Title: To establish an expansion awards pilot program as a part of the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership, and for other purposes.
Policy area: Commerce

Summary:
This bill requires the National Institute of Standards and Technology to establish a pilot program of expansion awards as part of the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership (a public-private partnership serving small and medium-sized manufacturers and operating out of centers located in each state).
Expansion awards made under the pilot program to these centers shall be used for purposes that include (1) improving the resiliency of domestic supply chains and mitigating vulnerabilities to cyberattacks, and (2) expanding advanced technology services to small and medium-sized manufacturers.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4610 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4610

    To establish an expansion awards pilot program as a part of the 
 Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 21, 2021

Ms. Stevens (for herself and Mr. Meijer) introduced the following bill; 
 which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To establish an expansion awards pilot program as a part of the 
 Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. ESTABLISHMENT OF EXPANSION AWARDS PILOT PROGRAM AS A PART OF 
              THE HOLLINGS MANUFACTURING EXTENSION PARTNERSHIP.

    The National Institute of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 
271 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 25A (15 U.S.C. 278k-
1) the following:

``SEC. 25B. EXPANSION AWARDS PILOT PROGRAM.

    ``(a) Definitions.--The terms used in this section have the 
meanings given the terms in section 25.
    ``(b) Establishment.--The Director shall establish as a part of the 
Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership a pilot program of 
expansion awards among participants described in subsection (c) of this 
section for the purposes described in subsection (e) of this section.
    ``(c) Participants.--Participants receiving awards under this 
section shall be Centers, or a consortium of Centers.
    ``(d) Award Amounts.--Subject to the availability of 
appropriations, an award for a recipient under this section shall be in 
an amount equal to the sum of the following:
            ``(1) Such amount as the Director considers appropriate as 
        a minimum base funding level for each award under this section.
            ``(2) Such additional amount as the Director considers in 
        proportion to the manufacturing density of the region of the 
        recipient.
            ``(3) Such supplemental amounts as the Director considers 
        appropriate.
    ``(e) Purpose of Awards.--An award under this section shall be made 
for one or more of the following purposes:
            ``(1) To provide coordinating services on employee 
        engagement, including employee ownership and workforce 
        training, including connecting manufacturers with career and 
        technical education entities, institutions of higher education 
        (including community colleges), workforce development boards, 
        labor organizations, and nonprofit job training providers to 
        develop and support training and job placement services, 
        including apprenticeship and online learning platforms, for new 
        and incumbent workers, programming to prevent job losses when 
        adopting new technologies and processes, and development of 
        employee ownership practices.
            ``(2) To provide services to improve the resiliency of 
        domestic supply chains and to mitigate vulnerabilities to 
        cyberattacks, including helping to offset the cost of 
        cybersecurity projects for small manufacturers.
            ``(3) To expand advanced technology services to small- and 
        medium-sized manufacturers, which may include--
                    ``(A) developing technology demonstration 
                laboratories;
                    ``(B) services for the adoption of advanced 
                technologies, including smart manufacturing 
                technologies and practices; and
                    ``(C) establishing partnerships, for the 
                development, demonstration, and deployment of advanced 
                technologies, with--
                            ``(i) national laboratories (as defined in 
                        section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 
                        U.S.C. 15801));
                            ``(ii) Federal laboratories;
                            ``(iii) Manufacturing USA institutes (as 
                        described in section 34(d)); and
                            ``(iv) institutions of higher education.
            ``(4) To build capabilities across the Hollings 
        Manufacturing Extension Partnership for domestic supply chain 
        resiliency and optimization, including--
                    ``(A) assessment of domestic manufacturing 
                capabilities, expanded capacity for researching and 
                deploying information on supply chain risk, hidden 
                costs of reliance on offshore suppliers, redesigning 
                products and processes to encourage reshoring, and 
                other relevant topics; and
                    ``(B) expanded services to provide industry-wide 
                support that assists United States manufacturers with 
                reshoring manufacturing to strengthen the resiliency of 
                domestic supply chains, including in critical 
                technology areas and foundational manufacturing 
                capabilities that are key to domestic manufacturing 
                competitiveness and resiliency, including forming, 
                casting, machining, joining, surface treatment, and 
                tooling.
    ``(f) Reimbursement.--The Director may reimburse Centers for costs 
incurred by the Centers under this section.
    ``(g) 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 
Manufacturing Extension Partnership Advisory Board.
    ``(h) Selection.--
            ``(1) Reviewed and merit-based.--The Director shall ensure 
        that awards under this section are reviewed and merit-based.
            ``(2) Geographic diversity.--The Director shall endeavor to 
        have broad geographic diversity among selected proposals.
            ``(3) Criteria.--The Director shall select applications 
        consistent with the purposes identified pursuant to subsection 
        (e) to receive awards that the Director determines will achieve 
        one or more of the following:
                    ``(A) Improvement of the competitiveness of 
                industries in the region in which the Center or Centers 
                are located.
                    ``(B) Creation of jobs or training of newly hired 
                employees.
                    ``(C) Promotion of the transfer and 
                commercialization of research and technology from 
                institutions of higher education, national 
                laboratories, or other federally funded research 
                programs, and nonprofit research institutes.
                    ``(D) Recruitment of a diverse manufacturing 
                workforce, including through outreach to 
                underrepresented 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) Any other result the Director determines will 
                advance the objective set forth in sections 25(c) or 
                26.
    ``(i) Program Contribution.--Recipients of awards under this 
section shall not be required to provide a matching contribution.
    ``(j) Global Marketplace Projects.--In making an award under this 
section, the Director, in consultation with the Manufacturing Extension 
Partnership Advisory Board and the Secretary, may take into 
consideration whether an application has significant potential for 
enhancing the competitiveness of small and medium-sized United States 
manufacturers in the global marketplace.
    ``(k) Duration.--The Director shall ensure that the duration of an 
award under this section is aligned and consistent with a Center's 
cooperative agreement established in section 25(e).
    ``(l) Report.--After the completion of the pilot program under 
subsection (b) and not later than October 1, 2024, the Director shall 
submit to Congress a report that includes--
            ``(1) a summary description of what activities were funded 
        and the measurable outcomes of such activities;
            ``(2) a description of which types of activities under 
        paragraph (1) could be integrated into, and supported under, 
        the program under section 25;
            ``(3) a description of which types of activities under 
        paragraph (1) could be integrated into, and supported under, 
        the competitive awards program under section 25A; and
            ``(4) a recommendation, supported by a clear explanation, 
        as to whether the pilot program should be continued.
    ``(m) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out the pilot program under this section 
$260,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2024.''.
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