Economic Development Administration 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This notice outlines a competition to designate up to 12 communities as manufacturing communities (Manufacturing Communities) through the Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership (IMCP), including proposal submission requirements and instructions, and eligibility and selection criteria that will be used to evaluate proposals. Manufacturing Communities will receive preference for a range of future Federal economic development funding and technical assistance offered by IMCP participating agencies. Some Manufacturing Communities, as discussed in the Supplementary Information section of this notice and subject to the availability of funds, may receive financial assistance awards from IMCP participating agencies to assist in cultivating an environment for businesses to create well-paying manufacturing jobs in regions across the country.

Pursuant to Section 251 of the Trade Act 1974, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2341 et seq.), the Economic Development Administration (EDA) has received petitions for certification of eligibility to apply for Trade Adjustment Assistance from the firms listed below. Accordingly, EDA has initiated investigations to determine whether increased imports into the United States of articles like or directly competitive with those produced by each of these firms contributed importantly to the total or partial separation of the firm's workers, or threat thereof, and to a decrease in sales or production of each petitioning firm.

The Economic Development Administration (EDA) seeks public comment on, how to design and structure loan guarantees for small- and medium-sized manufacturers through its authority under the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2012 (H.R. 2112, Pub. L. 112-55), which designated up to $5,000,000 from its Economic Adjustment Assistance Program appropriations for loan guarantees under Section 26 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (the Stevenson-Wydler Act) (15 U.S.C. 3721). Specifically, EDA is considering how to implement its statutory authority to establish a loan guarantee program for small- and medium-sized manufactures that encourages projects that re-equip, expand, or establish a manufacturing facility in the United States and that use innovative technology or processes in manufacturing. The loan guarantees should also be used to encourage the manufacture of innovative products, processes, or ideas developed by research funded in whole or in part by grants from the Federal government. EDA requests input from the public, through the specific questions listed below, on ways to structure this program, in order to assess the level of demand for such a program and the level of agency support necessary to institute a loan guarantee program consistent with the provisions of the Stevenson-Wydler Act.

The National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (NACIE) has cancelled its open meeting, originally planned for Tuesday, February 19, 2013. The meeting, which was to be the quarterly meeting of NACIE, will not be held this quarter. We expect the next quarterly meeting to be held later this year. Please visit the Web site of the Economic Development Administration (www.eda.gov) to see documents related to previous NACIE meetings and activities and notices about future meetings.

The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.