ITA-INA-OIE-2023-2007968 NOFO Report.pdf

Market Development Cooperator Program 2023

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Funding Opportunity Description 3

A. Program Objective 3 B. Program Priorities 3 C. Program Authority 3

II. Award Information 4 A. Funding Availability 4 B. Project/Award Period 4 C. Type of Funding Instrument 4

III. Eligibility Information 4 A. Eligible Applicants 4 B. Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement 6 C. Other Criteria that Affect Eligibility 6

IV. Application and Submission Information 7 A. Address to Request Application Package 7 B. Content and Form of Application 7 C. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management (SAM) 14 D. Submission Dates and Times 14 E. Intergovernmental Review 15 F. Funding Restrictions 15 G. Other Submission Requirements 15

V. Application Review Information 17 A. Evaluation Criteria 17 B. Review and Selection Process 21 C. Selection Factors 22 D. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates 23

VI. Award Administration Information 23 A. Award Notices 23 B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements 23 C. Reporting 24

VII. Agency Contacts 25 VIII. Other Information 25

Notice of Federal Funding Page 1 of 41

NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Federal Agency Name(s): Industry & Analysis (INA), International Trade Administration (ITA), Department of Commerce

Funding Opportunity Title: Market Development Cooperator Program 2023

Announcement Type: Initial

Funding Opportunity Number: ITA-INA-OIE-2023-2007968

Federal Assistance Listings Number: 11.112, Market Development Cooperator Program

Dates: Complete applications must be received and validated by grants.gov on or before 5:00 p.m. EDT, June 20, 2023. Validation or rejection of an application by grants.gov may take up to two (2) business days after submission. Applicants that wish to receive validation of submission from grants.gov prior to the deadline should submit their applications two business days before the deadline. Applications received after the deadline will be rejected/returned to the sender without further consideration. Applicants whose applications have been received by the deadline will be notified via e-mail not later than 10 business days after the submission deadline.

Funding Opportunity Description: ITA requests that eligible organizations submit proposals (applications) for the fiscal year (FY) 2023 competition for MDCP awards. ITA creates economic opportunity for U.S. workers and firms by promoting international trade and investment, strengthening industry competitiveness, and ensuring fair trade.

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FULL ANNOUNCEMENT TEXT

I. Funding Opportunity Description

A. Program Objective

Market Development Cooperator Program (MDCP) financial assistance awards help to underwrite the start-up costs of new foreign market development projects that industry organizations are often reluctant to undertake without federal government support. MDCP projects strengthen the competitiveness of U.S. industry by generating exports of nonagricultural goods and services produced in the United States.

Trade associations, other non-profit industry organizations, and departments of trade and other regional associations are eligible to apply for MDCP awards. These organizations are particularly effective in reaching small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs). Through MDCP cooperative agreements, ITA provides technical and financial assistance that these organizations match. Organizations compete for a limited number of MDCP awards. See III.

Eligibility Information below.

B. Program Priorities

Each applicant must demonstrate how its proposed project will help ITA to create or sustain U.S. jobs by increasing or maintaining exports. This could include:

1. Outreach to U.S. firms, including businesses from underserved communities, to support exporting to foreign markets. Businesses from underserved communities include businesses owned [and/or operated] by members of underserved communities, including Black, Latino, Indigenous and Native American persons, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and other persons of color; members of religious minorities; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) persons; persons with disabilities; persons who live in rural areas; and persons otherwise adversely affected by persistent poverty or inequality.

2. Addressing non-tariff barriers to U.S. exports such as discriminatory regulations, local content requirements, overly onerous standards or conformity assessment procedures, and other measures that may be unnecessarily trade restrictive;

3. Securing strong intellectual property rights protection and combating counterfeiting and piracy;

4. Participating in the formulation and encouraging the adoption of standards that are industry developed, market driven, science based, and internationally recognized; and

5. When appropriate, encouraging the development of aligned regulatory requirements that avoid unnecessary costs on businesses.

C. Program Authority

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MDCP is provided for in 15 U.S.C. § 4723. The program strengthens U.S. industry's competitiveness by developing, maintaining, and expanding foreign markets for nonagricultural goods and services produced in the United States.

II. Award Information

A. Funding Availability

Approximately $1,500,000 is expected to be available through this announcement for fiscal year 2023. The total number of awards made will depend on the amounts requested by top-scoring applicants and the availability of funds. No award will exceed $300,000. ITA anticipates concluding five (5) to seven (7) cooperative agreements.

B. Project/Award Period

The project period of performance is the time span established in the award document during which federal sponsorship begins and ends. Each applicant proposes a project period of performance of at least three (3) years but not to exceed five (5) years. Each applicant should propose a project period of performance that allows ample time to complete project activities and generate exports. The start date for all projects is October 1, 2023. The project period of performance may be extended. All extensions must be approved by the grants officer. The MDCP financial award amount covers the entire project period of performance and shall not be increased, even if the project period of performance is extended.

C. Type of Funding Instrument

Like a grant, an MDCP award includes money available to the recipient to spend on its project, however, the instrument for an MDCP award is not a grant, but rather, a cooperative agreement. See the definition in section VIII.I.2. Cooperative Agreement. Accordingly, an applicant that is selected to receive an MDCP award is called a “cooperator” and not a grantee. ITA expects to have substantial involvement with a cooperator as it works on its MDCP project. This involvement is discussed below in VIII.D. Working as a Team with

ITA.

III. Eligibility Information

A. Eligible Applicants

A prospective applicant for MDCP funding should submit an eligibility determination request prior to working on its application as described in III.C.2. Determination of Eligibility below. Entities that fall within the following categories are generally found to be eligible to apply for an MDCP award: trade associations; state departments of trade and their

Notice of Federal Funding Page 4 of 41 regional associations; and non-profit industry organizations, including organizations such as World Trade Centers, standards-developing organizations, centers for international trade development, and small business development centers. In cases where no entity described above represents the industry, private industry firms or groups of firms may be eligible to apply for an MDCP award. Such private industry firms or groups of firms must provide documentation in their eligibility determination request demonstrating that no entity in the first three categories listed below represents their industry.

1. Trade Association A trade association is a fee-based organization consisting of member firms in the same industry, or in related industries, or which share common commercial concerns. The purpose of the trade association is to further the commercial interests of its members through the exchange of information, legislative activities, and the like.

2. Non-Profit Industry Organization To be found eligible within this category an entity must be found to be a/an:

a. Non-profit small business development center operating under agreement with the Small Business Administration; or

b. Non-profit World Trade Center chartered or recognized by the non-profit World Trade Centers Association; or

c. Organization granted status as a non-profit organization under 26 U.S.C. § 501(c)(3), (4), (5), or (6), which operates as one of the following:

(1) Chamber of commerce;

(2) Board of trade;

(3) Business, export or trade council/interest group;

(4) Visitors bureau or tourism promotion group;

(5) Economic development group;

(6) Standards-developing or conformity-assessment organization;

(7) Small business development center; or

(8) Port authority.

3. State Departments of Trade and Their Regional Associations To be eligible within this category an entity must be found to be a/an:

a. Department of a state government tasked with promoting trade, tourism, or another type of economic development; or

b. Association of the departments of trade (as defined above) of two or more states; or

c. Entity within a state or within a region that is associated with a state department of trade, tourism, or other type of economic development including non-profit, non-private, noncommercial entities, which is at least partially funded by, directed by, or tasked by a state government to promote trade, tourism, or another type of economic development.

4. Special Note Regarding Educational Institutions

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Educational institutions, such as schools, colleges, and universities, are not eligible.

However, organizations that are part of or affiliated with an educational institution for administrative, accounting, financial, legal, or logistical reasons may be eligible. Such organizations that are not independent legal entities, for example, an unincorporated organization, that otherwise may be classified under III.A. Eligible Applicants, above, as a trade association, non-profit industry association, or state department of trade and its regional associations, are eligible. In such a case, the eligible organization will include in its application a signed letter from the educational institution stating that MDCP funds will be used only by the eligible organization for the purposes outlined in its application and that no such funds will be used by or retained by the educational institution, even though the funds may need to go through the educational institution because of the eligible organization's lack of a separate accounting system or lack of status as a separate legal entity.

B. Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement

A cooperator must contribute at least $1 for each federal dollar received. Half of this minimum contribution must be cash. The rest, and any additional cooperator “match” can be either cash or an in-kind contribution. See VIII.B. Supplemental Explanation of Cost Share and Match.

C. Other Criteria that Affect Eligibility

An applicant that fails to meet the eligibility criteria cannot receive an MDCP award even if its application is reviewed.

1. Eligibility of Current or Past Cooperators ITA seeks to foster foreign market development activities by offering MDCP financial awards to encourage new initiatives. MDCP awards are not intended to replace funds from other sources, nor are they intended to replace previous MDCP awards. A current or past cooperator may propose a new project. See V.A.8. Creativity below.

2. Determination of Eligibility A prospective applicant that has not already been determined by ITA to be eligible must request an eligibility determination in writing. Entities considering applying for MDCP funding should submit their eligibility determination request before submitting their application. Interested entities can get additional information and initiate the process through trade.gov/mdcp or via email at mdcp@trade.gov. Such requests should be accompanied by the most current version of all the following documents that apply:

a. Articles of incorporation or state-level certificate of corporate good standing;

b. Charter;

c. Bylaws;

d. Information on types of members and membership fees;

e. Internal Revenue Service acknowledgment of non-profit status;

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f. Annual report;

g. Audited financial statements;

h. Documentation of ties to state trade departments or their regional associations; and

i. Letter described in III.A.4. Special Note Regarding Educational Institutions above, if applicable.

A prospective applicant should submit an eligibility determination request as soon as possible if it wishes to have a determination prior to the application deadline.

To initiate a request, a prospective applicant should visit trade.gov/mdcp and select “Contact Us Today”. Alternatively, a prospective applicant can email MDCP@trade.gov.

The eligibility requirements above are also summarized at trade.gov/mdcp. An applicant that has requested an eligibility determination should continue to work on its application while awaiting ITA's eligibility determination. An entity may submit an application even if it has not yet received an eligibility determination. An applicant does not need to include in its MDCP application the letter it receives from ITA regarding determination of eligibility. ITA keeps determinations of eligibility on file.

3. Exclusion of Entities from MDCP Project Activity As noted in I.C. Program Authority, above, MDCP projects must be designed to develop, maintain, and expand "foreign markets for nonagricultural goods and services produced in the United States." This term is defined below in VIII.H. Definitions Regarding Nonagricultural Goods and Services Produced in the United States. Accordingly, entities that are found not to be exporters of goods and services produced in the United States will be excluded from MDCP project activity. ITA may also exclude an entity from MDCP project activity where participation in such activity would be contrary to applicable U.S. law, federal government policy, or Department of Commerce policy. For example, ITA is prohibited by law from promoting exports to North Korea, therefore, any exporter that proposes prohibited exports will be excluded based on the legal prohibition. See also IV.F.4. Human Rights below.

IV. Application and Submission Information

A. Address to Request Application Package

An application package is available at grants.gov. Applicants should submit applications via grants.gov. Applicants can learn more by visiting trade.gov/mdcp.

B. Content and Form of Application

Applicants should register on grants.gov as soon as possible. It often takes several days after registration on grants.gov and before submitting an application is possible on the site.

Applicants download forms from grants.gov then complete them offline. Applicants should

Notice of Federal Funding Page 7 of 41 note that the bulk of a complete MDCP application is made up of documents other than forms. Simply downloading the forms, completing them, and posting them at grants.gov is not enough to constitute a complete MDCP application. The non-form majority of the application must be drafted, assembled, and saved as .pdf files prior to attempting to submit via grants.gov. Applicants should visit trade.gov/mdcp to learn more and click on “Let’s Talk” to request more information.

If an applicant submits more than one application, each application must have the complete content and form identified in this section. ITA will evaluate and score each application separately.

An applicant organizes its application into three parts in accordance with the grants.gov filing protocols: project, budget, and forms. Every page of the application must be easily legible. Textual documents generated by an applicant should have a one-inch margin on either side and top and bottom, and the typeface should be no smaller than 11-point. Headers and footers can lie outside the margins. Pages that are not easily legible may be ignored by reviewers. The three parts of the application are set forth below.

1. Project Narrative File (page limit: 10)

a. Executive summary In accordance with V.B. Review and Selection Process below, ITA will distribute each applicant's one-page summary to its experts to solicit comments. The executive summary includes items (1) through (15) described below. It may be included either as the first page of the project narrative or as the first page of the budget narrative. ITA acknowledges that, for many industries and markets, precision will not be possible. The applicant should base its application on information that is reasonably available. The executive summary should communicate the essence of the application as outlined further below. In this regard, for items (4) through (10), the applicant should break out its summary for each industry that will benefit from project activity and for each targeted market. The executive summary includes the following:

(1) Applicant: entity name, headquarters city/state, and website;

(2) Industry(s): Primary U.S. industry that will benefit from project activity; if another U.S.

industry will benefit, the applicant lists it as the secondary industry; if more than two industries will benefit, the applicant lists them in descending order of priority as "other" industries;

(3) Specific foreign markets targeted: The applicant lists each sovereign state (or economic zone, e.g. Hong Kong special administrative region) in descending order of priority focus (not listing a market will not preclude an applicant from claiming exports to that market generated by the project); an applicant does not list a region such as "Latin America" or an organization of sovereign states such as the "European Union" (continuing on the EU example, if Germany and Poland are listed as target markets instead of the EU but the project also ends up connecting participating firms with buyers in Slovakia and Lithuania, an

Notice of Federal Funding Page 8 of 41 applicant can claim resulting exports from all four markets as having been generated from its MDCP project activity, even though Slovakia and Lithuania were not specifically identified as target markets); the applicant specifies each sovereign state or special economic/administrative zone;

(4) U.S. market size: U.S. dollar value of annual sales to U.S. buyers;

(5) U.S. industry share of U.S. market: U.S. dollar value of annual sales by U.S. firms to U.S. buyers;

(6) Target market size: value in U.S. dollars of annual sales for each industry that will benefit from project activity and each targeted foreign market;

(7) U.S. market share: size in U.S. dollars of the current U.S. share of each targeted foreign market;

(8) End of project period of performance: a minimum of three (3) years and a maximum of five (5) years, proposed by applicant, to begin on October 1, 2023;

(9) Project exports: sales to foreign buyers anticipated to be generated during the project period of performance;

(10) Post-project exports: sales anticipated to be generated during the four years following the project period of performance;

(11) Federal share: amount of federal funds requested;

(12) Match: amount of cash and in-kind match that applicant pledges to support the project;

(13) Project description: abbreviated list of no more than five (5) of the most significant planned activities and/or methods;

(14) ITA and other federal collaborators: names of federal staff with whom the applicant has discussed the project; and

(15) Partner(s): if applicable, the name of any partner organization other than ITA, that will work with applicant. An applicant is not required to have a partner.

b. Background The applicant should make clear why it believes that the project is needed and has a good chance to succeed. Applicants should rely on solid research and address appropriate considerations that may have a bearing on how well proposed projects address I.B. Program Priorities above. The considerations to address will depend entirely on the nature of the proposed project. The list of considerations below is provided as an example. The actual considerations addressed in a given proposal may or may not include all of those listed below and may well include others. Examples include:

(1) Current competitive position of the U.S. industry, including market potential for the industry's goods and services;

(2) Local and third-country competitors in the target market(s);

(3) Target market economic conditions and the likelihood that potential buyers will purchase U.S. goods or services to be offered;

(4) U.S. industry resources that can be brought to bear on developing target market(s);

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(5) U.S. industry's ability to meet potential market demand; and

(6) U.S. industry's after-sales service capability in the target market(s).

c. Project description The project description should include a work plan listing specific activities planned, including the different phases of the project identifying relevant milestones and activity in chronological order; and the location where activities will take place.

d. Performance measurement If an applicant is selected as a cooperator, it will submit quarterly Performance Progress Reports. These “PPRs” are defined and described in VIII.I. 18-20. Dollar value of exports generated by the project is part of PPR Part A2, described in VIII.I.19. It is the primary indicator of project success. Therefore, as described in (1) through (3) below, an applicant should estimate the value of exports its project will generate, explain how it calculated the estimate, and describe how it will generate exports and get U.S. firms participating in the project to report exports.

(1) Estimate of export performance As described in IV.B.1.a.(9) and (10) above, each applicant estimates the dollar value of project-period exports and post-project-period exports to result from project activity.

(2) Export estimate methodology The applicant includes a brief description of the methodology used for the export estimate.

(3) Performance measure recording and reporting system Each applicant describes its recording and reporting system in its application. Ultimately, it is the export success of individual firms that demonstrates an industry's strengthened competitiveness. Therefore, each applicant that relies on firms participating in project activities should explain how it plans to get export success information from such firms. An applicant focusing uniquely on addressing trade barrier issues should identify export data sources or other relevant sources it will use to report export value generated from project activity.

e. Partnership As noted under VIII.D.1. Federal Project Team below, each cooperator will work with a federal project team leader from ITA, other ITA staff, and staff from other federal agencies.

Each applicant must describe in detail how it plans to work with the federal project team.

f. Credentials Each cooperator must ensure adequate development, supervision, and execution of project activities for itself and for each non-federal partner with significant involvement in the project. Therefore, for itself and each such partner, each applicant must:

(1) Describe the role, if any, foreign membership plays in its affairs;

(2) Provide a short summary of experience for the project director and professional personnel who plan and execute project activities; and

(3) Include in the budget the amount of time each professional will devote to the project.

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g. Evidence of support from U.S. firms interested in participating Perhaps the best indication of whether an MDCP project will generate exports is the level of interest among the firms of the U.S. industry that would export. Each applicant that proposes project activities for participating firms should document the interest of potential U.S.

exporters in leveraging the proposed MDCP project to generate exports.

h. Use of ITA emblem Each applicant must provide at least one mock-up example indicating how it anticipates using the ITA emblem over the course of the project. Use of the ITA emblem is a graphic reminder that the project is backed by a partnership with ITA. The example will help secure formal clearance for use of the emblem by applicants selected for MDCP awards.

i. Success agreement Any applicant that plans to solicit export or other performance measurement data from firms participating in project activity must append a draft success agreement. Applicants that are not planning to solicit data from firms do not need to submit a success agreement. Success agreements must contain these three parts:

(1) A list of the benefits that participants will receive,

(2) A notice that participants are obligated to report exports and other performance measurement information, and

(3) An affirmation that the goods or services that the participant seeks to export are produced in the United States. See the definition in VIII.H.9. Goods and Services Produced in the United States. An example of a success agreement is available at https://www.trade.gov/mdcp-cooperator-tools.

2. Budget Narrative Attachment (page limit: 10 pages plus up to 20 pages for financial statements) Each applicant must provide a detailed budget for the project including the elements listed below.

a. Budget summary This spreadsheet breaks down the budget into the categories used on the SF-424A and apportions it over the project period of performance. This spreadsheet should allow an applicant to identify all the amounts needed to complete the SF-424A, which is submitted separately as described in IV.B.3 Forms below. An applicant is free to create its own method to accomplish this, but an example MDCP App Budget Worksheet is available for download at https://www.trade.gov/mdcp-application-worksheets.

b. Supporting worksheets and explanations The figures summarized on the budget for project period of performance are derived from more detailed spreadsheets that an applicant provides. Applicants organize these supporting spreadsheets to explain the figures on the budget for project period of performance and SF- 424A. For example, total travel expenses should be derived from adding up the cost of individual trips, taking into account destination, number of travelers, and length of time.

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Most applicants find it practical to group their explanations on three worksheets: personnel, non-personnel direct expenses, and benefits. Example spreadsheets are available at https://www.trade.gov/mdcp-application-worksheets.

c. Financial systems and resources Each applicant includes a discussion of financial systems and projections that identify how, when, and from what sources the matching funds will be or have been raised. This discussion addresses any of the following items that are relevant:

(1) Source of funds as documented in the applicant's financial statements or annual budget if the financial statements do not allow sufficient specificity; and

(2) Proof of past performance generating program income

d. Other financial assistance awards Each applicant sums the grants and similar financial assistance awards that it has received over the last three (3) years. Only awards of $100,000 or more need to be considered when summing the amounts. If the total of such awards exceeds $300,000, the applicant must provide a summary of each award in excess of $100,000. The summary includes the following information about the award-making entity and its official charged with monitoring performance on the award: entity name, award identifier/reference number, contact name, and current email. Awards of less than $100,000 should neither be included in the sum of awards nor in the summary of awards.

e. Financial statements Each applicant must include in its application its most recent audited financial statements, even if the applicant has recently submitted them as part of an eligibility determination request. If the applicant is a sub-unit of an audited entity, in addition to the financial statements of the audited entity, the applicant should provide financial statements at the most specific level available, whether or not these are audited. If the applicant's most recent financial statements are not audited, it should submit the most recent un-audited financial statements and a statement indicating whether it currently has an auditor and when it plans to issue audited financial statements. At a minimum, the financial statements an applicant should provide include:

(1) Statement of income or revenue,

(2) Balance sheet, and

(3) Auditor notes.

f. Evidence committing cash or in-kind support If a significant source of cash or in-kind support is coming from any entity other than the applicant, the applicant must provide evidence that such support will be forthcoming if the applicant wins an MDCP award. Examples of evidence of such support include a letter from an official in a position to pledge support, line items in official budget documents, and public laws.

g. Alternate evidence of financial responsibility

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If none of the methods described above are sufficient to demonstrate its financial responsibility, an applicant may choose to provide other suitable proof.

h. Project comparison table Only applicants that are current or past cooperators are required to provide a table comparing the proposed project to current or past projects. See V.A.8.b. current or past MDCP projects, below.

i. Letters of support from public officials Letters of support from public officials are welcome but are not required or expected.

However, an applicant should submit a support letter from any public official who has pledged substantial financial or in-kind support for the proposed project. See IV.B.2.f.

above. An applicant that chooses to submit a letter of support should secure it soon enough to include it in the application as an attachment. This will ensure that the merit review panel and other reviewers see the letter. It also reduces administrative burden because ITA does not respond to letters included as attachments in MDCP applications.

To include a letter of support in its application, an applicant should request that the author of a letter of support send it to the applicant. It is the responsibility of the applicant to include a copy of the letter in its application. Letters of support can be addressed “To the MDCP Merit Review Panel:”

ITA officials, including all employees of Industry & Analysis (I&A) and Global Markets (GM) and its Commercial Service, are instructed not to provide letters of support for MDCP applications.

ITA officials have the opportunity to comment on applications as part of the review and selection process as set forth in V.B. Review and Selection Process.

j. Other documentation An applicant may include anything else it feels is relevant for ITA reviewers to consider.

There may be documents relevant to an application that are not specified under IV.B.

Content and Form of Application above. An applicant may include any such documentation within the budget part. Any documentation provided should support or explain the other portions of the application and should be labeled to identify its relevance to the application.

ITA considers other documentation provided under this part to constitute part of the application. As such, it receives the same type of review as the rest of the application.

3. Forms (page limit: the number of forms required, 9-10 for most applicants) An applicant downloads forms from grants.gov and completes them offline. After the project and budget parts are prepared, an applicant can submit the forms as well as project and budget at grants.gov.

a. Forms required of all applicants:

(1) SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance

(2) SF-424A Budget Information - Non-Construction Programs The applicant must submit a line-item budget SF-424A and corresponding budget narrative

Notice of Federal Funding Page 13 of 41 for each of the funding periods anticipated. Prior to completing the SF-424A, most applicants find it helpful to use linked electronic spreadsheets to prepare a detailed project budget. Example spreadsheets are available at https://www.trade.gov/mdcp-application-worksheets. As an applicant enters budget data in the any of the budget detail spreadsheets, it automatically populates appropriate fields in a spreadsheet designed to look like an SF- 424A. This SF-424A spreadsheet is not a replacement for the actual SF-424A but can be a guide when completing and submitting the actual SF-424A available at grants.gov.

(3) SF-424B Assurances - Non-Construction Programs

(4) CD-511 Certifications Regarding Lobbying.

b. Forms required only for special circumstances:

(1) SF-LLL Disclosure of Lobbying Activities This form is only required of applicants that plan to engage in lobbying the federal government as part of their MDCP project. (It is rare that an MDCP project would require submission of an SF-LLL.)

(2) CD-512 Certifications Regarding Lobbying-Lower Tier Covered Transactions The CD-512 is required if an applicant plans to sub-contract work or make sub-awards. If so, the applicant completes the CD-512 but does not submit it with the application. In such case, the applicant should keep the completed CD-512 on file.

C. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management (SAM)

Pursuant to 2 C.F.R. part 25, applicants and recipients are required to: (i) be registered in SAM before submitting its application; (ii) provide a valid unique entity identifier in its application; and (iii) continue to maintain an active SAM registration with current information at all times during which it has an active Federal award or an application or plan under consideration by a Federal awarding agency, unless otherwise excepted from these requirements pursuant to 2 C.F.R. § 25.110. ITA will not make a Federal award to an applicant until the applicant has complied with all applicable unique entity identifier and SAM requirements and, if an applicant has not fully complied with the requirements by the time that ITA is ready to make a federal award pursuant to this NOFO, may determine that the applicant is not qualified to receive a federal award and use that determination as a basis for making a federal award to another applicant.

D. Submission Dates and Times

Complete applications must be received and validated by grants.gov on or before 5:00 p.m. EDT, June 20, 2023. Validation or rejection of an application by grants.gov may take up to two (2) business days after submission. Applicants that wish to receive validation of submission from grants.gov prior to the June 20 deadline should submit their applications by June 15. Applications received after the June 20 deadline will be rejected/returned to the sender without further consideration. Applicants whose applications have been received by

Notice of Federal Funding Page 14 of 41 the deadline will be notified via e-mail not later than 10 business days after the submission deadline.

E. Intergovernmental Review

There are no intergovernmental review requirements beyond those already noted.

F. Funding Restrictions

1. Non-Construction Project Neither an MDCP award nor any portion of the matching funds is to be used for construction projects.

2. Pre-Project-Period Activities There is no obligation on the part of ITA to cover pre-award costs. Except as noted below in VIII.G. Approved Pre-Project-Period Expenditure, if an applicant incurs any costs prior to an award being made, it does so solely at its own risk of not being reimbursed from award funds.

3. Joint Ventures An entity may submit an application as a joint venture; however, only one eligible organization can be the designated award recipient/cooperator. For example, two trade associations may pool their resources and submit one application, but only one of the two will receive the award and be the cooperator. Foreign businesses and private groups also may join with eligible U.S. organizations to submit applications and to share project costs.

Applicants should pay special attention to VIII.B.1. Cash Contribution and VIII.B.2. In-Kind Contribution, below, when formulating a partnership or joint venture.

4. Human Rights No ITA assistance, MDCP award, or any portion of the matching funds are to be used to support or promote the export of goods or services that raise significant concerns of potential use or misuse to commit a gross violation of human rights or violation of civil and political rights by a foreign government or foreign government sponsored private entities in the potential market . See VIII.I.12. Human Rights and ITA Assistance.

G. Other Submission Requirements

1. Number of Pages Grants.gov requires that applications be submitted in three parts: project, budget, and forms.

These parts and their page limits are summarized below. The budget part is limited to 40 pages, includes all attachments other than forms – even if they are not budget-related - and has sub-sections with their own page limits.

a. Project: 10 pages;

b. Budget: limited to 40 pages total -- up to 10 pages for the budget, up to 20 pages of

Notice of Federal Funding Page 15 of 41 financial statements, and up to 10 pages of other attachments;

c. Forms: identified in IV.B.3. above are limited to the number of required forms, typically nine or 10 pages;

The page limits are not fungible. Over-limit pages from one part cannot take the place of under-limit pages from another. For example, if an applicant has 8 pages of financial statements in the budget part, 12 less than the limit, it is not allowed to apply these 12 pages towards other parts of the application. Each page counts towards the limit including cover pages. To stay within the page limits, applicants may need to omit irrelevant pages from financial statements, label the tops of pages instead of using cover pages, or omit reports and promotional brochures that are not necessary.

2. Retention of Applications Winning applications are made available to federal project teams for use in coordinating project work with the entire federal project team. ITA will keep the winning application on file for at least seven (7) years. For each eligible applicant whose application is not selected for MDCP funding, ITA will retain the signed original or its electronic equivalent for at least seven (7) years. Late applications are not accepted. For an application submitted after the deadline, ITA may choose to retain a copy of the cover page, transmittal letter, or electronic equivalent. In such case ITA's policy is to keep such documentation for seven (7) years.

Otherwise, applications that are late or submitted by ineligible applicants are erased.

3. Method of Submission

a. To expedite the application evaluation process, ITA posts the applications electronically to ITA reviewers and distributes them to each of the merit review panelists. Accordingly, ITA will organize and consider all applications in an electronic format regardless of the format of submission.

b. Applicants should submit their applications via grants.gov. On this site, applicants should be able to find help submitting their applications as pdf attachments. ITA does not manage grants.gov.

c. If an applicant is unable to resolve application submission issues through grants.gov, it should contact mdcp@trade.gov before the submission deadline. If unable to submit via grants.gov, an applicant can submit via email attachment of electronic files to mdcp@trade.gov.

d. If an applicant is unable to submit electronically, ITA will accept hard-copy submissions.

In such case, ITA’s practice is to convert the hard-copy submission to pdf electronic format.

4. Public Release of Winning Applications and Freedom of Information Act ITA’s policy is to make available for release to potential applicants and other members of the public all applications selected for MDCP funding. It is the responsibility of each MDCP award recipient to identify any information in its application that it wishes to withhold from public release. Each MDCP applicant may identify information to withhold from disclosure in its application at the time it is submitted or after ITA selects the application for funding.

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ITA requires all recipients of MDCP awards to create a “public version” of their application that ITA makes available to the public.

Public release of applications may also result from a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. Either way, ITA’s policy with regard to public disclosure of applicant information is the same. Applicants that wish to withhold anything from public release follow the instructions below.

a. Bracket information to be withheld from public disclosure with the words "Limited use:

Business identifiable information (BII) surrounded by brackets [] includes trade secrets, commercial, or financial information.”

b. Explain why the information should not be disclosed and mark each affected page to assist ITA in making disclosure determinations. Department of Commerce regulations implementing FOIA, 5 U.S.C 552, are found at 15 C.F.R. Part 4, which sets forth rules for the Department and its bureaus, including ITA, to make requested materials, information, and records publicly available under FOIA. The contents of funded applications may be subject to requests for release under FOIA. Based on the information provided by the applicant, the confidentiality of the content of funded applications will be maintained to the maximum extent permitted by law. There are FOIA exemptions, but the fact that an exemption is claimed does not mean that it will be granted. If ITA does not agree with the justification, it informs the applicant or MDCP award winner that offered the justification.

ITA may then take appropriate action, including release of the information if requested.

5. Application Preparation Costs -- Notice Publication Does Not Obligate Awards In no event will ITA be responsible for application preparation costs. Publication of this notice does not obligate ITA to award funds for any specific project or to obligate any available funds.

V. Application Review Information

A. Evaluation Criteria

The magnitude of a score that ITA assigns to an application is based on the degree to which proposed project activity addresses and/or has a positive effect on the criteria below.

ITA sums the points assigned for each of the 11 criteria below. The total possible score is 100.

1. Potential to Engage U.S. Firms in Generating Exports that Create or Sustain U.S. Jobs (20 points) Each applicant must demonstrate how, as a result of project activity, executives of export-capable U.S. economic entities will commit to actions that result in exports that create or sustain U.S. jobs. These U.S. economic entities include companies, partnerships, sole

Notice of Federal Funding Page 17 of 41 proprietorships, etc. These are referred to collectively as “firms.” Of primary and particular interest are firms that are SMEs.

As a general matter, an applicant must demonstrate that firms that appear to be well-positioned to generate exports resulting from project activity support the proposed MDCP project and intend to participate as appropriate.

ITA will not allow any MDCP award recipient to include in a funded project, activity that appears to result in exports that do not create or sustain U.S. jobs. In this regard, applicants should keep in mind the following:

a. Exports that create or sustain U.S. jobs are sales by U.S. firms to non-U.S. customers where, as a consequence, there is ongoing or increased paid employment of U.S. entities engaged in producing the good sold or providing the service sold. ITA can infer the jobs created or sustained directly and indirectly from the exports generated by the project.

Applicants are not required to estimate jobs created or sustained.

b. Exports that do not create or sustain U.S. jobs are usually characterized by one-time transfers of technology or know-how in exchange for a fee. While such transactions may be considered to be exports, they do not generally result in the creation of new U.S. jobs or the sustaining of existing U.S. jobs to any significant degree, if at all. ITA does not fund projects that include activities likely to result in such non-job-sustaining exports.

2. Export estimate (5 points) Each applicant must estimate the dollar value of exports that its project is likely to generate during the proposed project period of performance and during the four years following the proposed project period of performance. While no applicant that becomes an award winner is required to report to ITA MDCP-project-generated exports after the end of the project period of performance, estimating such exports as part of the application process helps ITA to consider to what degree the applicant is designing the project to be sustainable. See criterion 11 below.

3. Export Estimate Methodology (5 points) To be considered credible, estimates should normally be based either on prior experience or extrapolation from reliable, objective data. Failure to provide a methodology results in a score of 0.

4. Export estimate significance (5 points) In addition to the total value of exports projected, as measures of significance, ITA will consider the projected export value in the context of credibility as described in criterion 3 above and as compared to the amount of the MDCP award requested. ITA may also consider other measures of export significance, including, but not limited to, the extent to which the industry to be helped has already engaged in exports and the ITA priorities listed in I.B.

Program Priorities, above.

5. Export recording procedures and reporting likelihood (10) Each applicant must demonstrate that it will have effective export-reporting procedures in

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a. Trade-barrier-focused projects For many applicants with projects focused on addressing standards or other trade barrier issues, export reporting is typically derived from reliable trade statistics. For such projects an applicant must identify the source of the statistics, justify the pre-project baseline it proposes to use for comparison, and explain why its proposed export reporting procedures are the most accurate and practical way to estimate the export impact of the project.

b. Exports reported by individual firms In most situations, exports by individual firms generated by project activity constitute the most compelling evidence of project success. When reporting by this method, an applicant must do the following.

(1) Describe in detail how it intends to ensure that U.S. firms report exports. ITA will consider the extent to which an applicant demonstrates that it has previous or ongoing experience getting firms to report information or to respond to surveys.

(2) Include a draft success agreement as described in IV.B.2.i. Success agreement, above.

6. Prospects for partnership with ITA (15 points) To earn the highest score possible, an applicant should identify in its application, individual ITA officials with whom it has worked in the past and with whom it has discussed the MDCP proposal. This normally includes from ITA's I&A unit relevant industry specialists, and from ITA’s GM unit the applicant’s local CS domestic field office, country desk officers, and CS staff based in target markets. The applicant should also outline how it intends to leverage not just the MDCP award funds, but also ITA’s network of trade professionals worldwide as part of a federal project team.

7. Compatibility with ITA Priorities (7 points) It should be evident in the application how the proposed MDCP project furthers or is compatible with ITA priorities. These are stated under I.B. Program Priorities above.

8. Creativity (12 points) The applicant must demonstrate creativity, innovation, and realism in the work plan.

a. Demonstrating creativity Creativity may be demonstrated by proposing new ideas not previously developed or by promoting a particular industry in a market where it has benefitted from little or no recent promotion . Creativity may also be demonstrated in ways that are less straight-forward. For example, it may be that the U.S. exporters targeted for help have never engaged in the types of activities included in the proposed project. Or, it may be that the manner in which techniques are customized to meet the specific needs of certain U.S. exporters is novel.

b. Current or past MDCP projects For demonstrating creativity there are special requirements for an applicant that has previously received an MDCP award. A current or past cooperator must submit a table comparing its current or past MDCP project(s) to its proposed project. As noted above in I.

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Funding Opportunity Description, MDCP awards are designed to help underwrite the startup costs of new projects. Accordingly, a current or past cooperator can earn the maximum number of points under this criterion only if it proposes a project that is entirely new.

In determining the number of points under this criterion, ITA considers the level to which an applicant has incorporated elements of its previously-funded MDCP projects. To assist in this analysis, a current or past cooperator must submit a table wherein it estimates the amount of resources devoted to each major project element for each current or past project compared to the proposed project. See VIII.C. Table Comparing Application to Current or Past MDCP Projects.