IIB 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1838 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 9, 2009 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and 

Entrepreneurship 

AN ACT 

To amend the Small Business Act to modify certain provisions relating to women’s business centers, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. NOTIFICATION OF GRANTS; PUBLICATION OF 

2 GRANT AMOUNTS. 

3 Section 29 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 656) 

4 is amended by adding at the end the following new sub5 section: 

6 ‘‘(o) NOTIFICATION OF GRANTS; PUBLICATION OF

7 GRANT AMOUNTS.—The Administrator shall disburse 

8 funds to a women’s business center not later than 1 month 

9 after the center’s application is approved under this sec10 tion. At the end of each fiscal year the Administrator (act11 ing through the Office of Women’s Business ownership) 

12 shall publish on the Administration’s website a report set13 ting forth the total amount of the grants made under this 

14 Act to each women’s business center in the fiscal year for 

15 which the report is issued, the total amount of such grants 

16 made in each prior fiscal year to each such center, and 

17 the total amount of private matching funds provided by 

18 each such center over the lifetime of the center.’’. 

19 SEC. 2. COMMUNICATIONS. 

20 Section 29 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

21 656), as amended, is further amended by adding at the 

22 end the following new subsection: 

23 ‘‘(p) COMMUNICATIONS.—The Administrator shall 

24 establish, by rule, a standardized process to communicate 

25 with women’s business centers regarding program admin26 istration matters, including reimbursement, regulatory 


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1 matters, and programmatic changes. The Administrator 

2 shall notify each women’s business center of the oppor3 tunity for notice and comment on the proposed rule.’’. 

4 SEC. 3. FUNDING. 

5 (a) FORMULA.—Section 29(b) of the Small Business 

6 Act (15 U.S.C. 656(b)) is amended to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘(b) AUTHORITY.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may 

9 provide financial assistance to private nonprofit or10 ganizations to conduct projects for the benefit of 

11 small business concerns owned and controlled by 

12 women. The projects shall provide— 

13 ‘‘(A) financial assistance, including train14 ing and counseling in how to apply for and se15 cure business credit and investment capital, 

16 preparing and presenting financial statements, 

17 and managing cash flow and other financial op18 erations of a business concern; 

19 ‘‘(B) management assistance, including 

20 training and counseling in how to plan, orga21 nize, staff, direct, and control each major activ22 ity and function of a small business concern, in23 cluding implementing cost-saving energy tech24 niques; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) marketing assistance, including train2 ing and counseling in identifying and seg3 menting domestic and international market op4 portunities, preparing and executing marketing 

5 plans, developing pricing strategies, locating 

6 contract opportunities, negotiating contracts, 

7 and utilizing varying public relations and adver8 tising techniques. 

9 ‘‘(2) TIERS.—The Administrator shall provide 

10 assistance under paragraph (1) in 3 tiers of assist11 ance as follows: 

12 ‘‘(A) The first tier shall be to conduct a 5- 

13 year project in a situation where a project has 

14 not previously been conducted. Such a project 

15 shall be in a total amount of not more than 

16 $150,000 per year. Projects receiving assistance 

17 under this subparagraph that possess the ca18 pacity to train existing or potential business 

19 owners in the fields of green technology, clean 

20 technology, or energy efficiency shall receive the 

21 maximum award under this subparagraph. 

22 ‘‘(B) The second tier shall be to conduct a 

23 3-year project in a situation where a first-tier 

24 project is being completed. Such a project shall 


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1 be in a total amount of not more than 

2 $100,000 per year. 

3 ‘‘(C) The third tier shall be to conduct a 

4 3-year project in a situation where a second-tier 

5 project is being completed. Such a project shall 

6 be in a total amount of not more than 

7 $100,000 per year. Third-tier grants shall be 

8 renewable subject to established eligibility cri9 teria as well as criteria in subsection (b)(4). 

10 ‘‘(3) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—Of the amounts 

11 made available for assistance under this subsection, 

12 the Administrator shall allocate— 

13 ‘‘(A) at least 40 percent for first-tier 

14 projects under paragraph (2)(A); 

15 ‘‘(B) 20 percent for second-tier projects 

16 under paragraph (2)(B); and 

17 ‘‘(C) the remainder for third-tier projects 

18 under paragraph (2)(C). 

19 ‘‘(4) BENCHMARKS FOR THIRD-TIER

20 PROJECTS.—In awarding third-tier projects under 

21 paragraph (2)(C), the Administrator shall use 

22 benchmarks based on socio-economic factors in the 

23 community and on the performance of the applicant. 

24 The benchmarks shall include— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the total number of women served by 

2 the project; 

3 ‘‘(B) the proportion of low income women 

4 and socio-economic distribution of clients served 

5 by the project; 

6 ‘‘(C) the proportion of individuals in the 

7 community that are socially or economically dis8 advantaged (based on median income); 

9 ‘‘(D) the future fund-raising and service 

10 coordination plans; 

11 ‘‘(E) the capacity of the project to train 

12 existing or potential business owners in the 

13 fields of green technology, clean technology, or 

14 energy efficiency; 

15 ‘‘(F) the diversity of services provided; and 

16 ‘‘(G) geographic distribution within and 

17 across the 10 regions of the Small Business Ad18 ministration.’’. 

19 (b) MATCHING.—Subparagraphs (A) and (B) of sec20 tion 29(c)(1) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

21 656(c)(1)) are amended to read as follows: 

22 ‘‘(A) For the first and second years of the 

23 project, 1 non-Federal dollar for each 2 Federal 

24 dollars. 


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1 ‘‘(B) Each year after the second year of 

2 the project— 

3 ‘‘(i) 1 non-Federal dollar for each 

4 Federal dollar; or 

5 ‘‘(ii) if the center is in a community 

6 at least 50 percent of the population of 

7 which is below the median income for the 

8 State or United States territory in which 

9 the center is located, 1 non-Federal dollar 

10 for each 2 Federal dollars.’’. 

11 (c) AUTHORIZATION.—Section 20 of the Small Busi12 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 631 note) is amended by inserting 

13 the following new subsection after subsection (e): 

14 ‘‘(f) WOMEN’S BUSINESS CENTERS.—There is au15 thorized to be appropriated for purposes of grants under 

16 section 29 to women’s business centers not more than 

17 $20,000,000 in fiscal year 2010 and not more than 

18 $22,000,000 in fiscal year 2011.’’. 

19 SEC. 4. PERFORMANCE AND PLANNING. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 29(h)(1) of the Small 

21 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 656(h)(1)) is amended— 

22 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara23 graph (A); 

24 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as sub25 paragraph (D); and 


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1 (3) by inserting the following new subpara2 graphs after subparagraph (A): 

3 ‘‘(B) establish performance measures, tak4 ing into account the demographic differences of 

5 populations served by women’s business centers, 

6 which measures shall include— 

7 ‘‘(i) outcome-based measures of the 

8 amount of job creation or economic activity 

9 generated in the local community as a re10 sult of efforts made and services provided 

11 by each women’s business center, and 

12 ‘‘(ii) service-based measures of the 

13 amount of services provided to individuals 

14 and small business concerns served by each 

15 women’s business center; 

16 ‘‘(C) require each women’s business center 

17 to submit an annual plan for the next year that 

18 includes the center’s funding sources and 

19 amounts, strategies for increasing outreach to 

20 women-owned businesses, strategies for increas21 ing job growth in the community, strategies for 

22 increasing job placement of women in nontradi23 tional occupations, and other content as deter24 mined by the Administrator; and’’. 


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1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 29(h)(1) of 

2 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 656(h)(1)), as amend3 ed, is further amended by adding the following at the end 

4 thereof: 

5 ‘‘The Administrator’s evaluation of each women’s 

6 business center as required by this subsection shall 

7 be in part based on the performance measures under 

8 subparagraphs (B) and (C). These measures and the 

9 Administrator’s evaluations thereof shall be made 

10 publicly available.’’. 

11 SEC. 5. NATIONAL WOMEN’S BUSINESS COUNCIL. 

12 The Women’s Business Ownership Act of 1988 is 

13 amended as follows: 

14 (1) In section 409(a) (15 U.S.C. 7109(a)), by 

15 adding the following at the end thereof: ‘‘Such stud16 ies shall include a study on the impact of the 2008– 

17 2009 financial markets crisis on women-owned busi18 nesses, and a study of the use of the Small Business 

19 Administration’s programs by women-owned busi20 nesses.’’. 

21 (2) In section 410(a) (15 U.S.C. 7110(a)), by 

22 striking ‘‘2001 through 2003’’ and insert ‘‘2010 and 

23 2011’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. APPLICANT EVALUATION CRITERIA. 

2 Section 29(f) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

3 656(f)) is amended— 

4 (1) in paragraph (3) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

5 end; 

6 (2) in paragraph (4) by striking the period and 

7 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

8 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(5) whether the applicant has the capacity to 

10 train existing or potential business owners in the 

11 fields of green technology, clean technology, or en12 ergy efficiency.’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives November 7, 

2009. 

Attest: LORRAINE C. MILLER, 

Clerk. 


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