Title: Made in America Manufacturing Communities Act of 2017
Policy area: Commerce

Summary:
Made in America Manufacturing Communities Act of 2017
This bill requires the Department of Commerce to establish a Manufacturing Community Support Program to improve the competitiveness of U.S. manufacturing by: (1) designating consortiums as manufacturing communities; and (2) authorizing federal agencies electing to participate in the program to provide such communities preferential consideration in awarding financial and technical assistance.
A consortium, to be eligible for such designation and assistance, must:
Commerce shall make such designations for a two-year period, and may renew a designation for additional two-year periods, based on specified criteria.
Recipients may use such financial or technical assistance to support investments in ecosystems that will improve the competitiveness of U.S. manufacturing, including infrastructure, access to capital, promotion of exports and foreign direct investment, equipment upgrades, workforce training, energy or process efficiency, business incubators, site preparation, advanced research, supply chain development, and small business assistance.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 701 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 701

   To improve the competitiveness of United States manufacturing by 
         designating and supporting manufacturing communities.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 22, 2017

 Mrs. Gillibrand (for herself, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Moran, Mrs. Capito, 
  Mr. King, and Ms. Collins) introduced the following bill; which was 
  read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
                             Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To improve the competitiveness of United States manufacturing by 
         designating and supporting manufacturing communities.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Made in America Manufacturing 
Communities Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Manufacturing community support program.--The term 
        ``Manufacturing Community Support Program'' means the program 
        established under section 3(a).
            (2) Participating agency.--The term ``participating 
        agency'' means a Federal agency that elects to participate in 
        the Manufacturing Community Support Program.
            (3) Participating program.--The term ``participating 
        program'' means a program identified by a participating agency 
        under section 3(c)(1)(C).
            (4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Commerce.

SEC. 3. PROGRAM TO DESIGNATE AND SUPPORT MANUFACTURING COMMUNITIES.

    (a) Program Authorized.--The Secretary shall establish a program to 
improve the competitiveness of United States manufacturing--
            (1) by designating consortiums as manufacturing communities 
        under subsection (b); and
            (2) by supporting manufacturing communities, as so 
        designated, under subsection (c).
    (b) Designation of Manufacturing Communities.--
            (1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (7), for 
        purposes of the Manufacturing Community Support Program, the 
        Secretary shall designate eligible consortiums as manufacturing 
        communities through a competitive process.
            (2) Eligible consortiums.--
                    (A) In general.--An eligible consortium is a 
                consortium that--
                            (i) represents a region defined by the 
                        consortium in accordance with subparagraph (B);
                            (ii) includes at least one--
                                    (I) institution of higher 
                                education;
                                    (II) a private sector entity; and
                                    (III) a government entity;
                            (iii) may include one or more--
                                    (I) private sector partners;
                                    (II) institutions of higher 
                                education;
                                    (III) government entities;
                                    (IV) economic development and other 
                                community and labor groups;
                                    (V) financial institutions; or
                                    (VI) utilities;
                            (iv) has, as a lead applicant--
                                    (I) a district organization (as 
                                defined in section 300.3 of title 13, 
                                Code of Federal Regulations, or 
                                successor regulation);
                                    (II) an Indian tribe (as defined in 
                                section 4 of the Indian Self-
                                Determination and Education Assistance 
                                Act (25 U.S.C. 450b)) or a consortium 
                                of Indian tribes;
                                    (III) a State or a political 
                                subdivision of a State, including a 
                                special purpose unit of a State or 
                                local government engaged in economic or 
                                infrastructure development activities, 
                                or a consortium of political 
                                subdivisions;
                                    (IV) an institution of higher 
                                education or a consortium of 
                                institutions of higher education; or
                                    (V) a public or private nonprofit 
                                organization or association that has an 
                                application that is supported by a 
                                State, a political subdivision of a 
                                State, or a native community.
                    (B) Regions.--Subject to approval by the Secretary, 
                a consortium may define the region that it represents 
                if the region--
                            (i) is large enough to contain critical 
                        elements of the key technologies or supply 
                        chain prioritized by the consortium; and
                            (ii) is small enough to enable close 
                        collaboration among members of the consortium.
            (3) Duration.--Each designation under paragraph (1) shall 
        be for a period of two years.
            (4) Renewal.--
                    (A) In general.--Upon receipt of an application 
                submitted under subparagraph (B), the Secretary may 
                renew a designation made under paragraph (1) for up to 
                two additional two-year periods. Any designation as a 
                manufacturing community or renewal of such designation 
                that is in effect before the date of the enactment of 
                this Act shall count toward the limit set forth in this 
                subparagraph.
                    (B) Application for renewal.--An eligible 
                consortium seeking a renewal under subparagraph (A) 
                shall submit an application to the Secretary at such 
                time, in such manner, and containing such information 
                as the Secretary may require.
                    (C) Modifications authorized.--The Secretary may 
                renew a designation under subparagraph (A) for an 
                eligible consortium that--
                            (i) has changed its composition, either by 
                        adding or removing members; or
                            (ii) as part of its application under 
                        subparagraph (B), submits a revision to the 
                        plan submitted under paragraph (5)(B)(iv) or 
                        the strategy submitted under paragraph 
                        (5)(B)(v).
                    (D) Evaluation for renewal.--In determining whether 
                to renew a designation of an eligible consortium under 
                paragraph (1), the Secretary shall assess the eligible 
                consortium based upon--
                            (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 consortium 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 recent designation 
                        under paragraph (1), particularly with respect 
                        to those metrics that were designed to help 
                        communities track their own progress;
                            (iii) whether any changes to the 
                        composition of the eligible consortium or 
                        revisions to the plan or strategy described in 
                        subparagraph (C)(ii) would improve the 
                        competitiveness of United States manufacturing; 
                        and
                            (iv) such other criteria as the Secretary 
                        considers appropriate.
            (5) Application for designation.--
                    (A) In general.--An eligible consortium seeking a 
                designation under paragraph (1) shall submit an 
                application to the Secretary at such time and in such 
                manner as the Secretary may require.
                    (B) Contents.--Each application submitted to the 
                Secretary under subparagraph (A) include--
                            (i) a description of the regional 
                        boundaries of the consortium;
                            (ii) a description of the manufacturing 
                        concentration of the consortium, including an 
                        assessment of how the manufacturing 
                        concentration of the consortium competitively 
                        ranks nationally according to measures relating 
                        to employment, sales, location 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 assessment of 
                        workforce and training, supplier network, 
                        research and innovation, infrastructure or site 
                        development, trade and international 
                        investment, operational improvements, and 
                        capital access components needed for 
                        manufacturing activities in such region;
                            (iv) an evidence-based plan for developing 
                        components of such ecosystem (selected by the 
                        consortium)--
                                    (I) by making specific investments 
                                to address gaps in such ecosystem; and
                                    (II) by making the manufacturing of 
                                the region of the consortium uniquely 
                                competitive;
                            (v) a description of the investments the 
                        consortium proposes and the implementation 
                        strategy the consortium intends to use to 
                        address gaps in such ecosystem;
                            (vi) a description of the outcome-based 
                        metrics, benchmarks, and milestones that the 
                        consortium will track and the evaluation 
                        methods the consortium will use while 
                        designated as a manufacturing community to 
                        gauge performance of the strategy of the 
                        consortium to improve the manufacturing in the 
                        region of the consortium; and
                            (vii) such other matters as the Secretary 
                        considers appropriate.
            (6) Evaluation of applications.--The Secretary shall 
        evaluate each application received under paragraph (5) to 
        determine--
                    (A) whether the applicant demonstrates a 
                significant level of regional cooperation in their 
                proposal; and
                    (B) how the manufacturing concentration of the 
                applicant competitively ranks nationally according to 
                measures described in paragraph (5)(B)(ii).
            (7) Certain communities previously recognized.--Each 
        consortium that was designated as a manufacturing community by 
        the Secretary in carrying out the Investing 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 if such consortium is still designated as a 
        manufacturing community by the Secretary as part of such 
        initiative.
    (c) Support for Designated Manufacturing Communities.--
            (1) Preferential consideration.--
                    (A) In general.--Except as provided in subparagraph 
                (D), if a member of a consortium designated as a 
                manufacturing community under subsection (b) seeks 
                financial or technical assistance under a participating 
                program of a participating agency, the head of such 
                agency may give preferential consideration to such 
                member with respect to the awarding of such financial 
                or technical assistance if--
                            (i) such head considers the award of the 
                        financial or technical assistance consistent 
                        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.--The Secretary shall 
                invite other Federal agencies to become participating 
                agencies of the Manufacturing Community Support 
                Program.
                    (C) Participating programs.--The head of each 
                participating agency shall identify all programs 
                administered by such participating agency that are 
                applicable to the Manufacturing Community Support 
                Program.
                    (D) Multiple members of the same consortium seeking 
                the same financial or technical assistance.--
                            (i) In general.--If a participating agency 
                        receives applications for the same financial or 
                        technical assistance from more than one member 
                        of the same consortium designated as a 
                        manufacturing community under subsection (b), 
                        the head of such agency may determine how 
                        preference will be given under subparagraph 
                        (A), including by requiring the consortium to 
                        select which of the members should be given 
                        preference.
                            (ii) Coordination.--If the head of a 
                        participating agency determines that more than 
                        one member of a consortium should be given 
                        preference for financial or technical 
                        assistance under subparagraph (A), he or she 
                        may require such members to demonstrate 
                        coordination with each other in developing 
                        their applications for the financial 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 a report to the 
                Secretary that specifies how the head will give 
                preferential consideration under subparagraph (A).
            (2) Technical assistance.--The Secretary may make a Federal 
        point of contact available to each consortium designated as a 
        manufacturing community under subsection (b) to help the 
        members of the consortium access Federal funds and technical 
        assistance.
            (3) Financial and technical assistance.--
                    (A) In general.--Under the Manufacturing Community 
                Support Program, the head of a participating agency may 
                award financial or technical assistance to a member of 
                a consortium designated as a manufacturing community 
                under subsection (b) as he or she considers appropriate 
                for purposes of such program and consistent with the 
                economic development strategy of the consortium.
                    (B) Use of funds.--
                            (i) In general.--A recipient of financial 
                        or technical assistance under subparagraph (A) 
                        may use such financial or technical assistance 
                        to support an investment in an ecosystem that 
                        will improve the competitiveness of United 
                        States manufacturing.
                            (ii) Investments supported.--Investments 
                        supported under this subparagraph may include--
                                    (I) infrastructure;
                                    (II) access to capital;
                                    (III) promotion of exports and 
                                foreign direct investment;
                                    (IV) equipment or facility 
                                upgrades;
                                    (V) workforce training or 
                                retraining;
                                    (VI) energy or process efficiency;
                                    (VII) business incubators;
                                    (VIII) site preparation;
                                    (IX) advanced research;
                                    (X) supply chain development; and
                                    (XI) small business assistance.
            (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).
                    (B) Inter-agency coordination.--The heads of the 
                participating agencies shall coordinate with each 
                other--
                            (i) to leverage complementary activities, 
                        including from non-Federal sources, such as 
                        philanthropies; and
                            (ii) to avoid duplication of efforts.
    (d) Receipt of Transferred Funds.--The Secretary may accept amounts 
transferred to the Secretary from the head of another participating 
agency to carry out this section.
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