II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4873 

To authorize the Minority Business Development Agency of the Department 

of Commerce to establish business centers at historically Black colleges 

and universities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 26 (legislative day, OCTOBER 19), 2020 

Mr. WICKER (for himself, Mr. KAINE, Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina, Mr. 

TILLIS, and Mr. COONS) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To authorize the Minority Business Development Agency of 

the Department of Commerce to establish business centers at historically Black colleges and universities, 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 ‘‘Reaching America’s 

5 Rural Minority Businesses Act of 2020’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Agency’’ means the 

3 Minority Business Development Agency of the De4 partment of Commerce. 

5 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT6 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com7 mittees’’ means— 

8 (A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

9 and Transportation of the Senate; 

10 (B) the Committee on Small Business and 

11 Entrepreneurship of the Senate; 

12 (C) the Committee on Energy and Com13 merce of the House of Representatives; and 

14 (D) the Committee on Small Business of 

15 the House of Representatives. 

16 (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti17 ty’’ means— 

18 (A) a historically Black college or univer19 sity; or 

20 (B) a consortium of institutions of higher 

21 education that is led by a historically Black col22 lege or university. 

23 (4) HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE OR UNI24 VERSITY.—The term ‘‘historically Black college or 

25 university’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘part B 


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1 institution’’ in section 322 of the Higher Education 

2 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061). 

3 (5) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

4 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

5 meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher 

6 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

7 (6) MBDA CENTER.—The term ‘‘MBDA cen8 ter’’ means any business center established by the 

9 Agency. 

10 (7) MBDC AGREEMENT.—The term ‘‘MBDC 

11 agreement’’ means a collaborative agreement entered 

12 into between the Agency and an eligible entity under 

13 section 3(b)(2). 

14 (8) MINORITY BUSINESS ENTERPRISE.—The 

15 term ‘‘minority business enterprise’’ has the mean16 ing given the term in section 1108(a) of the CARES 

17 Act (15 U.S.C. 9007(a)). 

18 (9) RURAL AREA.—The term ‘‘rural area’’ 

19 means an area located outside a metropolitan statis20 tical area (as designated by the Office of Manage21 ment and Budget). 

22 (10) RURAL BUSINESS CENTER.—The term 

23 ‘‘rural business center’’ means an MBDA center 

24 with the functions described in section 3(c). 


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1 (11) RURAL MINORITY BUSINESS ENTER2 PRISE.—The term ‘‘rural minority business enter3 prise’’ means a minority business enterprise located 

4 in a rural area. 

5 SEC. 3. BUSINESS CENTERS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Agency may establish not 

7 more than 10 rural business centers. 

8 (b) PARTNERSHIP.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The agency shall establish 

10 each rural business center in partnership with an eli11 gible entity in accordance with paragraph (2). 

12 (2) MBDC AGREEMENT.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—With respect to each 

14 rural business center established by the Agency, 

15 the Agency shall enter into a collaborative 

16 agreement with an eligible entity that provides 

17 that— 

18 (i) the eligible entity shall provide 

19 space, facilities, and staffing for the rural 

20 business center; 

21 (ii) the Agency shall provide funding 

22 for, and oversight with respect to, the rural 

23 business center; and 

24 (iii) subject to subparagraph (B), the 

25 eligible entity shall match 20 percent of 


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1 the amount of the funding provided by the 

2 Agency under clause (ii), which may be 

3 calculated to include the costs of providing 

4 the space, facilities, and staffing under 

5 clause (i). 

6 (B) LOWER MATCH REQUIREMENT.— 

7 Based on the available resources of an eligible 

8 entity, the Agency may enter into a collabo9 rative agreement with the eligible entity that 

10 provides that the eligible entity shall match less 

11 than 20 percent of the amount of the funding 

12 provided by the Agency under subparagraph 

13 (A)(ii). 

14 (3) TERM.—The term of an MBDC agreement 

15 shall be 5 years. 

16 (4) RENEWAL.—The Agency and an eligible en17 tity may agree to extend the term of an MBDC 

18 agreement with respect to a rural business center for 

19 an additional 5 years. 

20 (c) FUNCTIONS.—A rural business center shall— 

21 (1) primarily serve clients that are— 

22 (A) rural minority business enterprises; or 

23 (B) minority business enterprises that are 

24 located more than 50 miles from an MBDA 

25 center (other than that rural business center); 


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1 (2) focus on issues relating to— 

2 (A) the adoption of broadband internet ac3 cess service (as defined in section 8.1(b) of title 

4 47, Code of Federal Regulations, or any suc5 cessor regulation), digital literacy skills, and e6 commerce by rural minority business enter7 prises; 

8 (B) advanced manufacturing; 

9 (C) the promotion of manufacturing in the 

10 United States; 

11 (D) ways in which rural minority business 

12 enterprises can meet gaps in the supply chain 

13 of critical supplies and essential goods and serv14 ices for the United States; 

15 (E) improving the connectivity of rural mi16 nority business enterprises through transpor17 tation and logistics; 

18 (F) promoting trade and export opportuni19 ties by rural minority business enterprises; 

20 (G) securing financial capital; and 

21 (H) facilitating entrepreneurship in rural 

22 areas; and 

23 (3) provide education, training, and technical 

24 assistance to minority business enterprises. 

25 (d) APPLICATIONS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

2 the date of enactment of this Act, the Agency shall 

3 issue a request for applications from eligible entities 

4 that desire to enter into MBDC agreements with the 

5 Agency. 

6 (2) CRITERIA AND PRIORITY.—In selecting an 

7 eligible entity with which to enter into an MBDC 

8 agreement, the Agency shall— 

9 (A) select an eligible entity that dem10 onstrates— 

11 (i) the ability to collaborate with gov12 ernmental and private sector entities to le13 verage capabilities of minority business en14 terprises through public-private partner15 ships; 

16 (ii) the research and extension capac17 ity to support minority business enter18 prises; 

19 (iii) knowledge of the community that 

20 the eligible entity serves and the ability to 

21 conduct effective outreach to that commu22 nity to advance the goals of a rural busi23 ness center; 

24 (iv) the ability to provide innovative 

25 business solutions, including access to conVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:07 Nov 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4873.IS S4873

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1 tracting opportunities, markets, and cap2 ital; 

3 (v) the ability to provide services that 

4 advance the development of science, tech5 nology, engineering, and math jobs within 

6 minority business enterprises; 

7 (vi) the ability to leverage resources 

8 from within the eligible entity to advance a 

9 rural business center; 

10 (vii) that the mission of the eligible 

11 entity aligns with the mission of the Agen12 cy; and 

13 (viii) the ability to leverage relation14 ships with rural minority business enter15 prises; and 

16 (B) give priority to an eligible entity lo17 cated in a State or region that lacks an MBDA 

18 center, as of the date of enactment of this Act. 

19 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

20 are authorized to be appropriated to the Agency to estab21 lish rural business centers under this section $10,000,000 

22 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2025. 


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1 SEC. 4. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

2 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

3 of this Act, the Agency shall submit to the appropriate 

4 congressional committees a report that includes— 

5 (1) a summary of the efforts of the Agency to 

6 provide services to minority business enterprises lo7 cated in States that lack an MBDA center, as of the 

8 date of enactment of this Act, and especially in those 

9 States that have significant minority populations; 

10 and 

11 (2) recommendations for extending the outreach 

12 of the Agency to underserved areas. 

13 SEC. 5. STUDY AND REPORT. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Agency, in coordination with 

15 the Administrator of the Small Business Administration, 

16 shall conduct a study on the ways in which minority busi17 ness enterprises can meet gaps in the supply chain of the 

18 United States, with a particular focus on the supply chain 

19 of advanced manufacturing and essential goods and serv20 ices. 

21 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

22 of enactment of this Act, the Agency shall submit to Con23 gress a report that includes— 

24 (1) the results of the study conducted under 

25 subsection (a); and 


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1 (2) recommendations on the ways in which mi2 nority business enterprises can meet gaps in the 

3 supply chain of the United States. 

Æ 


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