Fact Sheet: The Investing In Manufacturing Communities Partnership The Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership (IMCP) is a new Administration-wide initiative that will accelerate the resurgence of manufacturing and help communities cultivate an environment for businesses to create well-paying manufacturing jobs in cities across the country.
Through the IMC, the President is directing Federal agencies to provide coordinated assistance to manufacturing communities through a new partnership that will align Federal economic development resources and help U.S. localities make coordinated, long-term investments in their public goods in partnership with universities and industry. These investments will ultimately help regions become more attractive for manufacturers and supply chains. The Partnership will be led by the Commerce Department with support from other federal agencies.
Five to six U.S. communities in 2014 would be competitively selected as pilots, each receiving up to $25 million from the Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration, in addition to funding from other government agencies. Federal agencies will also align and coordinate their funding opportunities to maximize the effectiveness of Federal expenditures and ensure that localities are able to more seamlessly access the Federal resources they need to fund strategies for attracting long-term business investment.
The IMCP is aimed at accelerating the nationwide resurgence in manufacturing investment driven by U.S. competitive advantages, such as new energy sources, productivity, and rising costs abroad. This initiative also represents a significant improvement in the way the federal government supports local economic development strategies.
A new way to drive economic development and investment in the United States Smart companies decide where to locate facilities and hire workers based on the quality of a community’s infrastructure, institutions, and human capital – its industrial ecosystem.
However, communities all too often rely on the practice of “smokestack chasing” to attract investment. That is, they offer subsidies and tax breaks to attract a single firm. Evidence shows that this approach results in a low return on taxpayer investment.
To capitalize on current U.S. economic strengths and maximize return on taxpayer investment, we must instead help communities launch strategic plans to strengthen their industrial ecosystems. They can do this by investing in the human and physical infrastructure that will appeal to and strengthen entire industries—thereby more effectively attracting, retaining, and expanding commercial activity.
This is where the IMCP comes in.
The IMCP will support and reward communities that: By making the federal government work better and by boosting taxpayer returns, the IMCP will help communities create an environment for businesses to create good, well-paying manufacturing jobs—a key engine of innovation and overall economic growth.
How it works The IMCP will launch in four phases: In May, the government will solicit proposals for the initial Implementation Strategy grants. Awards will be issued by the end of September. Further information will be available at IMCP listening sessions, which will be announced in the near future.
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce
