary may not 
provide more than 50 percent of the total cost of 
any activity funded under this subsection. 
‘‘(7) OUTREACH
TO
RURAL
COMMUNITIES.— 
The Secretary shall conduct outreach to public and 
private sector entities in rural communities to en-
courage those entities to participate in regional inno-
vation cluster activities under this subsection. 
‘‘(8) FUNDING.—The Secretary may accept 
funds from other Federal agencies to support grants 
and activities under this subsection. 
‘‘(c) REGIONAL INNOVATION RESEARCH AND INFOR-
MATION PROGRAM.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—As part of the program es-
tablished under subsection (a), the Secretary shall 
establish a regional innovation research and infor-
mation program— 
‘‘(A) to gather, analyze, and disseminate 
information on best practices for regional inno-
vation strategies (including regional innovation 
clusters), including information relating to how 
innovation, productivity, and economic develop-
ment can be maximized through such strategies; 
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‘‘(B) to provide technical assistance, in-
cluding through the development of technical 
assistance guides, for the development and im-
plementation of regional innovation strategies 
(including regional innovation clusters); 
‘‘(C) to support the development of rel-
evant metrics and measurement standards to 
evaluate regional innovation strategies (includ-
ing regional innovation clusters), including the 
extent to which such strategies stimulate inno-
vation, productivity, and economic development; 
and 
‘‘(D) to collect and make available data on 
regional innovation cluster activity in the 
United States, including data on— 
‘‘(i) the size, specialization, and com-
petitiveness of regional innovation clusters; 
‘‘(ii) the regional domestic product 
contribution, total jobs and earnings by 
key occupations, establishment size, nature 
of specialization, patents, Federal research 
and development spending, and other rel-
evant information for regional innovation 
clusters; and 
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‘‘(iii) supply chain product and service 
flows within and between regional innova-
tion clusters. 
‘‘(2) RESEARCH GRANTS.—The Secretary may 
award research grants on a competitive basis to sup-
port and further the goals of the program estab-
lished under this subsection. 
‘‘(3) DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.—Data 
and analysis compiled by the Secretary under the 
program established in this subsection shall be made 
available to other Federal agencies, State and local 
governments, and nonprofit and for-profit entities. 
‘‘(4) REGIONAL
INNOVATION
GRANT
PRO-
GRAM.—The Secretary shall incorporate data and 
analysis relating to any grant under subsection (b) 
into the program established under this subsection. 
‘‘(d) INTERAGENCY COORDINATION.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—To the maximum extent 
practicable, the Secretary shall ensure that the ac-
tivities carried out under this section are coordinated 
with, and do not duplicate the efforts of, other pro-
grams at the Department of Commerce or other 
Federal agencies. 
‘‘(2) COLLABORATION.— 
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‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 
explore and pursue collaboration with other 
Federal agencies, including through multi-
agency funding opportunities, on regional inno-
vation strategies. 
‘‘(B) SMALL BUSINESSES.—The Secretary 
shall ensure that such collaboration with Fed-
eral agencies prioritizes the needs and chal-
lenges of small businesses. 
‘‘(e) EVALUATION.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years 
after the date of enactment of the America COM-
PETES Reauthorization Act of 2010, the Secretary 
shall enter into a contract with an independent enti-
ty, such as the National Academy of Sciences, to 
conduct an evaluation of the program established 
under subsection (a). 
‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The evaluation shall in-
clude— 
‘‘(A) whether the program is achieving its 
goals; 
‘‘(B) any recommendations for how the 
program may be improved; and 
‘‘(C) a recommendation as to whether the 
program should be continued or terminated. 
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‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) REGIONAL
INNOVATION
CLUSTER.—The 
term ‘regional innovation cluster’ means a geo-
graphically bounded network of similar, synergistic, 
or complementary entities that— 
‘‘(A) are engaged in or with a particular 
industry sector; 
‘‘(B) have active channels for business 
transactions and communication; 
‘‘(C) share specialized infrastructure, labor 
markets, and services; and 
‘‘(D) leverage the region’s unique competi-
tive strengths to stimulate innovation and cre-
ate jobs. 
‘‘(2) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means one of 
the several States, the District of Columbia, the 
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, 
Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the 
Northern Mariana Islands, or any other territory or 
possession of the United States. 
‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated $100,000,000 for each 
of fiscal years 2014 through 2018 to carry out this sec-
tion.’’. 
Æ 
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