I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9486 

To establish a grant program within the Small Business Administration 

to provide funds for eligible accelerators or eligible incubators that provide services to small business concerns owned and controlled by women 

and rural small business concerns, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 6, 2024 

Ms. STANSBURY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Small Business 

A BILL 

To establish a grant program within the Small Business 

Administration to provide funds for eligible accelerators 

or eligible incubators that provide services to small business concerns owned and controlled by women and rural 

small business concerns, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Innovation and Em5 powerment for Startups Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) There is a growing emphasis to bolster 

2 small business concerns owned and controlled by 

3 women (as defined in section 3 of the Small Busi4 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 632)) and rural small business 

5 concerns (as defined in this Act). 

6 (2) There are significant disparities that lead to 

7 unequal outcomes for rural small business concerns 

8 and small business concerns owned and controlled by 

9 women. 

10 (3) Small business concerns owned and con11 trolled by women are less likely than small business 

12 concerns owned and controlled by men to obtain 

13 funding, even though women and men are equally 

14 likely to achieve business success. 

15 (4) Rural entrepreneurs are more likely than 

16 non-rural entrepreneurs to experience higher costs of 

17 doing business, and rural entrepreneurs struggle 

18 with more expenses related to running a business. 

19 (5) Small business concerns owned and con20 trolled by women and rural small business concerns 

21 gain entrepreneurial knowledge, network building, 

22 and entrepreneurial self-efficacy during their partici23 pation in accelerators and incubators. 


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1 SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM FOR ELIGIBLE ACCELERATORS 

2 OR ELIGIBLE INCUBATORS THAT PROVIDE 

3 SERVICES TO CERTAIN SMALL BUSINESS 

4 CONCERNS. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator of the 

6 Small Business Administration, acting though the head of 

7 the Office of Entrepreneurial Development of the Admin8 istration, shall establish a grant program to provide funds 

9 to eligible entities that provide services to small business 

10 concerns owned and controlled by women and rural small 

11 business concerns. 

12 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible for a grant under 

13 this section, an eligible entity shall submit to the Adminis14 trator an application containing the following: 

15 (1) The effect the eligible entity has had on the 

16 success of small business concerns owned and con17 trolled by women and rural small business concerns. 

18 (2) The diversity and inclusivity efforts of the 

19 eligible entity with respect to the staff of a small 

20 business concern assisted by such eligible entity. 

21 (3) The plans of the eligible entity to help en22 sure the sustainability of a small business concern 

23 assisted by such eligible entity. 

24 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—A recipient of a grant under 

25 this section shall use amounts of such grant for the fol26 lowing: 


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1 (1) To provide consulting, training, shared fa2 cilities and resources, or assistance with access to 

3 capital to small business concerns owned and con4 trolled by women and rural small business concerns. 

5 (2) To provide workshops, seminars, networking 

6 events, and individual consultations to such con7 cerns. 

8 (3) To provide educational opportunities to 

9 such concerns on topics such as marketing strategy, 

10 public relations, website marketing and social media, 

11 business planning, financial planning and analysis, 

12 and other opportunities, as determined by such re13 cipient. 

14 (4) To advertise the services offered by such re15 cipient. 

16 (d) AMOUNT.—An award made under this section 

17 shall be for exactly $250,000. 

18 (e) REPORTS.— 

19 (1) TO ADMINISTRATOR.—Not later than 1 year 

20 after receipt of an award under this section, a grant 

21 recipient shall submit to the Administrator a report 

22 that includes the following: 

23 (A) Use of grant amounts. 

24 (B) The effect of programs or services pro25 vided using grant amounts on small business 


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1 concerns owned and controlled by women or 

2 rural small business concerns. 

3 (2) TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year after 

4 the date of the enactment of this section and every 

5 5 years thereafter until 5 years after the date on 

6 which the last grant is made under this section, the 

7 Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Small 

8 Business of the House of Representatives and the 

9 Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

10 of the Senate a report that includes a summary of 

11 the activities and outcomes associated with grants 

12 made under this section. 

13 (f) MONITORING AND EVALUATION.—The Adminis14 trator shall implement procedures to monitor the effective15 ness of the program established under this section to de16 termine whether to extend the program. 

17 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

18 authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator of the 

19 Small Business Administration $1,250,000,000, to remain 

20 available until expended for purposes of carrying out this 

21 section, of which 10 percent is authorized to be allocated 

22 for grants to covered businesses. 

23 (h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

24 (1) COVERED BUSINESS.—The term ‘‘covered 

25 business’’ means a small business concern that is asVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:51 Sep 12, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9486.IH H9486

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1 signed a North American Industry Classification 

2 System code as follows: 

3 (A) Beginning with 11 (relating to agri4 culture). 

5 (B) Beginning with 7111 (relating to cre6 ative industries). 

7 (C) Beginning with 7211 (relating to hos8 pitality). 

9 (D) Beginning with 7223, 7224, or 7225 

10 (relating to food services). 

11 (E) 541611 (relating to management). 

12 (F) 711510 (relating to artisans and craft 

13 makers). 

14 (G) 541211 or 541219 (relating to ac15 counting). 

16 (H) 624410 (relating to childcare). 

17 (2) ELIGIBLE ACCELERATOR.—The term ‘‘eligi18 ble accelerator’’ means an entity that conducts busi19 ness in the United States and that has a dem20 onstrated track record of successfully— 

21 (A) assisting entrepreneurs in starting up 

22 or expanding small business concerns owned 

23 and controlled by women and rural small busi24 ness concerns; 


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1 (B) providing mentorship to such entre2 preneurs; 

3 (C) facilitating access to capital for such 

4 entrepreneurs; and 

5 (D) fostering connections, as relevant, 

6 among such entrepreneurs. 

7 (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti8 ty’’ means an eligible accelerator or an eligible incu9 bator. 

10 (4) ELIGIBLE INCUBATOR.—The term ‘‘eligible 

11 incubator’’ means an entity that offers shared re12 sources and services for startup businesses, which 

13 may include office space, consultants, mentors, tech14 nical support, and access to capital. 

15 (5) RURAL SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN.—The 

16 term ‘‘rural small business concern’’ means a small 

17 business concern located in a rural area (as defined 

18 in section 1393(a)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code 

19 of 1986). 

20 (6) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN OWNED AND

21 CONTROLLED BY WOMEN.—The term ‘‘small busi22 ness concern owned and controlled by women’’ has 

23 the meaning given in section 3(n) of the Small Busi24 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 632(n)). 

Æ 


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