Obama administration announces $40 million initiative to challenge businesses to 'make it in America'

Departments of Commerce and Labor partner to help companies create jobs, invest in America

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Obama administration today announced a $40 million multi-agency competition, the Make it in AmericaChallenge, to accelerate the trend of insourcing, where companies are bringing jobs back and making additional investments here in America. The competition, which is being funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration and National Institute of Standards and Technology Manufacturing Extension Partnership and the U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration, will build upon the administration's bottom-up approach to strengthening the economy and creating jobs by partnering with state, regional and local economies.

"More and more businesses are choosing to invest, create jobs and make things here in America, and this new initiative represents the latest effort by the Obama administration to build on that trend," said acting Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank. "This administration's top priority is creating American jobs, and through the Make it in AmericaChallenge, we will be supporting businesses' efforts to expand here at home. By making competitive investments, the challenge will help communities across the U.S. accelerate economic growth, attract business investment and create jobs."

"The modern global manufacturing landscape has changed the way companies do business, but it has also changed the way companies do training," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. "This initiative will provide comprehensive assistance to those companies and those communities committed to 'make it in America' through innovative training programs that lead to industry-recognized credentials and arm our workforce with the skills employers want to see from day one."

Today's announcement builds on the administration's efforts to encourage companies – large and small, foreign and domestic, manufacturers and services firms – to increase investment in the United States. The president's plan includes eliminating tax incentives for companies that ship jobs overseas and providing tax credits for companies that bring jobs back, investing in American workers to ensure they have the skills they need, modernizing our infrastructure and taking action to ensure that American businesses and workers are competing on a level playing field.

The national competition announced today will help provide the critical infrastructure, strategic planning, capacity building, technical assistance and workforce skills training necessary for American communities to be the desired home for more businesses.

The challenge is expected to give out approximately 15 awards, depending on the number of eligible applications.

To be eligible for an award, projects must encourage insourcing through onshoring of productive activity by U.S. firms, fostering increased foreign direct investment or incentivizing U.S. companies to keep their businesses and jobs here at home, as well as train local workers to meet the needs of those businesses.

A federal funding opportunity will be published by early 2013, which will provide detailed guidelines for submitting an application, including the deadline.