I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 986 

To require the Secretary of Defense and the Administrator of the Small 

Business Administration to enter into an agreement to coordinate government contracting assistance offered by small business development centers and APEX Accelerators, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 10, 2023 

Mr. PAPPAS (for himself and Ms. SALAZAR) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition 

to the Committee on Small Business, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Defense and the Administrator 

of the Small Business Administration to enter into an 

agreement to coordinate government contracting assistance offered by small business development centers and 

APEX Accelerators, 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 ‘‘Coordinating Our 

5 Local Liaisons And Bringing Out Related Agency Tech6 nical Expertise Act’’ or the ‘‘COLLABORATE Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INTERAGENCY AGREEMENT ON GOVERNMENT CON2 TRACTING ASSISTANCE. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

4 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of De5 fense, acting through the Under Secretary of Defense for 

6 Acquisition and Sustainment, and the Administrator of 

7 the Small Business Administration shall— 

8 (1) enter into an interagency agreement to co9 ordinate the government contracting and procure10 ment assistance offered to small business concerns 

11 by small business development centers and APEX 

12 Accelerators; and 

13 (2) jointly submit to the Committees on Armed 

14 Services and Small Business of the House of Rep15 resentatives and the Committees on Armed Services 

16 and Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the 

17 Senate such interagency agreement. 

18 (b) CONTENTS.—The interagency agreement re19 quired under subsection (a) shall— 

20 (1) ensure that government contracting and 

21 procurement assistance provided by covered centers 

22 is provided by employees of the covered center who 

23 have training on government contracting and pro24 curement; 


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1 (2) provide for the allocation of resources and 

2 responsibilities between small business development 

3 centers and APEX Accelerators to— 

4 (A) prevent small business concerns from 

5 receiving duplicative assistance or contradictory 

6 or confusing information from covered centers; 

7 (B) ensure that the activities of a covered 

8 center, including any assistance or other serv9 ices provided by such covered center, are attrib10 uted only to such covered center; and 

11 (C) clarify the responsibilities of employees 

12 of small business development centers and the 

13 responsibilities of employees of APEX Accelera14 tors when a small business development center 

15 and APEX Accelerator share a location; and 

16 (3) provide a framework enabling small busi17 ness development centers and APEX Accelerators to 

18 coordinate the provision of government contracting 

19 and procurement assistance to small business con20 cerns, as appropriate. 

21 (c) PROGRESS REPORT.—Not later than one year 

22 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Adminis23 trator of Small Business Administration shall submit to 

24 Congress a report on the efforts of the Administrator and 

25 the Secretary of Defense with respect to the establishment 


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1 of the interagency agreement required under subsection 

2 (a). 

3 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) APEX ACCELERATOR.—The term ‘‘APEX 

5 Accelerator’’ means a center operating under a coop6 erative agreement with the Office of Small Business 

7 Programs to provide procurement technical assist8 ance pursuant to the authority provided in chapter 

9 388 of title 10, United States Code. 

10 (2) COVERED CENTER.—The term ‘‘covered 

11 center’’ means a small business development center 

12 or an APEX Accelerator. 

13 (3) OFFICE OF SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS.— 

14 The term ‘‘Office of Small Business Programs’’ 

15 means the office established within the Office of the 

16 Secretary of Defense under section 15(k) of the 

17 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 644(k)). 

18 (4) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN.—The term 

19 ‘‘small business concern’’ has the meaning given 

20 such term under section 3 of the Small Business Act 

21 (15 U.S.C. 632). 

22 (5) SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CEN23 TER.—The term ‘‘small business development cenVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:55 Apr 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H986.IH H986

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1 ter’’ has the meaning given such term in section 3 

2 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632). 

Æ 


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