[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 177 (Thursday, September 11, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52815-52816]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-21032]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    The Department of Commerce will submit to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) for clearance the following proposal for collection of 
information under the provisions of the

[[Page 52816]]

Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35).
    Agency: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
    Title: NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Client Impact 
Survey.
    OMB Control Number: 0693-0021.
    Form Number(s): None.
    Type of Request: Regular submission.
    Burden Hours: 1,067.
    Number of Respondents: 8,000.
    Average Hours per Response: 8 minutes.
    Needs and Uses: The National Institute of Standards and Technology 
(NIST) sponsors the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), a 
national network of fifty-nine locally-based manufacturing extension 
centers. The centers work with small manufacturers to help improve 
their productivity, profitability, and enhance their overall economic 
competitiveness. Each center is a partnership involving federal, state, 
local, and client resources. The MEP Centers provide hard-to-find 
technical assistance and latest business practices within reach of the 
nation's more than 330,000 small and mid-sized manufacturers.
    NIST MEP surveys all clients provided substantive services and 
collects data on sales, investment, cost savings, and jobs impacts as 
well as a limited set of qualitative questions. NIST MEP surveys center 
clients for two primary purposes:
     To collect aggregate information on program performance 
indicators to report to various stakeholders on program performance. 
The survey provides information about the quantifiable impacts that 
clients attribute to the services provided by MEP centers. NIST MEP 
also conducts other episodic studies to evaluate the system's impact 
that corroborate and complement the survey results.
     To provide center-specific program performance and impact 
information for center use. Centers use this information to communicate 
results to their own stakeholders, at both the state and federal level. 
The Centers' management and NIST MEP use these results to evaluate 
center performance and effectiveness. The MEP Center review criteria 
and process place a strong emphasis on a center's ability to 
demonstrate impacts based on the survey results.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit organizations.
    Frequency: Annually.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    OMB Desk Officer: Jasmeet Seehra, (202) 395-3123.
    Copies of the above information collection proposal can be obtained 
by calling or writing Diana Hynek, Departmental Paperwork Clearance 
Officer, (202) 482-0266, Department of Commerce, Room 6625, 14th and 
Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230 (or via the Internet at 
[email protected]).
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice 
to Jasmeet Seehra, OMB Desk Officer, FAX number (202) 395-5806 or via 
the Internet at [email protected].

    Dated: September 5, 2008.
Gwellnar Banks,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. E8-21032 Filed 9-10-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-13-P