MDCP: Frequently Asked Questions
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1. |
Can we get a copy of an application submitted
in a prior year by another applicant? |
Applications usually contain information
which is proprietary or sensitive. Our policy is not to
send copies of applications out to those who request them. However, one recent MDCP award winner graciously agreed to redact sensitive information from its application so we could share it with others. You can find it on our application preparation page. We also havea
mock application that you are welcome to review. |
2. |
What forms should we start working on? |
It is probably not best to start with the forms. First,
make sure that you have a viable project idea by contacting
Brad Hess . Once you get started on writing up
your project, you can turn your attention to the forms. Think of your
application as "a business plan with OMB forms attached."
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3. |
Where do we get the forms? |
They are all available in pdf or spreadsheet format
at our website: trade.gov/mdcp.
Click on "Application Kit" and scroll to the end for links to downloadable
and printable blank forms. |
4. |
What should we do to get started on our
application? |
First, contact the Brad Hess to find out if you have a viable project
idea. Send inquiries to Brad.Hess@mail.doc.gov. Second, contact
other International Trade Administration
ITA) officials to find out how ITA can best work with you as design your
project. Third, find the industry specialist from ITA's
Manufacturing and Services (MAS) program area. Fourth, contact
your local U.S. Export Assistance Center
(USEAC). ITA maintains over 100 USEACs across the country. The USEACs
constitute the domestic presence of ITA's U.S. and Foreign Commercial
Service (US&FCS). There's a chance you'll need to involve someone
from ITA's Market Access & Compliance (MAC)
as well.
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5. |
What do we say when we contact ITA officials? |
Tell them that you are applying for federal
financial assistance for competitiveness strengthening market development
projects through ITA's MDCP. Tell them you understand that ITA officials who
work in partnership with MDCP award winners normally receive funds
to help MDCP winners to achieve their goals. Meet with them face-to-face
if possible and ask for their advice.
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6. |
What kinds of comments can ITA officials
offer about our application prior to the competition period? |
Plenty. Here's a list of some of the most
important:
- Viability of the proposed project.
- Whether the proposed project would duplicate services already
provided by ITA.
- Suggestions on how the ITA team assigned to you (if you win)
might be able to enhance your project.
- Suggestions on information sources.
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7. |
Are there any restrictions to the comments ITA officials
can provide? |
Yes. When the competition period starts, after the FFO is published, ITA officials cannot
comment on the merits of your proposal. They can still refer you to
resources and respond to technical and informational questions, but
they cannot indicate whether your proposed application is "on the
right track." See FAQ 33 for additional explanation.
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8. |
What kinds of things can the ITA team do
to enhance our project if we win an MDCP award? |
Here's a list of some of the enhancements
that ITA has offered to MDCP award winners. For the most part, these
are funded by "administrative funds" that the ITA team leader receives
each fiscal year.
- Travel expenses for ITA officials who assist you during visits to target markets.
- Assistance in recruiting U.S. companies to participate in project activities.
- Contracted research reports.
- Travel expenses for foreign employees of the U.S. & Foreign
Commercial Service to come to the United States to brief U.S.
companies prior to traveling to the target market.
Note that these enhancements are just that, enhancements. They
should not be included in your application budget. For the most
part, these are activities that you cannot or should not fund with
monies included in your project budget.
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9. |
Our project does not have an industry focus. Should
I still contact ITA's
Manufacturing and Services (MAS)? |
Yes. If your proposed MDCP application project does
not really focus on any specific industry or cluster of industries,
contact Brad Hess.
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10. |
Do we have to put up any money as match? |
Yes. For every dollar you receive, you must
put up two dollars in matching funds. For example, if you receive
$100,000, you would have to put up at least $200,000 in match.
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11. |
Must the match be in cash? |
You must put up cash match that at least
equals the federal financial assistance. The balance can be in kind
or cash. For example, if you receive $100,000, you must put up at
least $100,000 in cash and another $100,000, which may be in cash
or in kind.
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12. |
What is "in kind"? |
In-kind contributions may be made by either
the applicant or another entity. In-kind contributions by other entities
are more common than by applicants because only applicants can make
claim cash contributions. The following are examples of in-kind contributions
by other entities:
- Value of salaries and benefits.
- Airline tickets donated by a U.S. carrier. (You cannot include
in your budget airfare on non-U.S. carriers except in certain
narrowly defined situations.)
- Value of fees for services.
This is not a complete list. The value you claim for in-kind services
must not exceed fair market value.
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13. |
What is "fair market value"? |
Fair market value, when used in the context
of in-kind contributions, means the price of the claimed amount that
the contributing entity would normally pay. For example, if an applicant's
partner organization contributed international trade consulting worth
$150 per hour, it would need to provide evidence that the provider
of the consulting services actually is paid $150 per hour for services
rendered to clients who pay that price to the contributing entity
in the open market.
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14. |
How do we find out if our organization is
eligible? |
Click on the "Determine whether you
are eligible." text at the bottom right of www.trade.gov/mdcp
for details. |
15. |
When are applications due? |
Applications are generally due eight (8)
weeks after the date we publish our notice of federal funding opportunity
notice (FFO). See "MDCP News" on our homepage.for
the latest information.
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16. |
How will we know when the FFO
notice is published? |
We should know the publication date a couple
of days before the notice is published. We'll email everyone who has
given us a valid email as soon as we get a publication date.
Until that time, any information about when the notice might be
published will be posted on our home page,
trade.gov/mdcp.
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17. |
What countries are allowed as target markets? |
If we focus on particular markets, we will so state
in our announcement of federal funding opportunities (FFO). Until
the FFO is published, your best guide is the
most recent FFO.
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18. |
Can we promote agricultural products? |
No. The MDCP is designed for non-agricultural goods
and services. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has its own programs
to promote the export of agricultural goods. See www.usda.gov/fas.
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19. |
How do you define "agricultural"? |
The statutory definition is "agricultural,
horticultural, viticultural, and dairy products, livestock and the
products thereof, the products of poultry and bee raising, the edible
products of forestry, and any and all products raised or produced
on farms and processed manufactured products thereof..."
There is often a lot of "gray area" in defining what is an agricultural
good. Soybeans are definitely agricultural; however, soy sauce would
likely be classified as consumer goods under the purview of the U.S. Department of Commerce. Farm equipment
to produce soybeans would be classed as non-agricultural as well.
If you have any questions, contact the relevant ITA/MAS
industry specialist.
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20. |
Can we apply online? |
Yes. We encourage applicants to submit
their applications electronically as email attachments. Pdf is the
preferred format for files submitted as email attachments.
See the application submission instructions beginning on page
19 of the Federal Funding Opportunity notice in the application
kit.
Some, but not all, of the application can be submitted via grants.gov. See FAQ 37.
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21. |
Can indirect costs be claimed as match? |
Yes. You claim indirect costs by calculating an indirect
cost ratio. See the
mock application for an example of this calculation and
where to claim it in your budget.
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22. |
How much money can we get? |
You may receive up to $250,000 in federal financial
assistance. The amount you request is for the life of the project,
not to exceed three years.
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23. |
Does ITA ever charge for services it provides? |
ITA's U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service (US&FCS)
is required to recover costs for many of the services it provides.
To determine whether fees are involved for your planned activities,
check with the US&FCS Senior Commercial Officer for each foreign
country included in your project.
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24.
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What are "cash" expenditures?
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To be counted as "cash" the amount
must be money that your organization, the eligible applicant, spends
of its own funds for real expenses directly related to project activity.
Examples include:
- Travel expenses for a trade mission.
- Salaries and benefits for time of your organization's employees.
- Fees you pay such as trade show booth rental, printing of project
brochures, etc.
This is by no means a complete list. Contact the MDCP Manager with
any questions.
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25. |
When are the award recipients announced ? |
Usually in October.
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26. |
Can we partner with another organization ? |
As noted above in FAQs 4-8 and 23, MDCP awards are structured
as cooperative agreements. Winning an MDCP award establishes a partnership
between you and ITA. ITA will work with you to achieve project success.
Partnerships with other organizations are okay, but only one of the
partners can be designated as the award recipient. Only the award
recipient can claim cash match for cash outlays of its own funds. |
27. |
Can we split an award with another organization ? |
We do not allow for co-applicants or splitting awards. |
28. |
How much description is needed for the performance measure
recording and reporting system ? |
We need to see enough description to assure us that
you can actually collect the information. You will probably want to
submit more description than was included in the mock application.
One of the reporting performance requirements is that you have companies
planning to participate in your project activities sign a participation
agreement wherein they can indicate their willingness to provide performance
data such as value of exports. |
29. |
If we win an award, how soon can we begin working on
project activity ? |
We don't usually announce award winners until early
October. Therefore, October 1, would be the earliest practical start
date. Start dates between October 1 and January 1, are most common.
In the past, MDCP projects have begun as late as April 1. If you want to start project work later than January 1, you should
explain in your application the need for delaying the start of project
work. |
30 |
We're having trouble modifying the non-personnel
and the personnel budget spreadsheets included on the blank budget
spreadheet file. |
These two spreadsheets are not forms per
se. They are examples of one way to format your budget. By necessity,
at some point a mock application will have to contain portions which
are useful only as examples and not as templates. You will note that
in our application
kit cover page, we did not intend to provide a blank spreadsheet
for non-personnel or personnel. You might do better to create your
own non-personnel and personnel spreadsheets from scratch rather than
try to modify those included on the mock application. |
31. |
We have an active MDCP award. Our ITA
team leader, using a separate fund that ITA uses to administer its
activity related to MDCP awards, wants to commission some market research
that would help us as well as ITA. Can we claim the amount ITA spends
on this research as part of our cash contribution on our MDCP budget?
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No. Each MDCP award winner enters into a cooperative agreement with
ITA. This means that ITA will have substantial involvement with
each cooperator as it works on MDCP project activity. Whenever appropriate,
and when availability of funds permits, ITA's substantial involvement
may include purchasing market research that it will keep and also
share with a cooperator in the context of the MDCP project work.
Like all expenditures of administrative funds, ITA accounts for
this amount separately. It is not to be included in the cooperator's
award accounting at all. This means, for example, that expenditure
of ITA award funds for market research may not be counted by the
cooperator as match.
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32 |
Referring to the market research in FAQ
31. above, may a cooperator that will benefit from market research
commissioned by ITA with administrative funds, bid to receive the
contract by which ITA will secure and pay for the requested research?
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No. Cooperators should not bid on contracts to be let by ITA for
expenditures that benefit the cooperator's MDCP project.
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33 |
Counseling potential applicants. Restrictions
during the competition period: Examples of appropriate activity. |
During the competition period, DOC officials
may communicate with MDCP applicants. There is much that DOC officials
can share even during the competition period. Here are some examples:
1. Information about ITA products and services.
2. Referrals to sources of information relevant to an applicant's interests.
3. Providing specifics about requested services, planned activities,
etc. For example, applicant American Widget Association (AWA) may
need to know about the cost and timing for Gold Key Service (GKS)
packages for several of its members during a particular time of
the coming year. It needs to know about this in order to come up
with the detailed project budget it formulates for its MDCP application.
By all means, this is the sort of information, even accompanied
by related suggestions about using GKS or other CS services, that
would be appropriate for anyone planning to use them.
It is normal for MDCP applicants, like anyone else in the U.S.
business community served by DOC, to have questions about details and
to expect answers from. DOC can provide those answers. DOC should
not, however, be in a position of providing advice on the merits
of an applicant's MDCP application ideas.
The examples listed above are illustrative. They are not inclusive
or restrictive. It is okay for DOC officials to talk to MDCP applicants
during the competition period. But, it's not okay for DOC officials to
comment on the merits of an application or on application ideas.
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34 |
Potential Applicant FAQs. Submitting an
application: Hardcopy |
There are two ways of submitting complete
applications one includes a minimum required three hardcopies and
the other an optional five hardcopies:
1. Hard-copy submission of original plus two copies on or before
the submission deadline announced in the FFO. (If it does not create
a financial hardship, an additional two copies are requested.)
2. Electronic submission by the published deadline (required if
this option is chosen), followed by five hardcopies within a week.
The five hardcopies are optional. (The minimum requirement for submitting
electronically is the electronic submission itself. The five hardcopies
make processing easier, but are not required.)
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35 |
Potential Applicant FAQs. Submitting an
application: Why submit electronically? |
Applications are made available for review
by ITA professionals posted at numerous locations throughout the world.
In order to expedite the application evaluation process, we post the
applications electronically on a secure intranet. Here ITA professionals
can review applications of interest and provide comments that can
be considered by ITA's selection panel.
The more applications we receive electronically, the fewer we have
to scan, and the quicker we can make the applications available
to ITA reviewers.
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36 |
Potential Applicant FAQs. Submitting an
application: Why submit a total of five hard-copies if the minimum
requirement is either an electronic submission or an original hard
copy plus two copies? |
The additional copies allow each member
of the selection panel to have their own copy of each application,
copied, bound, tabbed, and otherwise prepared in the way the applicant
prefers to prepare it rather than a rely on basic photocopies that
we prepare. (For those applications that are submitted pursuant to
the minimum electronic or hard-copy requirements, we will make additional
photocopies so that each selection panelist has their own copy of
each application.) |
37 |
Potential applicant FAQs. Submitting an
application: Online submissions via Grants.gov. |
It is possible to submit some of the required
forms online at www.grants.gov. These include the 424 and 424A. However,
the vast bulk of the application cannot be developed or even entered
online. Applicants are free to submit the forms online that are available
through grants.gov; however, we do not require this. Applicants may
choose to simply submit their entire application together as one unit
as an email attachment by the published deadline, followed by five
hardcopy within a wee. Or applicants may simply submit them minimum: an original
plus two hardcopies by the published deadline. |