2012 Evaluation Criteria

See pages 21-23 of the FFO for more detail.

ITA is interested in projects that demonstrate the possibility of both significant progress during the award period and lasting benefits extending beyond the award period. To that end, the merit review panel reviews each application for MDCP financial assistance based upon the evaluation criteria listed below.

1. Potential to Strengthen Competitiveness (20 points): Each applicant must demonstrate the effects the project proposed in its application will have on U.S. employment. An applicant that fails to demonstrate how project-generated exports will sustain or create U.S. jobs cannot earn more than ten (10) points under this criterion. For example, a project to generate exports of U.S.-manufactured widgets strengthens U.S. industry competitiveness better than a project to facilitate the sale of widget manufacturing technology abroad because the sale of widget manufacturing technology abroad is likely to decrease U.S. employment in the widget industry. Such a technology-transfer approach would likely result in a short-term windfall to a U.S. exporter selling the technology, but would ultimately fail to translate into U.S. job growth, rather it may cause the loss of U.S. widget jobs to newly-enabled foreign competitors. This is just one example. Each applicant must consider the ramifications of its project on exports and U.S. jobs and MDCP objectives when it applies for an MDCP award.

2. Performance Measurement (20 points): Applicants must provide quantifiable estimates of exports to result from project activity and explain how the estimates are derived. No application that lacks an estimate of exports can receive a performance measurement score that exceeds ten (10). Applicants must detail the methods they will use to gather and report performance information. Merit review panelists will consider the relative significance of the projected exports. The total value of exports projected when compared to the amount of MDCP award requested is one measure of export significance that the merit review must consider. However, merit review panelists may also consider other measures of export significance, including, but not limited to, the extent to which the industry to be helped has already engaged in exports and the ITA priorities listed in I.B. Program Priorities, above.

3. Partnership and Priorities (20 points): The merit review panel will consider the degree to which the project initiates or enhances partnership with ITA and the degree to which the proposal furthers or is compatible with ITA's priorities stated under I.B. Program Priorities above.

4. Creativity and Capacity (20 points): The applicant must demonstrate creativity, innovation, and realism in the work plan as well as its institutional capacity to carry out the work plan. 

          a. Demonstrating Creativity 

Creativity may be illustrated by seeking to develop new ideas not previously developed or by promoting a particular industry in a market. Creativity may also be demonstrated in ways that are less straight-forward, such as the client groups served by the proposed project  or by the manner in which techniques are customized to meet the specific needs of certain client groups. 

          b. Current or Past MDCP Projects

An applicant that has received an MDCP award in the past must submit a table comparing its current or past MDCP project(s) to its proposed project. As noted above in I. Funding Opportunity Description, MDCP awards are designed to help underwrite the start-up costs of new projects. Accordingly, a current or past cooperator can earn the maximum number of points under this criterion only if it proposes a project that is entirely new. 

In determining the number of points under this criterion, the merit review panel will consider the level to which a particular applicant has incorporated elements of its previously funded MDCP projects. To do this, a current or past cooperator must submit a table wherein it estimates the amount of resources devoted to each project element for each project. See VIII.C. Table Comparing Application to Current or Past MDCP Projects. A current or past cooperator that proposes a project that is not entirely new will receive fewer points under this criterion than it would receive otherwise.

          c. Institutional Capacity

ITA measures institutional capacity by what each applicant submits. An applicant that is a current or past cooperator should not assume that success with a prior MDCP project will be taken into account automatically by the merit review panel when reviewing its application. Each applicant must document its institutional capacity in its application. 

One indicator of institutional capacity that the merit review panel will take into account is the extent to which the applicant abides by the MDCP application parameters stated in this notice. For example, in order for an applicant to score as high as possible with regard to institutional capacity, an applicant must stay within the page limitations and submit an application that is easily legible.

     5. Budget and Sustainability (20 points): This criterion encompasses the reasonableness of the itemized budget for project activities, the amount of the cash match that is readily available at the beginning of the project, and the probability that the project can be continued on a self-sustained basis after the completion of the award. Each applicant, even if it is a current or past cooperator, must show how the proposed project will achieve self-sustainability. ITA does not assume that completed or ongoing projects undertaken by current or past cooperators are self-sustaining. As noted in V.A.4.c., above, ITA assesses each application based on what each applicant includes in its application.

Each of the above criteria is worth a maximum of 20 points. The five (5) criteria together constitute the application score. At 20 points per criterion, the total possible score is 100.