Special attention and access for federal funding will be provided to 12 communities across the US to lure manufacturing companies and create jobs, said US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker. The announcement was made by Pritzker at Wal-Mart's headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, on Wednesday.

The states where selected communities exist in are: California, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin

The second round of designated areas was marked by Wednesdays' announcement. The first 12 communities were created in May 2014.

The Central Valley AgPlus Food and Beverage Manufacturing Consortium includes 28 counties. It has been designated under the federal Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership, which is meant to speed up manufacturing activity in communities by implementing long-term economic development strategies.

The Central Valley designation is among 12 new communities in the federal program. The selection of new communities is based on feasibility of their economic development plans, how their partnerships across the public and private sectors can help carry out their plans, and what kind of impact would be on their communities by development plans.

"Yet, although the Central Valley provides 68 percent of California's overall farm gate, only about 40 percent of the state's food and beverage manufacturing output is produced in the Central Valley", the application said in part.

Designations to each were provided under the Obama administration's Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership initiative. Support to each community will be provided by 11 federal agencies and more than $1 billion are meant for federal economic development assistance.