PKG00262150-instructions.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Office of the Secretary

ANNOUNCEMENT OF FEDERAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

AGENCY: Office of Economic Adjustment, Department of Defense (DoD).

ACTION: Final Federal Funding Opportunity Announcement.

SUMMARY: This notice announces an opportunity to obtain Defense Manufacturing Community designation and funding under the Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program. This notice includes proposal submission requirements and instructions, and eligibility and selection criteria that will be used to evaluate proposals. The Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment approved the program on May 21, 2020. This notice outlines a two-step process; first, regional manufacturing consortia will compete to receive designation as a Defense Manufacturing Community; second, the most competitive Defense Manufacturing Communities will then be invited to submit a grant application to the Office of Economic Adjustment. This notice includes proposal requirements, the deadline for submitting proposals, and the criteria that will be used to select proposals for designation as Defense Manufacturing Communities and funding under this Program. Because this is a new program, this notice was originally published as a “Forecast” on May 29, 2020 and that Forecast requested public comment on the proposed selection criteria for designation, as provided in section E., paragraph 1 of this notice. The comment period closed on June 8, 2020 at 5 p.m. PDT. This is a Final Federal Funding Opportunity notice, and interested responders must submit a proposal based on the instructions provided in Section D., paragraphs 1-3 of this notice.

OEA may directly provide awards under this notice for projects owned by a State, local government, or a not-for-profit, organization, or it may transfer funds to another Federal agency for award to a state or local government.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

a. Federal Awarding Agency: Office of Economic Adjustment, Department of Defense (DoD).

b. Funding Opportunity Title: Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program.

c. Announcement Type: Final Federal Funding Opportunity.

d. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 12.600.

e. Key Dates: The Office of Economic Adjustment will publish on Grants.gov a Final Federal Funding

Opportunity notice no later than June 11, 2020, for a 31-day solicitation period. The Office of Economic Adjustment will hold a pre-proposal webinar at 12 p.m. PDT on June 18, 2020, to review the goals and objectives of the Federal Funding Opportunity and answer questions from interested respondents. Complete proposals for Defense Manufacturing Community designations must be received by the Office of Economic Adjustment by 5:00 p.m. PDT on July 12, 2020, (the Proposal Deadline). All proposals will be ranked for final approval by the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment. Once designated by the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment as a Defense Manufacturing Community, the Director, Office of Economic Adjustment will designate Project Managers to assist the successful proposers and by August 15, 2020, invite the submission of a grant application.

A. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program, authorized under Section 846 of the Fiscal Year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, is designed to undertake long-term investments in critical skills, facilities, research and development, and small business support in order to strengthen the national security innovation and manufacturing base in designated Defense Manufacturing Communities. The program also seeks to ensure complementarity of those communities so designated with existing defense manufacturing institutes. DoD Manufacturing Institutes are manufacturing ecosystems established since 2014, with common manufacturing and design challenges revolving around specific technologies. So far, the DoD has established eight (8) Manufacturing Institutes. (For complete roster of existing defense manufacturing institutes see link at: https://www.manufacturingusa.com/institutes.)

The Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program is designed to recognize communities that demonstrate best practices in attracting and expanding defense manufacturing by bringing together key local stakeholders and using long-term planning that integrates targeted public and private investments across a community’s entire defense industrial ecosystem. Interactions within and between these elements can create assets upon which many firms can draw and that are fundamental in promoting defense sector development but which are otherwise not adequately addressed by the private sector. Thus, well-designed public investment is crucial to building a self-sustaining ecosystem that attracts private investment from new and existing manufacturers and leads to a broad-based increase in manufacturing resilience and regional prosperity across the sector, the region and the nation.

To be designated as a “Defense Manufacturing Community,” consortia composed of members of academia, defense industry, defense industry and association-led organizations, non-profit organizations, State and local government organizations and various combinations thereof, may apply under this notice.

This designation of “Defense Manufacturing Community” will be awarded on a competitive basis subject to the criteria in section E below, and is a pre-requisite for funding.

Only the consortia designated as a Defense Manufacturing Community by the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition & Sustainment will then be invited by the Office of Economic Adjustment to apply for financial and technical assistance as broadly outlined in section B below.

For Fiscal Year 2020, the Office of Economic Adjustment has been appropriated $25 million to implement activities under this program.

B. FEDERAL AWARD INFORMATION

Proposals will be ranked by an interdepartmental/interagency Defense Manufacturing Community review panel against the selection criteria provided in section E. paragraph 1 of this notice. The Office of Economic Adjustment will invite, by August 15, 2020, successful respondents on the basis of their proposal’s ranking by the review panel, following approval/designation as a Defense Manufacturing Community by the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition & Sustainment, to complete a grant application. Complete proposals for Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program grants must be received by the Office of Economic Adjustment by 5:00 p.m. PDT on July 12, 2020, (the Proposal Deadline). To receive an award, an eligible respondent must submit both a successful proposal and an acceptable grant application. Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program grant awards to Defense Manufacturing Community designees may vary in size but in no case, will exceed $5 million per award in Fiscal Year 2020. Project cost overruns are the responsibility of the recipient. Individual proposals requesting more than $5 million in the Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program will not be accepted for review, and all proposals must result in a complete project. The final amount of each award will be determined by the Office of Economic Adjustment based on the recommendation of the review panel, subject to the availability of appropriations under this announcement.

https://www.manufacturingusa.com/institutes

Each Defense Manufacturing Community designation shall be for a period of five years. Eligible communities may submit for renewal of their designation for up to two (2) additional two-year periods.

C. ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION

1. Eligible Organizations Proposals for designation as a Defense Manufacturing Community must be submitted by a “Lead Organization” on behalf of a regional manufacturing consortium as part of the proposal being invited. A “lead organization” may be any of the entities identified in section A above.

For the purposes of this announcement a “consortium” is a collection of associated assets focused on common challenges in defense manufacturing or defense-related technology. These consortia represent active networks of similar, synergistic or complementary organizations engaged in a particular defense manufacturing industry sector or vertical, with active channels for business transactions, communications, dialogue, and workforce development that share specialized infrastructure, labor markets and services.

While consortia are generally located within a specific and geographically-bounded region, this does not preclude the inclusion of a member or organization with significant and relevant capabilities and capacities which are outside of the geographic region of the majority of the consortia members, but which nevertheless complement the work of the consortia.

A “Lead Organization” will exhibit the following characteristics:

• an established entity with a defined management structure, and the authority to bind the regional manufacturing consortium to deliver the proposed strategy;

• is recognized as such by key partners and stakeholders in a formal way; and

• must be one of the following entities:

o Institution of higher education or a consortium of higher education institutions o Public or private non-profit consortium of defense industries o State, local or tribal government organization

Additionally the consortium:

• may be composed of members from academia, defense industry, federal laboratories, commercial industry, defense manufacturing institutes, and State and local government organizations;

• must demonstrate regional collaboration capabilities and technological or industrial base supply chains that are determined critical to national security, and;

• must demonstrate complementarity with defense manufacturing institutes, The membership size of the consortium should demonstrate optimal composition that promotes effectiveness, collaboration and efficiency that strengthens the defense industry’s innovation base.

Consortia membership is not limited to a geographic service area, however as a practical management matter, the majority of the consortia members are expected to be located in a relatively close geographic region.

The “Lead Organization” will serve as the spokesperson presenting the consensus opinion of their respective consortium, as well as coordinate strategy implementation in their respective region. All members of the consortium must submit letters of commitment or sign a Memorandum of Understanding documenting their contributions to the partnership. The Lead Organization must be legally empowered to receive grant funding from the federal government and may be requested to provide such documentation on request.

Proposers are encouraged to coordinate with DoD Manufacturing Institutes to ensure their strategies align directly with the priorities of the Department of Defense. To learn more about current Manufacturing Institutes, visit https://www.manufacturingusa.com/institutes.

2. Geographic Scope Proposers may define the regional boundaries of their consortium based on capabilities, key technologies or industrial base supply chains that are determined critical to national security. For the purposes of this announcement, key technologies are those delineated in the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Industrial Policy Annual Industrial Capabilities Report to Congress for FY 2018. The geographic size of the consortium may not need to be limited by traditional jurisdictional boundaries, but should demonstrate optimal composition that promotes the effectiveness, collaboration and efficiency that strengthens the defense industry’s innovation base.

In general, an applicant’s region should be large enough to contain critical elements of the key technologies or supply chains (KTS) prioritized by the applicant, but small enough to enable close collaboration (e.g., generally, larger than a city but smaller than a state). The proposed Defense Manufacturing Community should provide evidence that their community ranks high in the nation for their key defense manufacturing technology or supply chain. Proposers can use their region’s average location quotient for either employment or firms as an indicator of how the region ranks in the nation.

Other metrics can be used to determine a top third national ranking in the proposer’s KTS region, but data sources and methods used to calculate must be well-documented in the application.

Location quotient data can be obtained from US Bureau of Labor and Statistics https://www.bls.gov/cew/downloadable-data-files.htm.

The top North American industry classification codes can be obtained from DoD Defense Logistics Agency webpage https://www.dla.mil/Portals/104/Documents/SmallBusiness/Small%20Business%20- %20Top%2015%20NAICS%20FY16-18%20March%202019.pdf?ver=2019-03-07-102419-873

3. Cost Sharing or Matching Proposers must demonstrate at the time of proposal a matching share of at least 20 percent of the entire proposed program (i.e. 20 percent of the federal and non-federal shares combined).

Proposers must submit from each organization providing matching share, including the Lead Organization if applicable, a commitment letter or equivalent document signed by an authorized representative of that organization demonstrating that matching share will, at the time of award be committed to the project for the period of performance. In-kind contributions may be used for the required matching share and must consist of contributions directly related to the proposed project, such as services, equipment, or space.

For Defense Manufacturing Community designees, additional documentation may be requested by the Office of Economic Adjustment during the Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program grant application process to substantiate the availability of the matching funds. The Director, Office of Economic Adjustment, as the Grant Officer, may waive a match requirement in consideration of reasons related to national security priorities.

These matching funds may not count as non-Federal match for other project funding, and the ability to use other Federal funds as a non-Federal match contribution will be determined by the authority and appropriation providing those funds as well as whether the relevant Grantor provides approval. Funding https://www.manufacturingusa.com/institutes https://www.businessdefense.gov/Portals/51/Documents/Resources/2018%20AIC%20RTC%2005-23-2019%20-%20Public%20Release.pdf?ver=2019-06-07-111121-457 https://www.businessdefense.gov/Portals/51/Documents/Resources/2018%20AIC%20RTC%2005-23-2019%20-%20Public%20Release.pdf?ver=2019-06-07-111121-457 https://www.bls.gov/cew/downloadable-data-files.htm https://www.dla.mil/Portals/104/Documents/SmallBusiness/Small%20Business%20-%20Top%2015%20NAICS%20FY16-18%20March%202019.pdf?ver=2019-03-07-102419-873 https://www.dla.mil/Portals/104/Documents/SmallBusiness/Small%20Business%20-%20Top%2015%20NAICS%20FY16-18%20March%202019.pdf?ver=2019-03-07-102419-873 proposed as a source for the non-Federal share must be expended either within the proposed project period commencing from the date of award or no earlier than the August 13, 2018, enactment of the FY 2019 National Defense Authorization Act.

4. Eligibility of Proposed Activities In addition to the proposal for Defense Manufacturing Community designation, each Lead Organization will also present an execution plan of proposed activities that will improve the defense industrial base. If designated a Defense Manufacturing Community, the execution plan will form the basis for any follow-on grant application, if invited by the Office of Economic Adjustment.

Within the designation proposal and execution plan, Lead Organizations may include the following types of investments, equipment or facility upgrades;

• workforce training, retraining, or recruitment and retention, including that of women and underrepresented minorities;

• business incubators;

• advanced research and commercialization, including with Federal laboratories and depots;

• supply chain development; and

• small business assistance

As a practical matter, funding is not sufficient in this Fiscal Year to undertake major construction activities under this program, therefore Fiscal Year 2020 applications should not propose such activities.

Regarding facility upgrades, any requests related to facility upgrades must be contained within the existing facility footprint and be for the purpose of modernizing or enabling innovation activities.

Funds available under this program should not supplant funding nor activities otherwise eligible for/funded through other Federal programs. Respondents are encouraged to submit proposals which demonstrate appropriate leverage of all public and private resources and programs, such as:

• U.S. Department of Commerce’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Program for provision of relevant assistance to the region’s manufacturers that operate as part of affected Defense supply chains;

• State, regional, and local economic development organizations which often work with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s (DOC) Economic Development Administration (EDA) grantees, including Economic Development Districts and University Centers;

• Small Business Administration District offices; and

• U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employment and Training Administration (ETA) grantees, including local Workforce Investment Boards and/or American Job Centers.

Funds provided under this program may not be used to directly identify or assist a business, including a business expansion, in the relocation of a plant, facility, or operation from one Labor Market Area (LMA) to another if the relocation is likely to result in the loss of jobs in the LMA from which the relocation occurs.

D. PROPOSAL and SUBMISSION INFORMATION

1. Address to Request Application Package Proposals must be submitted electronically as described in section D, paragraph 4 below.

2. Content and Form of Proposal Submission Each interested respondent must submit a complete proposal through Grants.gov not later than the

Proposal Deadline date (see section D., paragraph 3). Grants.gov requires all proposers to complete the Standard Form 424. Please refer to the instructions provided with the Grants.gov Federal Funding Opportunity on how to complete the Standard Form 424.

Lead Organizations will submit the following proposal components in order to be considered for designation as a Defense Manufacturing Community:

• Part 1: Regional Manufacturing Community Description and Strategy Proposal

• Part 2: Execution Plan Slide Presentation (in PowerPoint format)

• Part 3: Any Necessary Supporting Documentation

DoD will competitively award designations based solely on the components listed above. Those consortia designated as a Defense Manufacturing Community will then be invited to submit a Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program grant application to Office of Economic Adjustment for funding and technical assistance.

Below is a detailed description of the required components to be designated as a Defense Manufacturing Community:

A. PART 1: Regional Manufacturing Community Description and Strategy Proposal: A proposal of no more than fifteen (15) single-sided pages (1-inch margins, 11 point Times New Roman font, Microsoft Word preferred, and including all relevant maps/drawings/diagrams excepting any signed Memorandums of Understanding which do not count toward the 15-page total) that outlines the following:

a. Regional Assessment: An integrated, evidence based assessment of the local defense industrial ecosystem (i.e., the whole range of workforce and training, supplier network, research and innovation, infrastructure/site development, operational improvements and capital access components needed for manufacturing activities) as it exists today in the region defined by the applicant. The assessment should provide a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats analysis as it pertains to supporting the manufacturing ecosystem of the region.

b. Implementation Strategy: An evidence-based path for developing chosen components of this ecosystem (infrastructure, business development, workforce, etc.) by making specific investments to address gaps and make a region uniquely competitive.

c. Project Parties’ Leadership Structure: This section should provide a description of the leadership structure of the regional partners that comprise the consortium in order to carry out the proposed strategy. The description of the leadership structure should clearly demonstrate the specific roles and responsibilities of each member of the consortium as well as explain how workflow, accountability and authority will be administered.

Proposers should attach letters of commitment or signed a Memorandum of Understanding documenting consortium members contributions to the partnership.

d. Geographic scope: Description of the regional boundaries of their consortium and the basis for determining that their manufacturing concentration ranks high in the nation for their key manufacturing technology or supply chain by either: location quotient for employment or firms in the KTS, or in terms of employment or firm numbers. Other metrics can be used to determine a top third national ranking in the proposer’s KTS region, but data sources and methods used to calculate the top third ranking must be well-documented in the application.

e. Performance Metrics: A description of outcome-based metrics, benchmarks and milestones to be tracked and evaluation methods to be used (experimental or high quality quasi-experimental designs using control groups, etc.) over the course of the implementation to gauge performance of the strategy.

B. PART 2: Execution Plan Slide Presentation: No more than ten (10) single-sided pages

PowerPoint presentation (including all relevant maps/drawings/diagrams), excepting the Standard Form 424, which outlines the following:

a. Lead Organization/ Sub-Recipient/s Information:

i. Lead Organization mission, vision, and summary

ii. Name, phone number, e-mail address, website address, and organization address of the Lead Organization’s primary point of contact;

iii. Sub-Recipient/s mission, vision, and summary (if applicable)

iv. Sub-recipient/s’ Organization (if applicable): Name, phone number, e-mail address, website address, and organization address of sub-recipient’s point of contact

b. Project title

c. Project location and service area

d. Project narrative: A clear and concise execution plan that describes the purpose of the project, how the proposed activities will help achieve the region’s goal as identified in the Proposal in PART 1, and the expected outcome(s) that will result from the proposed plan.

e. Scope of work: a scope of work linked to the project’s purpose with key milestones and deliverables, which must clearly indicate the specific activities that are part of the scope of work of the proposed project;

f. A project timeline including an estimated project start date, key milestones with expected completion dates, and an estimated project completion date;

g. A sustainability plan, including anticipated challenges, potential barriers, and a forecast of post-grant period operations;

h. Estimated budget and matching share (to include information from the Standard Form 424): an estimate of the overall cost of the project tied to the proposed activities and staffing plan under the project, as well as an estimate of non-federal matching funds that planned to be dedicated to the project. The program requires a match of at least 20 percent of the total project cost from non-federal sources. Proposers seeking a waiver of the match requirement should include any relevant information linked directly to reasons of national security that would warrant consideration of a waiver. Such information will count toward the application page limit.

C. PART 3: Supporting Documentation: No more than twenty-five (25) single sided pages (in Word or .pdf format) which outlines the following:

a. Submitting Official: Documentation that the Submitting Official is authorized by the applicant to submit a proposal and subsequently apply for assistance.

b. A statement attesting applicant/s already have obtained or have started the process to obtain a SAM registration (documentation of SAM registration or proof that SAM registration has been initiated must be submitted along with the Concept Proposal).

c. Letters of support/ matching fund commitment may be attached to the application as applicable but will count toward the application page limit.

To the extent practicable, proposers are encouraged to provide data and evidence of all project merits in a form that is publicly available and verifiable.

The Office of Economic Adjustment, on behalf of the Defense Manufacturing Community review panel, reserves the right to ask any respondent to supplement the data in its proposal, but expects proposals to be complete upon submission.

3. Submission Dates and Times The Office of Economic Adjustment will publish on Grants.gov as a Final Federal Funding Opportunity notice no later than June 11, 2020, for a 31-day solicitation period. The Office of Economic Adjustment will hold a pre-proposal webinar at 12 p.m. PDT on June 18, 2020, to review the goals and objectives of the Federal Funding Opportunity and answer questions from interested respondents. Complete proposals for Defense Manufacturing Community designations must be received by the Office of Economic Adjustment by 5:00 p.m. PDT on July 12, 2020, (the Proposal Deadline). All proposals will be ranked for final approval by the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment. Once designated by the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment as a Defense Manufacturing Community, the Office of Economic Adjustment will designate project managers and by August 15, 2020, invite the submission of a grant application. All grantees must accept the awarded grants by close of business on September 23, 2020 so that awards may be executed and obligated before September 30, 2020.

E. APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION

1. Defense Manufacturing Community Selection Criteria Proposal review and evaluation will be performed as follows:

Applications for Defense Manufacturing Community designation will be reviewed by an interdepartmental/interagency panel composed of representation from the Office Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment; the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering; the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment; the Office of Economic Adjustment; the Economic Development Administration and the National Institute for Standards and Technology—Manufacturing Extension Partnership (Department of Commerce).

The review panel for Defense Manufacturing Community designation will consider each of the following ranking criteria, with relative weights (the more responsive the proposal is to a need in these areas, the higher the score) as a basis to confer the Defense Manufacturing Community designation:

a) The extent to which the strategy and activities proposed enhance the region’s ability to narrow gaps and build upon opportunities identified in the proposal, ultimately amplifying the development of key technologies and/or support industrial base/supply chains that are determined critical to national security (0-35 points);

b) Quality of region’s assessment of gaps and opportunities to strengthen the defense industrial base; extent to which identified gaps and opportunities correlate to findings and/or priorities outlined in: the National Defense Strategy; the “2018 Assessing and Strengthening the Manufacturing and Defense Industrial Base and Supply Chain Resiliency of the United States” report; and DoD modernization priorities (0-30 points);

c) The strength of the consortia’s leadership capacity, commitment and its ability to leverage regional partners to execute the proposed activities, as demonstrated through the soundness of its governance structure, composition of regional partners, and matching fund commitment (0-20 points), and;

d) The extent to which the proposed activities complement defense manufacturing institutes, industry-led and association-led initiatives (e.g. Industry 4.0), and leverage the whole of https://media.defense.gov/2018/Oct/05/2002048904/-1/-1/1/ASSESSING-AND-STRENGTHENING-THE-MANUFACTURING-AND%20DEFENSE-INDUSTRIAL-BASE-AND-SUPPLY-CHAIN-RESILIENCY.PDF https://media.defense.gov/2018/Oct/05/2002048904/-1/-1/1/ASSESSING-AND-STRENGTHENING-THE-MANUFACTURING-AND%20DEFENSE-INDUSTRIAL-BASE-AND-SUPPLY-CHAIN-RESILIENCY.PDF https://media.defense.gov/2018/Oct/05/2002048904/-1/-1/1/ASSESSING-AND-STRENGTHENING-THE-MANUFACTURING-AND%20DEFENSE-INDUSTRIAL-BASE-AND-SUPPLY-CHAIN-RESILIENCY.PDF federal government resources to amplify the execution of its proposed activities (0-15 points).

2. Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program Grant Application Invitation Once an eligible consortium has been designated by the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment as a “Defense Manufacturing Community,” the Defense Manufacturing Community will be invited by the Office of Economic Adjustment to submit a detailed grant application in accordance with paragraph F that reflects the project included in the initial proposal that led to this designation.

3. Defense Manufacturing Community Designation Renewal Criteria Eligible Defense Manufacturing Communities may request their designation be renewed by the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment for up to two additional two-year periods. To be eligible for designation renewal, existing Defense Manufacturing Communities should demonstrate that:

- the performance of the consortium meets the established goals of the program, which is to improve the capabilities of the defense industrial base;

- the consortium has made near term project-specific progress that helps the region meet its goals, and;

- the consortium is on track in meeting its long-term outcome goals, based on metrics already adopted.

Guidance on renewal applications will be published during the 3d Quarter of Fiscal Year 2021.

F. AWARD ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION

1. Award Notices All Defense Manufacturing Community proposals will be evaluated as identified in section E. The Office of Economic Adjustment, on behalf of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, will notify the proposer by August 15, 2020 whether their proposal was successful. All decisions are final and not subject to appeal.

Unsuccessful proposers will be notified by mail or email, by the Office of Economic Adjustment acting on behalf of the Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition and Sustainment), that their proposal was not selected for further action and funding, and may request a debriefing on their submitted proposal.

Requests for debriefing must be submitted within 3 calendar days of notification of an unsuccessful proposal.

If designated as a “Defense Manufacturing Community,” the Director of the Office of Economic Adjustment will assign a Project Manager to advise and assist successful proposers in the preparation of a follow-on Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program grant application. The Office of Economic Adjustment is committed to conducting a transparent financial assistance award process and publicizing information about decisions. Grant applicants are advised that their respective applications and information related to their review may be shared publicly. In the event of a grant award, information about project progress and related results may also be made publicly available.

In the event a grant is awarded, the successful applicant (Grantee) will receive a notice of award in the form of a grant agreement, signed by the Director, Office of Economic Adjustment (Grantor), on behalf of DoD. The grant agreement will be transmitted electronically. Recipients will need to accept the terms of these awards by September 23, 2020 so the funds may be obligated prior to September 30, 2020. Once obligated, the funding remains available for expenses for up to 5 years, as approved by the Office of Economic Adjustment in the grant terms and conditions.

2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

Any grant awarded under this program will be governed by the provisions of the OMB circulars applicable to financial assistance and DoD’s implementing regulations in place at the time of the award.

A Grantee receiving funds under this opportunity and any consultant or pass-thru entity operating under the terms of a grant shall comply with all Federal, State, and local laws applicable to its activities. Federal regulations that will apply to an Office of Economic Adjustment grant include administrative requirements and provisions governing allowable costs as stated in:

• 2 CFR part 200, ‘‘Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards’’;

• 2 CFR part 1103, ‘‘Interim Grants and Cooperative Agreements Implementation of Guidance in 2 CFR part 200, ‘‘Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, And Audit Requirements for Federal Awards’’;

• 2 CFR part 25, ‘‘Universal Identifier and System for Award Management’’;

• 2 CFR part 170, ‘‘Reporting Sub-award and Executive Compensation Information’’;

• 2 CFR part 180, OMB Guidelines to Agencies on Government-wide Debarment and Suspension

(Non-procurement), as implemented by DoD in 2 CFR part 1125, Department of Defense Non-procurement Debarment and Suspension;

• 32 CFR part 28, ‘‘New Restrictions on Lobbying’’;

• Additional requirements applicable to construction awards include compliance with:

1. National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA);

2. National Historic Preservation Act; and,

3. Buy American Act and Hire American Act

3. Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program Grant Award Determination Selection of an organization as a “Defense Manufacturing Community” under this Federal Funding Opportunity does not constitute approval of the proposed project’s funding as submitted, nor does it obligate the Department of Defense to ultimately award the selected organization any financial or technical assistance due to that designation. Before any funds appropriated for the Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program are awarded, the Office of Economic Adjustment may enter into negotiations about such items as program components, staffing and funding levels, and administrative systems in place to support implementation of the award. The amount of available funding may require the final award amount to be less than that originally requested by the applicant. If the negotiations do not result in a mutually acceptable submission, the Office of Economic Adjustment reserves the right to terminate the negotiations and decline to fund the application. The Office of Economic Adjustment further reserves the right not to fund any proposal or application received under this Federal Funding Opportunity.

In the event the applicant is awarded a grant that is less than the amount requested, the applicant will be required to modify its grant application to conform to the reduced amount before execution of the grant agreement. The Office of Economic Adjustment reserves the right to reduce or withdraw the award if acceptable modifications are not submitted by the awardee within 15 working days from the date the request for modification is made. Any modifications must be within the scope of the original application.

4. Performance Reporting The Office of Economic Adjustment requires performance reports in intervals no less frequent than annual nor more frequent than quarterly except in unusual circumstances, for example, where more frequent reporting is necessary for effective monitoring or could significantly affect deliverables. The Office of Economic Adjustment’s notice of award will include a schedule to identify reporting type, frequency, and due dates. All performance reports will be submitted electronically.

• The Office of Economic Adjustment will rely significantly upon onsite technical inspections and certified percentage of completion data to monitor progress under awards and sub-awards. The

Office of Economic Adjustment may require additional performance reports when considered necessary.

• Significant developments. Events may occur between the scheduled performance reporting dates that have significant impact upon the supported activity. In such cases, the non-Federal entity must inform the Office of Economic Adjustment as soon as the following types of conditions become known:

o Problems, delays, or adverse conditions which will materially impair the ability to meet the objective of the Federal award. This disclosure must include a statement of the action taken, or contemplated, and any assistance needed to resolve the situation.

o Favorable developments which enable meeting time schedules and objectives sooner or at less cost than anticipated or producing more or different beneficial results than originally planned.

o The Office of Economic Adjustment retains the right to make site visits as warranted.

The final performance report will be due 90 calendar days after the period of performance end date. The final performance report must contain a summary of activities for the entire grant period. All required deliverables should be submitted with the final performance report. If a justified request is submitted by a non-Federal entity, the Office of Economic Adjustment may extend the due date for any performance report.

5. Financial Reporting The non-Federal entity will submit SF-425, ‘‘Federal Financial Report,’’ electronically to the Office of Economic Adjustment. Submission due dates will be provided in the Office of Economic Adjustment’s notice of award. Interim financial reports are required annually. The final financial report is due 90 days after the period of performance end date.

6. Post Award Reporting Requirements The non-Federal entity must comply with the post award reporting requirements reflected in Appendix XII to 2 CFR Part 200- Award Term and Condition for Recipient Integrity and Performance Matters.

G. FEDERAL AWARDING AGENCY CONTACTS

Requests for further information or for help with problems related to this program, should be directed to:

Mr. Douglas Brown, Deputy Director for Integration, Office of Economic Adjustment, 2231 Crystal Drive, Suite 520, Arlington, VA 22202-3711. Office: (703) 697-2015 or (if Telework) (571) 565-5200).

Email: douglas.e.brown16.civ@mail.mil.

The Office of Economic Adjustment homepage address is: http://www.oea.gov.

H. OTHER INFORMATION

SUMMARY: This notice announces an opportunity for regional manufacturing consortia to compete and receive designation as a Defense Manufacturing Community from the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, and; obtain funding from the Office of Economic Adjustment under the Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program. The Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment approved the program on May 21, 2020. This notice includes Defense Manufacturing Community proposal requirements, the deadline for submitting proposals, and the criteria that will be used to select proposals. Because this is a new program, this notice was originally published on May 29, 2020 as a “Forecast” requesting public comments on the proposed selection criteria for Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program grants, as provided in Section E., paragraph 1 of this notice.

The public comment period closed on June 8, 2020 and where appropriate, comments received were incorporated into this final notice. To receive a grant award, an eligible respondent must submit both a successful proposal and an acceptable grant application. Defense Manufacturing Community Support http://www.oea.gov/

Program grant awards to Defense Manufacturing Community designees may vary in size but in no case will exceed $5 million per award in Fiscal Year 2020.

The Office of Economic Adjustment may directly provide awards under this notice or it may transfer funds to another Federal agency for award.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

a. Federal Awarding Agency: Office of Economic Adjustment, Department of Defense (DoD).

b. Funding Opportunity Title: Defense Manufacturing Community Support Program.

c. Announcement Type: Federal Funding Opportunity.

d. Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 12.600.

Dated: June 11, 2020.