Spotlight
December 2013 Newsletter
Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker Launches Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership Competition
On December 5, Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker addressed the White House Mayor’s Manufacturing Community Summit, where she launched the next component of the Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership (IMCP).
The IMCP is designed to reward communities that demonstrate best practices in attracting and expanding manufacturing by using long-term planning that integrates targeted investments in workforce training, infrastructure, research, and other key assets.
Through the publication of a Federal Register notice, EDA is calling for applications for regions to compete to be designated as one of up to 12 “manufacturing communities.”
In order to earn the designation, communities must present strategies that identify technologies or industries in which their communities would be competitive in the future and would make investments, such as:
- Workforce and training
- Advanced research
- Infrastructure and site development
- Supply chain support
- Export promotion
- Capital access
Designated communities will have an array of benefits, including:
- Elevated consideration for federal dollars and assistance across 10 cabinet departments/agencies, totaling $1.3 billion
- A dedicated federal liaison at each of these agencies who can act as their concierge to the specific services they need
- Subject to funding availability, challenge grants may become available to some awardees from the pool of designated manufacturing communities from EDA and other agencies
- Recognition on a government website, accessible to prospective private foreign and domestic investors, looking for information on communities’ competitive attributes
Regions are invited to apply as a consortium that includes at least one of the following:
- Regional economic development district organization
- Indian tribe
- State, county, city or local government engaged in economic infrastructure development activities
- Institutions of higher education
- Public or private non-profit organizations or associations acting in cooperation with local government officials
The IMCP will foster an integrated, comprehensive approach to economic development throughout the country – encouraging local leaders to think even more strategically about how to align all of their efforts to attract investment and support burgeoning industries -and is a critical component of the Department’s "Open for Business Agenda.”
Applications are due March 14th, 2014.