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Market Development Cooperator Program
Matched awards support multiyear projects to help U.S. industry compete globally.

MDCP Post-Award Sustainability

Sustaining Project activity after MDCP Funding is Depleted

Market Development Cooperator Program (MDCP) awards are designed to jump-start activity that will continue after MDCP award funds have been depleted. Since ITA is not allowed to continue to require cooperators to report project activity after the end of the MDCP project period, it is difficult to gage how effective cooperators are at continuing MDCP project activity. 

One way to estimate post-MDCP award sustainability is to look at projects that set out to establish a presence in a market outside the United States. Depending on the project, these could include a variety of different types of presence, including the:

  • Opening of an office
  • Establishment of a product testing facility
  • Setting up a product demonstration and service center 

These so-called “footholds” can be more easily tracked by simple internet searches. A foothold established by an MDCP project is active if it is still listed and has current activity.

Most MDCP-established footholds continue to operate for years after MDCP award funding ends

Since the program began in 1993, thirty-one (31) footholds have been established through MDCP projects. Of these footholds established with MDCP funds:

  • 81% are still operating today
  • 6% operated for more than a year 
AMT Shanghai Service Center
AMT's Shanghai Technology Center (STC) is a premier example of how an engaged trade association can leverage a public-private partnership to help its members compete internationally in countries like Mexico, Brazil, and India.
Learn about ITA's MDCP investment in Shanghai
USITO-Beijing
Since opening in Beijing in 1994 as part of an MDCP project, the U.S. Information Technology Office (USITO) has engaged China officials on matters ranging from information security to intellectual property protection. USITO was the third MDCP-supported presence or "foothold" to open since the program began in 1993 and are still operating 24 years later.
Read about USITO's lasting impact in China
IAPMO-Lab-Indonesia
MDCP supported IAPMO, a U.S.-based standards developing organization, established an Indonesian lab to certify U.S. plumbing products comply with Indonesia's plumbing codes.
Learn about IAPMO lab's lasting impact