15 U.S.C. § 278k–1 — Competitive awards program

(a) Establishment: The Director must create, within the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership, a program of competitive awards for the participants described in (b), for the purposes in (c). (b) Participants: Only Centers, or groups ("consortiums") of Centers, can receive these awards. (c) Purpose, themes, and reimbursement: (1) Purpose: The program adds new capabilities to the Partnership, including projects that solve new or emerging manufacturing problems, as the Director decides after consulting the Partnership's Director, the MEP Advisory Board, other federal agencies, and small and medium manufacturers. (2) Themes: The Director may set one or more competition themes, which can change year to year based on manufacturers' needs and past competitions' success. (3) Reimbursement: Centers can be paid back for costs they incur under this section. (d) Applications: Applications must follow whatever form, timing, and content the Director requires, set in consultation with the MEP Advisory Board. (e) Selection: (1) Peer review and competitively awarded: Awards must be peer-reviewed and competitively given. (2) Geographic diversity: The Director must try to spread selected proposals across many regions. (3) Criteria: The Director picks applications likely to: improve regional industry competitiveness; create jobs or train new hires; help transfer and commercialize research from colleges, national labs, other federally funded programs, or nonprofit research institutes; recruit a diverse manufacturing workforce, including outreach to underrepresented groups named in sections 1885a and 1885b of title 42; or achieve some other result that advances the goals in section 278k(c) or section 278l. (f) Program Contribution: Award recipients don't have to provide matching funds. (g) Global marketplace projects: When choosing awards, the Director, with the MEP Advisory Board and the Secretary, may consider whether an application could significantly boost small and medium U.S. manufacturers' competitiveness worldwide. (h) Duration: An award lasts no more than 3 years. (i) Definitions: Terms here mean what section 278k says they mean.