To establish Growth Accelerator Fund Competition within the Small Business Administration, and for other purposes.

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4387 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OCTOBER 22, 2019 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship AN ACT To establish Growth Accelerator Fund Competition within the Small Business Administration, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Oct 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4387.RFS H4387 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 HR 4387 RFS SECTION 1. 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 of the Small Business Administration 5 shall award prizes on a competitive basis to covered enti- 6 ties that— 7 (1) assist small business concerns with access- 8 ing capital and finding mentors and networking op- 9 portunities; and 10 (2) advise small business concerns, including 11 advising on market analysis, company strategy, rev- 12 enue growth, and securing funding. 13 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—Except as otherwise provided 14 in this section, the Administrator shall carry out the pro- 15 gram established under this section in accordance with the 16 requirements of section 24 of the Stevenson-Wydler Tech- 17 nology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3719). 18 (c) APPLICATION.—A prize only may be awarded to 19 a covered entity that submits to the Administrator an ap- 20 plication at such time, in such manner, and containing 21 such information as the Administrator may require. 22 (d) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to apply for a prize 23 under this section, a covered entity— 24 (1) may not have an outstanding, unresolved fi- 25 nancial obligation to the Federal Government; and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Oct 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4387.RFS H4387 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 HR 4387 RFS (2) may not be currently suspended or debarred 1 as specified under subpart 9.4 of title 48, Code of 2 Federal Regulations (or any successor regulation). 3 (e) SELECTION OF COVERED ENTITIES.—From ap- 4 plications submitted under subsection (c), the Adminis- 5 trator shall select covered entities that will provide to 6 small business concerns— 7 (1) regular networking opportunities, including 8 introductions to customers, partners, suppliers, advi- 9 sory boards, and other persons; 10 (2) mentorship opportunities, including advice 11 on strategy, technology, finances, and commer- 12 cialization assistance; 13 (3) shared working environments focused on 14 building a strong community amongst other similar 15 small business concerns; 16 (4) resources and co-working arrangements; 17 (5) opportunities to pitch ideas to investors and 18 other capital formation opportunities; 19 (6) small amounts of angel money, seed capital, 20 or structured loans; and 21 (7) where appropriate, assistance in securing 22 funding under the SBIR program or the STTR pro- 23 gram established under section 9 of the Small Busi- 24 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 638). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Oct 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4387.RFS H4387 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 HR 4387 RFS (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) of the Small Business Act (15 14 U.S.C. 637(d)(3)(C))). 15 (2) ALLOCATION.—Of prizes awarded to cov- 16 ered entities under this section in a fiscal year, the 17 Administrator shall ensure that— 18 (A) not less than 20 percent of such cov- 19 ered entities will assist and advise small busi- 20 ness concerns owned and controlled by women; 21 and 22 (B) not less than 20 percent of such cov- 23 ered entities will assist and advise small busi- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Oct 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4387.RFS H4387 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 HR 4387 RFS ness concerns owned and controlled by socially 1 and economically disadvantaged individuals. 2 (g) SELECTION OF SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS.— 3 A covered entity that receives a prize under the Growth 4 Accelerator Fund Competition shall use a selective process 5 to identify small business concerns to provide assistance 6 and advice described under subsection (a). 7 (h) DEVELOPMENT OF METRICS.—The Adminis- 8 trator shall develop metrics to evaluate the effectiveness 9 and the benefit to the people of the United States of the 10 Growth Accelerator Fund Competition that— 11 (1) are science-based and statistically driven; 12 (2) reflect the mission of the Small Business 13 Administration; and 14 (3) include factors relating to the economic im- 15 pact of the Growth Accelerator Fund Competition. 16 (i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 17 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis- 18 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Small Busi- 19 ness Administration. 20 (2) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘‘covered en- 21 tity’’ means a private entity that is incorporated in 22 and maintains a primary place of business in the 23 United States. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Oct 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4387.RFS H4387 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 HR 4387 RFS (3) SMALL BUSINESS ACT DEFINITIONS.—The 1 terms ‘‘small business concern’’, ‘‘small business 2 concern owned and controlled by women’’, ‘‘small 3 business concern owned and controlled by veterans’’ 4 have the meanings given such terms, respectively, in 5 section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 6 632). 7 (j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 8 are authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator 9 $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020, 2021, 2022, and 10 2023 to carry out the Growth Accelerator Fund Competi- 11 tion. 12 Passed the House of Representatives October 21, 2019. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Oct 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4387.RFS H4387 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS