Economic Development Administration January 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This annual report is submitted in accordance with Section 1866 of the Trade and Globalization Adjustment Assistance Act (TGAAA) of 2009, which was included as subtitle I (letter ``I'') of title I of Division B of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Pub. L. 111-5, 123 Stat. 115, at 367). Section 1866 of the TGAAA directs the Secretary of Commerce to submit to Congress an annual report on the Trade Adjustment Assistance for Firms (TAAF) Program by the 15th of December each year. The TAAF Program is one of four Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) Programs authorized by the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2341 et seq.) (Trade Act). Administered by the Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration (EDA), the goal of the TAAF Program is to help economically distressed U.S. businesses develop strategies to compete in the global economy. In general, the program provides cost-sharing technical assistance to eligible businesses to create and implement targeted business recovery plans, called Adjustment Proposals under the program. Firms contribute a matching share to create and implement their plan. Technical assistance is provided through a nationwide network of eleven EDA-funded Trade Adjustment Assistance Centers (TAACs), which are either non-profits or university-affiliated. The TAACs provide assistance to firms petitioning EDA for certification of eligibility under the program and in the development and implementation of business recovery plans. Firms that completed the TAAF Program in FY 2008 report that at completion, average sales were $10.3 million, average employment was 73, and average productivity was $140,977 (sales per employee). One year after completing the program (FY 2009), firms report that average sales increased by one percent, average employment decreased by 10 percent, and average productivity increased by 11 percent. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that nationwide for the manufacturing industry in FY 2009, average employment decreased 12 percent and average productivity increased by 4 percent. Two years after completing the program (FY 2010), firms report that average sales decreased by 14 percent, average employment decreased by 16 percent, and average productivity increased by 3 percent. BLS reported that nationwide for the manufacturing industry in FY 2010, average employment decreased 12 percent and average productivity increased by 9 percent. Overall, there has been an increase in the demand for the TAAF Program in FY 2010, as demonstrated by the increase in the number of petitions for certification and Adjustment Proposals submitted to EDA for approval. In FY 2010, EDA approved an additional 114 petitions, a 53 percent increase as compared to FY 2009; and approved an additional 93 Adjustment Proposals, a 54 percent increase as compared to FY 2009. The addition of TAAF staff resources facilitated EDA's ability to improve processing time for petitions and Adjustment Proposals in FY 2010. Although there was a spike in petitions and Adjustment Proposals, EDA successfully met the 40-day processing deadline to make a final determination for petitions accepted for filing; and the 60-day processing deadline for approval of Adjustment Proposals as required in the TGAAA. In fact, the average processing time for petitions has started to decline below the 40-day requirement and the average processing time for Adjustment Proposals is below 30 days.