To codify the Small Business Administration's Growth Accelerator Fund Competition, and for other purposes.

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4109 To codify the Small Business Administration’s Growth Accelerator Fund Competition, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 30, 2019 Mr. ESPAILLAT (for himself and Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Small Business A BILL To codify the Small Business Administration’s Growth Accelerator Fund Competition, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. GROWTH ACCELERATOR FUND COMPETITION. 3 The Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is 4 amended— 5 (1) by redesignating section 49 as section 50; 6 and 7 (2) by inserting after section 48 the following: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:14 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4109.IH H4109 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4109 IH ‘‘SEC. 49. GROWTH ACCELERATOR FUND COMPETITION. 1 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is established a program 2 within the Small Business Administration to be known as 3 the ‘Growth Accelerator Fund Competition’ under which 4 the Administrator shall award prizes on a competitive 5 basis to covered entities that— 6 ‘‘(1) assist small business concerns with access- 7 ing capital and finding mentors and networking op- 8 portunities; and 9 ‘‘(2) advise small business concerns, including 10 advising on market analysis, company strategy, rev- 11 enue growth, and securing funding. 12 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.—Except as otherwise provided 13 in this section, the Administrator shall carry out the pro- 14 gram established under this section in accordance with the 15 requirements of section 24 of the Stevenson-Wydler Tech- 16 nology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3719). 17 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.—A prize only may be awarded to 18 a covered entity that submits to the Administrator an ap- 19 plication at such time, in such manner, and containing 20 such information as the Administrator may require. 21 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to apply for a prize 22 under this section, a covered entity— 23 ‘‘(1) may not have an outstanding, unresolved 24 financial obligation to the Federal Government; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:14 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4109.IH H4109 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4109 IH ‘‘(2) may not be currently suspended or 1 debarred as specified under subpart 9.4 of title 48, 2 Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor regu- 3 lation). 4 ‘‘(e) SELECTION OF COVERED ENTITIES.—From ap- 5 plications submitted under subsection (c), the Adminis- 6 trator shall select covered entities that will provide to 7 small business concerns— 8 ‘‘(1) regular networking opportunities, including 9 introductions to customers, partners, suppliers, advi- 10 sory boards and other persons; 11 ‘‘(2) mentorship opportunities, including advice 12 on strategy, technology, finances, and commer- 13 cialization assistance; 14 ‘‘(3) shared working environments focused on 15 building a strong community amongst other similar 16 small business concerns; 17 ‘‘(4) resources and co-working arrangements; 18 ‘‘(5) opportunities to pitch ideas to investors 19 and other capital formation opportunities; 20 ‘‘(6) small amounts of angel money, seed cap- 21 ital, or structured loans; and 22 ‘‘(7) where appropriate, assistance in securing 23 funding under the SBIR program or the STTR pro- 24 gram established under section 9. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:14 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4109.IH H4109 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4109 IH ‘‘(f) PRIORITY.— 1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in ap- 2 proving applications under this section, shall give 3 priority to applications that include methods to pro- 4 vide assistance and advice to small business concerns 5 located in underserved communities, including— 6 ‘‘(A) small business concerns owned and 7 controlled by women; 8 ‘‘(B) small business concerns owned and 9 controlled by veterans; and 10 ‘‘(C) small business concerns owned and 11 controlled by socially and economically dis- 12 advantaged individuals (as defined in section 13 8(d)(3)(C)). 14 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATION.—Of prizes awarded to cov- 15 ered entities under this section in a fiscal year, the 16 Administrator shall ensure that— 17 ‘‘(A) not less than 20 percent of such cov- 18 ered entities will assist and advise small busi- 19 ness concerns owned and controlled by women; 20 and 21 ‘‘(B) not less than 20 percent of such cov- 22 ered entities will assist and advise small busi- 23 ness concerns owned and controlled by socially 24 and economically disadvantaged individuals. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:14 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4109.IH H4109 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 4109 IH ‘‘(g) SELECTION OF SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS.— 1 A covered entity that receives a prize under the Growth 2 Accelerator Fund Competition shall use a selective process 3 to identify small business concerns to provide assistance 4 and advice described under subsection (a). 5 ‘‘(h) DEVELOPMENT OF METRICS.—The Adminis- 6 trator shall develop metrics to evaluate the effectiveness 7 and the benefit to the people of the United States of the 8 Growth Accelerator Fund Competition that— 9 ‘‘(1) are science-based and statistically driven; 10 ‘‘(2) reflect the mission of the Administration; 11 and 12 ‘‘(3) include factors relating to the economic 13 impact of the Growth Accelerator Fund Competition. 14 ‘‘(i) COVERED ENTITY DEFINED.—In this section, 15 the term ‘covered entity’ means a private entity that is 16 incorporated in and maintains a primary place of business 17 in the United States. 18 ‘‘(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 19 are authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator 20 such sums as may be necessary to carry out the Growth 21 Accelerator Fund Competition.’’. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:14 Aug 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4109.IH H4109 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS