MDCP

• MDCP Home
• New Awards for 2020
• What is MDCP?
• Impact
• Reputation for Efficacy
• Important Dates/Contact
• Current ITA Project Teams
• List of All Projects

Click headers to expand:

Results & Highlights

• Impact
• Trade Barrier Removal
• Export Successes
• Activity Highlights
• Post-Award Sustainability
• Exports Generated

Apply for Project Funding

• First, Are You Eligible?
• Educational Institutions
  
• Second Steps
• ITA Priorities
• Funding Criteria & Selection
• Letters of Support
• Alternative Match Sources
• Previous Project Winners
• Public Information Disclosure

Cooperator Project Mgt

• At a Glance
• Quarterly Reports
• Success Agreements
• Extend Project Period
• Change in Scope
• Fly America Act Waiver
• Project Teams
• Commercial Service Fees
• Use of ITA Emblem

ITA-MDCP Project Team

• Typical Team Composition
• Team Member Duties
• Team Leader Duties
• List of Active Teams
• Directories of ITA Staff
• Limited No-Charge Service

Cooperator Financial Mgt

• Financial Assistance Mgt Resources
• Special Award Conditions
• Spending Award Funds (ASAP)
• Excessive Cash On Hand
• Change in Budget
• Other Financial Mgt Topics

Other MDCP Resources

• Contact the MDCP Office
• Calls for Potential Applicants
• Frequently Asked Questions
• MDCP Relevance Today
• Notices of Funding Opportunity (NFO and FFO)
• Funding History 1993-2016
• MDCP Funding 2017-2020
• Program Interruption Questions

More Resources

• Financial Assistance Programs
• Visiting: Herbert Hoover Building
• Site Map/Info I Need
• STEP vs. MDCP
• Export Development Resources
• Effect of Government Shut-Down

Market Development Cooperator Program

Program Description

Market Development Cooperator Program (MDCP) awards include financial and technical assistance from the International Trade Administration (ITA) to support projects that help U.S. companies to compete in international markets. An MDCP award establishes a partnership between ITA and non-profit industry groups like trade associations and standards-developing organizations. Such groups are particularly effective in reaching small- and medium-size enterprises. The non-profit groups compete for a limited number of MDCP awards by proposing innovative projects that address trade barriers, enhance industry competitiveness, and generate exports that create or sustain U.S. jobs. Industry groups pledge to pay a minimum of two-thirds of the project cost and to sustain the project after the MDCP award period ends. On average from 1997 through 2018, projects generated $358 in exports for every $1 of MDCP awards made.

MDCP Projects Generate Exports that Create or Sustain U.S. Jobs

Help Organizations that Help Companies

While MDCP financial assistance awards go to trade associations and other non-profit industry groups, the ultimate beneficiaries of MDCP-funded projects are individual U.S. businesses and the U.S. workers they employ. On average, MDCP projects generate $595 million in exports each year. The true figure is twice that based on the cooperators' observations that participating companies report only about half the sales actually generated by project activity. On average, ITA estimates that one U.S. job is directly created or sustained for every $180,000 in exports. Further, the Bureau of Labor Statistics employment requirements tables indicate that 2.7665 jobs throughout the entire U.S. supply chain are generated by every job directly created or sustained by exports. Accordingly, the average MDCP project creates or sustains 17,356 U.S. jobs per year (($565,000,000*2)/$180,000))*2.7665=17,356.

See select examples of exports generated by MDCP projects. For many U.S. firms, exports are not possible until trade barriers are removed. Read about some of the MDCP projects that are addressing trade barriers.

List of all MDCP projects.

Creating or Sustaining U.S. Jobs

Some U.S. companies may be interested in licensing technology to foreign business partners. Such a transaction would be considered to be an export; however, it would not be an export that creates or sustains U.S. jobs. Any export sale that does not tend to create U.S. jobs or to sustain current U.S. jobs is not the type of export that MDCP projects should be designed to support.

Individual Award Limit of $300,000.

Funds may be expended over a minimum of three years at whatever rate makes sense for the project undertaken. The project period may not exceed five years.

Flyer: This two-page flyer is the same one that is available in hard-copy from U.S. Export Assistance Centers (USEACs) nationwide as well as from other ITA staff based in Washington, DC. Linking to this flyer avoids printing, but additional print copies can be ordered from Brad.Hess@trade.gov.

A PowerPoint presentation includes a general overview of how the program works.

Announcement of the 2020 MDCP competition will be published February 27, 2020. Applications will be due April 27, 2020. Interested parties should not wait for the announcement publication to begin preparing an application. As noted in Competition Basics for 2020, potential applicants should contact ITA as soon as possible.