[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 110 (Wednesday, June 7, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36117-36120]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-14271]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration

[Docket No. 000515143-0143-01]


Special American Business Internship Training Program (SABIT)

AGENCY: International Trade Administration, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This Notice announces availability of funds for the Special 
American Business Internship Training Program (SABIT), for training 
business executives and scientists (also referred to as ``interns'') 
from the New Independent States (NIS). The Department of Commerce, 
International Trade Administration (ITA) established the SABIT program 
in September 1990 to assist the former Soviet Union's transition to a 
market economy. Since that time, SABIT has been matching business 
executives and scientists from the NIS with U.S. firms which provide 
them with three to six months of hands-on training in a U.S. market 
economy.
    Under the SABIT program, qualified U.S. firms will receive funds 
through a cooperative agreement with ITA to help defray the cost of 
hosting interns. The training must take place in the United States. ITA 
will interview and recommend eligible interns to participating 
companies. Interns may be from any of the following Independent States: 
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, 
Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. However, 
restrictions may apply based on congressional sanctions. The U.S. firms 
will be expected to provide the interns with a hands-on, non-academic, 
executive training program designed to maximize their exposure to 
management or commercially-oriented scientific operations. At the end 
of the training program, interns must return to the NIS. If there is 
any evidence of a conflict of interest between an intern and the 
company, the intern is disqualified.

DATES: The closing date for applications is July 31, 2000. An original 
and two copies of the application (Standard Form 424 (Rev. 4-92) and 
supplemental material) are to be sent to the address designated in the 
Application Kit and postmarked no later than the closing date. 
Applications will be considered on a ``rolling'' basis as they are 
received, subject to the availability of funds. If available funds are 
depleted prior to the closing date, a notice to that effect will be 
published in the Federal Register. Processing of complete applications 
takes approximately three to five months. All awards are expected to be 
made by September 30, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Request for Applications: Competitive Application kits will 
be available from ITA starting on the day this notice is published. To 
obtain a copy of the Application Kit please contact SABIT by: (1) Email 
at [email protected], providing your name, company name and 
address; (2) Telephone (202) 482-0073; (3) Facsimile (202) 482-2443; 
(4) Send a written request with two self-addressed mailing labels to 
Application Request, The SABIT Program, HCHB Room 3319, U.S. Department 
of Commerce, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 
20230. The telephone numbers are not toll free numbers. Only one copy 
of the Application Kit will be provided to each organization requesting 
it, but it may be reproduced by the requesters.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Liesel C. Duhon, Director, SABIT 
Program, U.S. Department of Commerce, phone--(202) 482-0073, 
facsimile--(202) 482-2443. These are not toll free numbers.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: SABIT exposes NIS business managers and 
scientists to a completely new way of thinking in which demand, 
consumer satisfaction, and profits drive production. Senior-level 
interns visiting the U.S. for internship programs with public or 
private sector companies will be exposed to an environment which will 
provide them with practical knowledge for transforming their countries' 
enterprises and economies to the free market. The program provides 
first-hand, eye-opening experience to managers and scientists which 
cannot be duplicated by American managers traveling to their 
territories.
    Managers: SABIT assists economic restructuring in the NIS by 
providing top-level business managers with practical training in 
American methods of innovation and management in such areas as 
strategic planning, financing, production, distribution, marketing, 
accounting, wholesaling, and labor relations. This first-hand 
experience in the U.S. economy enables interns to become leaders in 
establishing and operating a market economy in the NIS, and creates a 
unique opportunity for U.S. firms to familiarize key executives from 
the NIS with their products and services. Sponsoring U.S. firms will 
benefit by establishing relationships with key managers in similar 
industries who are uniquely positioned to assist their U.S. sponsors do 
business in the Independent States.
    Scientists: SABIT provides opportunities for gifted scientists to 
apply their skills to peaceful research and development in the civilian 
sector, in areas such as defense conversion, medical research, and the 
environment, and exposes them to the role of scientific research in a 
market economy where applicability of research relates to business 
success. Sponsoring firms in the U.S. scientific community also benefit 
from exchanging information and ideas, and different approaches to new 
technologies.

    The Special American Business Internship Training program's 
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFA) number is 11.114.

    Funding Availability: Pursuant to section 632(a) of the Foreign 
Assistance Act of 1961, as amended (the ``Act'') funding for the 
program will be provided by the United States Agency for International 
Development (A.I.D). ITA will award financial assistance and administer 
the program pursuant to the authority contained in section 635(b) of 
the Act and other applicable Grant rules. The estimated amount of 
financial assistance available for the program is $810,000. At least 
$400,000 of that amount is reserved for U.S. organizations which will 
host interns from the Russian Far East. Additional funding may become 
available at a future date.
    Funding Instrument and Project Duration: Federal assistance will be 
awarded pursuant to a cooperative agreement between ITA and the 
recipient firm. All internships are three to six months; however, ITA 
reserves the right to allow an intern to stay for a shorter period of 
time (no less than one month) if the U.S. company agrees and the intern 
demonstrates a need for a shorter internship based on his or her 
management responsibilities. ITA will reimburse companies for the round 
trip international travel (coach class tickets) of each intern from the 
intern's home

[[Page 36118]]

city in the NIS to the U.S. internship site, upon submission to ITA of 
the paid travel invoice, payment receipt, or other evidence of payment 
and the form SF-270, ``Request for Advance or Reimbursement.'' Travel 
under the program is subject to the Fly America Act. Recipient firms 
provide directly to interns a stipend of $30 a day; ITA will reimburse 
recipient firms for this stipend, up to a maximum of six months, upon 
submission by the company of an end-of-internship report and Form SF-
270. Recipient firms will provide housing for the interns and ITA will 
reimburse recipient firms for up to $500 per month for housing costs 
(not including utilities or telephone service charges), upon submission 
by the company of the end-of-internship report and Form SF-270. In 
general, each award will have a cap of $11,400 per intern for total 
cost of airline travel, stipend and housing costs. ITA reserves the 
right to allow an award to exceed this cap in cases of unusually high 
costs, specifically airfare from remote regions of the NIS such as 
Central Asia and the Caucasus. However, the total reimbursement cannot 
exceed the award amount. There are no specific matching requirements 
for the awards. Host firms, however, are expected to bear the costs 
beyond those covered by the award, including: visa fees, insurance, any 
food and incidentals costs beyond the $30 per day stipend, training 
manuals, any training-related travel within the U.S., and provision of 
the hands-on training for the interns.
    U.S. firms wishing to utilize SABIT in order to be matched with an 
intern without applying for financial assistance may do so. Such firms 
will be responsible for all costs, including travel expenses, related 
to sponsoring the intern. However, prior to acceptance as a SABIT 
intern, work plans and candidates must be approved by the SABIT 
Program. Furthermore, program training will be monitored by SABIT staff 
and evaluated upon completion of training.
    Eligibility: Eligible applicants for the SABIT program will include 
all for profit or non-profit U.S. corporations, associations, 
organizations or other public or private entities located in the United 
States. Agencies or divisions of the federal government are not 
eligible. Although, state and local governments are eligible.
    Project Funding Priorities: Applicant proposal must provide an 
explanation, including description and extent of involvement, in 
priority business sector(s). While Applicants involved in any industry 
sector may apply to the program, priority consideration is given to 
those operating in the following sectors: (a). Agribusiness (including 
food processing and distribution, and agricultural equipment), (b). 
Defense conversion, (c). Energy, (d). Environment (including 
environmental clean-up), (e). Financial services (including banking and 
accounting), (f). Housing, construction and infrastructure, (g). 
Medical equipment, supplies, pharmaceuticals, and health care 
management, (h). Product standards and quality control, (i). 
Telecommunications, (j). Transportation and (k) Biotechnology.
    Evaluation Criteria: Consideration for financial assistance will be 
given to those SABIT proposals which:
    (1). Demonstrate a commitment to the intent and goals of the 
program to provide practical, on-the-job, non-academic, non-classroom, 
training: in the case of manager interns, an appropriate management 
training experience, or, in the case of scientist interns, a practical, 
commercially-oriented scientific training experience. Include a brief 
objectives section indicating why the Applicant wishes to provide an 
internship to a manager(s) or scientist(s) from the NIS, and how the 
proposed internship would further the purpose of the SABIT program as 
described above. Also, the Applicant should note how the internship to 
be provided will respond to the priority needs of senior business 
managers and scientists in the NIS, as determined by ITA.
    (2). Present a realistic work plan describing in detail the 
training program to be provided to the SABIT intern(s). Work plans must 
include the proposed internship training activities. The components of 
the training activities must be described in as much detail as 
possible, preferably on a week-by-week basis. The description of the 
training activities should include an account of what the intern's(s') 
duties and responsibilities will be during the training.
    (3). The application should also have a section noting: (a). 
Whether Applicant is applying to host managers or scientists, or both 
(and the number of each); (b). The duration of the internship; (c). The 
location(s) of the internship; (d). The name, address, and telephone 
number of the designated internship coordinator; (e). Name(s) of 
division(s) in which the intern(s) will be placed; (f). The 
individual(s) in the U.S. company under whose supervision the intern 
will train; (g). The anticipated housing arrangements to be provided 
for the intern(s). Note that housing arrangements should be suitable 
for mid- and senior-level professionals, and that each intern must be 
provided with a private room; (h). A statement that the host firm is 
solidly committed to interns' return to their own countries upon 
completion of the internships.
    (4). Provide a general description of the profile of the intern(s) 
the Applicant would like to host, including: educational background; 
occupational/professional background (including number of years and 
areas of experience); size and nature of organization at which the 
intern(s) is/are presently employed; preference for the region of the 
NIS where the intern(s) is/are employed; and whether Applicant is open 
to sponsoring interns from a variety of NIS countries.

Evaluation criteria 1-4 will be weighted equally.

    ITA does not guarantee that it will match Applicant with the 
profile provided to SABIT.
    Selection Procedures: Each application will receive an independent, 
objective review by one or more three or four-member independent review 
panels qualified to evaluate applications submitted under the program. 
Applications will be evaluated on a competitive, ``rolling'' basis as 
they are received in accordance with the selection evaluation set forth 
above. Awards will be made to those applications which successfully 
meet the selection criteria. If funds are not available for all those 
applications which successfully meet the criteria, awards will be made 
to the first applications received which successfully do so. ITA 
reserves the right to reject any application; to limit the number of 
interns per applicant; and to waive informalities and minor 
irregularities in applications received. The final selecting official 
reserves the right to make awards based on U.S. geographic and 
organization size diversity among applicants, as well as to consider 
priority business sectors (listed in Project Funding Priorities, above) 
when making awards. Recipients may be eligible, pursuant to approval of 
an amendment of an active award, to host additional interns under the 
program. ITA reserves the right to evaluate applicants based on past 
performance. The Director of the SABIT Program is the final selecting 
official for each award.
    Additional Information: Applicants must submit: (1). Evidence of 
adequate financial resources of Applicant organization to cover the 
costs involved in providing an internship(s). As evidence of such 
resources, Applicant should submit financial statements audited by an 
outside organization or an

[[Page 36119]]

annual report including such statements. If these are not available, a 
letter should be provided from the Applicant's bank or outside 
accountant attesting to the financial capability of the firm to 
undertake the scope of work involved in training an intern under the 
SABIT program. (2). Evidence of a satisfactory record of performance in 
grants, contracts and/or cooperative agreements with the Federal 
Government, if applicable. (Applicants who are or have been deficient 
in current or recent performance in their grants, contracts, and/or 
cooperative agreements with the Federal Government shall be presumed to 
be unable to meet this requirement). (3). A statement that the 
Applicant will provide medical insurance coverage for interns during 
their internships. Recipients will be required to submit proof of the 
interns' medical insurance coverage to the Federal Program Officer 
before the interns' arrivals. The insurance coverage must include an 
accident and comprehensive medical insurance program as well as 
coverage for accidental death, emergency medical evacuation, and 
repatriation.
    Other Requirements: All applicants are advised of the following:
    1. No award of Federal funds shall be made to an Applicant who has 
an outstanding delinquent Federal debt until either the delinquent 
account is paid in full, a negotiated repayment schedule is established 
and at least one payment is received, or other arrangements 
satisfactory to the Department of Commerce (DOC) are made.
    2. A false statement on the application is grounds for denial or 
termination of funds and grounds for possible punishment by a fine or 
imprisonment as provided in 18 U.S.C. 1001.
    3. Recipients and subrecipients are subject to all Federal laws and 
Federal and Departmental regulations, policies and procedures 
applicable to financial assistance awards.
    4. Participating companies will be required to comply with all 
relevant U.S. tax and export regulations. Export controls may relate 
not only to licensing of products for export, but also to technical 
data transfer. The U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Export 
Administration (BXA) reviews applications in question to determine 
whether export licenses are required. SABIT will not award a grant 
until the export license issue has been satisfied.
    5. Applications under this program are not subject to Executive 
Order 12372, ``Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs.''
    6. If applicants incur any costs prior to an award being made, they 
do solely at their own risk of not being reimbursed by the Government. 
Notwithstanding any verbal or written assurance that may have been 
received, there is no obligation on the part of DOC to cover pre-award 
costs.
    7. Past performance: Unsatisfactory performance by an applicant 
under prior Federal awards may result in an application not being 
considered for funding.
    8. No obligation for future funding: If an application is selected 
for funding, DOC has no obligation to provide any additional future 
funding in connection with that award. Renewal of an award to increase 
funding or extend the period of performance is at the total discretion 
of DOC.
    9. Primary Applicant Certifications: All primary applicants must 
submit a completed Form CD-511, ``Certifications Regarding Debarment, 
Suspension and Other Responsibility Matters; Drug-Free Workplace 
Requirements and Lobbying,'' and the following explanations are hereby 
provided:
    (a) Nonprocurement Debarment and Suspension: Prospective 
participants (as defined at 15 CFR Part 26, Section 105) are subject to 
15 CFR Part 26, ``Nonprocurement Debarment and Suspension'' and the 
related section of the certification form prescribed above applies.
    (b) Drug Free Workplace: Grantees (as defined at 15 CFR Part 26, 
Section 605) are subject to 15 CFR Part 26, Subpart F, ``Government 
wide Requirements for Drug-Free Workplace (Grants)'' and the related 
section of the certification form prescribed above applies.
    (c) Anti-Lobbying: Funds provided under the SABIT program may not 
be used for lobbying activities. Persons (as defined at 15 CFR Part 28, 
Section 105) are subject to the lobbying provisions of 31 U.S.C. 1352, 
``Limitation on use of appropriated funds to influence certain Federal 
contracting and financial transactions,'' and the lobbying section of 
the certification form prescribed above applies to applications/bids 
for grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts for more than 
$100,000, and loans and loan guarantees for more than $150,000, or the 
single family maximum mortgage limit for affected programs, whichever 
is greater.
    (d) Anti-Lobbying Disclosures: Any applicant that has paid or will 
pay for lobbying in connection with this award using any funds must 
submit an SF-LLL, ``Disclosure of Lobbying Activities,'' as required 
under 15 CFR Part 28, Appendix B.
    10. All primary applicants must also submit a completed Standard 
Form 424, ``Application for Federal Assistance'' and a Standard Form 
424B, ``Assurances--Non-Construction Programs.'' Form CD-511 and 
Standard Forms 424 and 424B are included in the Application Kit 
supplied by the SABIT office.
    11. Lower Tier Certifications: Recipients shall require applicants/
bidders for subgrants, contracts, subcontracts, or other lower tier 
covered transactions at any tier under the award to submit, if 
applicable, a completed Form CD-512, ``Certifications Regarding 
Debarment, Suspension, Ineligibility and Voluntary Exclusion-Lower Tier 
Covered Transactions and Lobbying'' and disclosure form, SF-LLL, 
``Disclosure of Lobbying Activities.'' Form CD-512 is intended for the 
use of recipients and should not be transmitted to DOC. SF-LLL 
submitted by any tier recipient or subrecipient should be submitted to 
DOC in accordance with the instructions contained in the award 
document.
    12. Indirect Costs: Indirect costs are not allowed under the SABIT 
program.
    13. Applicants are hereby notified that any equipment or products 
authorized to be purchased with funding provided under this program 
must be American-made to the greatest extent practicable.
    14. The following statutes apply to this program: Section 907 of 
the FREEDOM Support Act, Public Law 102-511, 22 U.S.C. 5812 note 
(Restriction on Assistance to the Government of Azerbaijan); 7 U.S.C. 
Sec. 5201 et seq. (Agricultural Competitiveness and Trade--the Bumpers 
Amendment); The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended, including 
Chapter 11 of Part I, section 498A (b) Public Law 102-511, 22 U.S.C. 
2295a(b) (regarding ineligibility for assistance); 22 U.S.C. 2420(a), 
Section 660(a) of The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended 
(Police Training Prohibition); and provisions in the annual Foreign 
Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Acts, 
concerning impact on jobs in the United States (see, e.g., 536 of 
Public Law 106-113).
    15. Audit Requirements: The DOC Office of Inspector General has 
authority under the Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended, to 
conduct an audit of any DOC award at any time.
    16. Payments. As required by the Debt Collections Improvement Act 
of 1996, all Federal payments to award recipients pursuant to this 
announcement will be made by electronic funds transfer.

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    17. The collection of information is approved by the Office of 
Management and Budget, OMB Control Number 0625-0225. Public reporting 
for this collection of information is estimated to be three hours per 
response, including the time for reviewing instructions, and completing 
and reviewing the collection of information. All responses to this 
collection of information are voluntary, and will be protected from 
disclosure to the extent allowed under the Freedom of Information Act. 
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person is required to 
respond to nor shall a person be subject to the requirements of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act unless that collection of information displays 
a current valid OMB Control Number. Send comments regarding the burden 
estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, 
including suggestions for reducing this burden, to the Reports 
Clearance Officer, International Trade Administration, Department of 
Commerce, Room 4001, 14th and Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, DC 
20230.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Special American Business Internship 
Training, International Trade Administration, at (202) 482-0073. This 
is not a toll-free number.

    Dated: June 1, 2000.
Liesel C. Duhon,
Director, SABIT Program.
[FR Doc. 00-14271 Filed 6-6-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-HE-P