First 12 Manufacturing Communities Through Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership Program (IMCP)
On May 28, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker announced the first 12 communities that will be designated Manufacturing Communities as part of the second phase of the Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership (IMCP). The first 12 Manufacturing Communities include:
- Southwest Alabama, led by the University of South Alabama
- Southern California, led by the University of Southern California Center for Economic Development
- Northwest Georgia, led by the Northwest Georgia Regional Commission
- The Chicago metro region, led by the Cook County Bureau of Economic Development
- South Kansas, led by Wichita State University
- Greater Portland region in Maine, led by the Great Portland Council of Governments
- Southeastern Michigan, led by the Wayne County Economic Development Growth Engine
- The New York Finger Lakes region, led by the City of Rochester
- Southwestern Ohio Aerospace Region, led by the City of Cincinnati
- The Tennessee Valley, led by the University of Tennessee
- The Washington Puget Sound region, led by the Puget Sound Regional Council
- The Milwaukee 7 region, led by the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Milwaukee
From the 70 communities that applied, these 12 were selected by an interagency panel, based on the strength of their economic development plans, the potential for impact in their communities, and the depths of their partnerships across the public and private sector to carry out their plans.
Eleven federal agencies with $1.3 billion in economic development funds will be able to use the designees’ plans to make targeted investments in demonstrably strong public-private partnerships to strengthen regional manufacturing. In addition, each designated community will also receive a federal liaison and branding and promotion as a designated Manufacturing Community to help attract additional private investment and partnerships.
The Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership (IMCP)
The Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership (IMCP) program is an initiative designed to revolutionize the way federal agencies leverage economic development funds. It encourages communities to develop comprehensive economic development strategies that will strengthen their competitive edge for attracting global manufacturer and supply chain investments. Through IMCP, the federal government is rewarding best practices – coordinating federal aid to support communities’ strong development plans and synchronizing grant programs across multiple departments and agencies. Non-designated communities nationwide can learn from the best practices employed by these designated communities to strengthen American manufacturing.
IMCP has several components:
- IMCP was launched in 2013 with a series of regional roundtables hosted by several federal agencies to help raise the awareness of funding opportunities available in manufacturing as well as to seek bottom-up input from local communities on the upcoming phases of the initiative.
- Additionally, the Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration and other agencies awarded $7 million to 44 communities in September 2013 for IMCP implementation strategy grants to support the development of long-term economic development strategies to help the communities attract and expand private investment in the manufacturing sector and increase international trade and exports.
- In December 2013, the Obama Administration launched a national competition led by the Department of Commerce to designate “manufacturing communities.” Eleven federal agencies and programs with $1.3 billion in federal economic development assistance will coordinate their efforts to support the strategies developed by the 12 designated communities.
