MBDA Native American Business Enterprise Entrepreneurship Program

MBDA's American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian Project provides support for the American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian communities (AIANNH) and has been one focus area of MBDA's overall support for minority business developme

This Announcement provides information about the Agency's strategic priorities for the American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian project (AIANNH) businesses to encourage new activities, education, outreach, innovative projects that are not addressed through other MBDA programs.

Eligible applicants include: Indian Tribal governments, Tribal entities, Alaska Native Corporations, Native Hawaiian entities, for-profit entities (including but not limited to sole-proprietorships, partnerships, limited liability companies, and corporations), non-profit organizations, institutions of higher education, commercial organizations, state and local government entities, and quasi-government entities.

MBE Service Recipients - Organizations that are owned or controlled by the following persons or groups of persons are the organizations that are considered MBEs for the purpose of this BAA AIANNH initiative and for the purpose of pilot or demonstration projects designed to overcome their challenges: Native Americans (Including American Indians), Alaska Natives (including Alaska Native Corporations and Tribal entities), Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islander Americans, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Hasidic Jews, and Asian Indians.

Agency Requirements for Each Project a) Alignment to MBDA Mission - Each proposed project should align, compliment and support MBDA's mission to promote the growth and global competitiveness of America's minority business enterprise (MBE) community. b) Service Location - MBDA seeks to fund projects located in a U.S. State or U.S. Territory servicing Tribal and native businesses in one of the locations designated in AIANNH Locations section (I.B.2 above). Applications must identify the designated location that it will impact through the award. c) Performance - Funded projects must align with the MBDA program priorities as described in Section I.B. above. Further, applications must address one or more of the three (3) AIANNH Strategic Initiatives section (I.B.1 above) in order to support Tribal and native business growth. d) Innovation - Applications must address the unique challenges faced by AIANNH communities and businesses in the designated locations and are encouraged to use innovative approaches to address these challenges.

Applicants requesting an indirect cost rate (IDC) are required to submit a copy of their current and signed indirect cost rate agreement with the application package. If an applicant does not have a current Facilities and Administrative (Indirect) Cost Rate Agreement that was negotiated and approved by the Department of Commerce (or by the applicable cognizant Federal agency), please provide a statement to this effect. The applicant must prepare and submit a cost allocation plan and rate proposal or a negotiated indirect cost rate as required by 2 CFR Part 200 "Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards." See 2 CFR § 200.414. The allocation plan and the rate proposal must be submitted to MBDA (or applicable cognizant Federal agency) within ninety (90) days from the award start date. Alternatively, in accordance with 2 CFR § 200.414(f), a non-Federal entity that does not have a current negotiated indirect cost rate may elect to charge a de minimis rate of 10 percent of modified total direct costs. Applicants proposing a 10 percent de minimis rate pursuant to 2 C.F.R. § 200.414(f) should note this election as part of the budget and budget narrative portion of the application. Indirect costs proposed under the award must be clearly identified as a separate budget line-item.

Awards are generally made for a five-year period, but may be made for a shorter period at the discretion of MBDA.

Pre-application webinars are scheduled for all MBDA program competitions. Specific pre-application information is listed in the Notice of Funding Opportunity Announcement.

Prior to the formal review process, each application will receive an initial administrative screening to ensure that all required forms, signatures, and documents are present. An application will not be evaluated by the review panel if: a) The application is received after the closing date; b) The application package is not complete; c) The project synopsis/description fails to address one of the above-listed AIANNH Strategic Initiative (see Section I.B.1, "Program Priorities"); d) The application falls within the scope of an existing MBDA competitive program or announcement for Federal Funding or duplicates a project previously awarded; e) The principal purpose of the activities in the application is to provide a direct benefit or service to MBDA; MBDA Merit Review Panel - Each responsive application will receive an independent, merit review by a panel qualified to evaluate the applications submitted based on the published criteria. The review panel will consist of at least three (3) individuals, all of whom could be a combination of full-time federal employees and/or non-federal civilians at least one of whom will be an MBDA employee. Each reviewer shall evaluate and provide individual scores for each proposal based on the criteria set out in this Section (see Application Review Information, above) for a maximum of 100 points. The Applicant Narrative section of the application will be eligible for a total of 65 points, the Applicant Budget section will be eligible for 35 points. The review panel may discuss the application(s) but will not provide a consensus on scores for each applicant. Each application will be reviewed against the criteria individually. (i.e., applications will not be compared to others). The Chairperson of the merit review panel will be responsible for averaging reviewers' scores, collating reviewer comments, and completing an evaluation. Applications that receive an overall average of 75 points or more will be considered for funding. Applications receiving an average score of 60 to 74 points may be given a second consideration for funding if the applicant is able to respond to the panel's request for additional information/negotiation within an allotted time. Applications receiving fewer than 60 points will not be considered for funding. The applications receiving an initial average score of 75 points or higher or applications given a second consideration (as noted above) will be forwarded to the Program Manager for review and consideration of the merit panel evaluation and overall average score. Upon completion, the Program Manager will forward funding recommendations to the Selecting Official.

The MBDA National Director is the MBDA Selecting Official and makes the final recommendation to the Grants Officer regarding the funding of applications under this Announcement. The Selecting Official will recommend funding for applications evaluated as meritorious based on the final scores as prepared by the Merit Review Panel; however, the Selecting Official also may recommend an application for an award based on one or more of the following selection factors: the availability of funds, Presidential, Department of Commerce, or MBDA priorities; and geographic distribution of Projects and/or geographic region/area served by the Project. Prior to making a final recommendation for funding to the Grants Officer, MBDA may conduct negotiations with an applicant regarding the elements of the application and/or may request that the applicant provide written clarifications regarding its application. After applications are proposed for funding by the selecting official, the Grants Management Division performs administrative reviews. These may include reviews of the financial stability of an applicant, quality of the applicant's management systems, history of performance, and the applicant's ability to effectively implement statutory, regulatory, or other requirements imposed on non-Federal entities. Upon review of these factors, if appropriate, special conditions that correspond to the degree of risk may be applied to an award. Additional details may be found in the Notice of Funding Opportunity Announcement.

The application deadline for all MBDA Programs are listed in the Notice of Funding Opportunity Announcement.

The notice of award (CD-450) is executed by the Department of Commerce Grants Officer and is the authorizing document. It is generally provided electronically via the Grants Online system to the Authorized Representative of the recipient organization. The Authorized Representative for a successful applicant will receive instructions from MBDA on how to access the Grants Online system to accept the award. MBDA anticipates award(s) will be made with a start date of September 1, 2021. MBDA will notify unsuccessful applicants, in writing, after a final selection has been made and after an offer has been accepted. Those applications that are not ultimately selected for funding will be retained by MBDA for a period of three (3) years after which they will be destroyed. On occasion, competitive solicitations or competitive panels may produce less than optimum results, such as a competition resulting in the receipt of no applications or a competition resulting in all unresponsive applications received.

MBDA Business Center awards are typically made for a period of five years, with funding renewed on an annual basis at the discretion of MBDA and the Department of Commerce based upon the availability of funds, the recipient's performance level, and Agency priorities.

All decisions are final. There are no administrative appeals; however, unsuccessful applicants may request a debriefing from MBDA.