IIB 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1807 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 29, 2009 

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

Entrepreneurship 

AN ACT 

To provide distance learning to potential and existing 

entrepreneurs, 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. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Educating Entre3 preneurs through Today’s Technology Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. EDUCATING ENTREPRENEURS THROUGH TECH5 NOLOGY. 

6 The Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is 

7 amended by redesignating section 44 as section 45 and 

8 by inserting the following new section after section 43: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 44. EDUCATING AND NETWORKING ENTREPRENEURS 

10 THROUGH TECHNOLOGY. 

11 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to 

12 provide distance learning and opportunities for the ex13 change of peer-to-peer technical assistance through online 

14 networking to potential and existing entrepreneurs 

15 through the use of technology. 

16 ‘‘(b) DEFINITION.—As used in this section, the term 

17 ‘qualified third-party vendor’ means an entity with experi18 ence in distance learning content or communications tech19 nology, or both, with the ability to utilize on-line, satellite, 

20 video-on-demand, and connected community-based organi21 zations to distribute and conduct distance learning and es22 tablish an online network for use by potential and existing 

23 entrepreneurs to facilitate the exchange of peer-to-peer 

24 technical assistance related to entrepreneurship, credit 

25 management, financial literacy, and Federal small busi26 ness development programs. 

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1 ‘‘(c) AUTHORITY.—The Administrator shall contract 

2 with qualified third-party vendors for entrepreneurial 

3 training content, the development of communications tech4 nology that can distribute content under this section 

5 throughout the United States, and the establishment of 

6 a nationwide, online network for the exchange of peer-to7 peer technical assistance. The Administrator shall con8 tract with at least two qualified third-party vendors to de9 velop content. 

10 ‘‘(d) CONTENT.—The Administrator shall ensure 

11 that the content referred to in subsection (c) is timely and 

12 relevant to entrepreneurial development and can be suc13 cessfully communicated remotely to an audience through 

14 the use of technology. The Administrator shall, to the 

15 maximum extent practicable, promote content that makes 

16 use of technologies that allow for remote interaction by 

17 the content provider with an audience. The Administrator 

18 shall ensure that the content is catalogued and accessible 

19 to small businesses on-line or through other remote tech20 nologies. 

21 ‘‘(e) COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY.—The Admin22 istrator shall ensure that the communications technology 

23 referred to in subsection (c) is able to distribute content 

24 throughout all 50 States and the territories of the United 

25 States to small business concerns, home-based businesses, 

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1 Small Business Development Centers, Women’s Business 

2 Centers, Veterans Business Centers, SCORE chapters, 

3 and the Small Business Administration and network en4 trepreneurs throughout all 50 States and the territories 

5 of the United States to allow for peer-to-peer learning 

6 through the creation of a location online that allows entre7 preneurs and small business owners the opportunity to ex8 change technical assistance through the sharing of infor9 mation. To the extent possible, the qualified third-party 

10 vendor should deliver the content and facilitate the net11 working using broadband technology. 

12 ‘‘(f) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—The Administrator 

13 shall submit a report to Congress 6 months after the date 

14 of the enactment of this section containing an analysis of 

15 the Small Business Administration’s progress in imple16 menting this section. The Administrator shall submit a re17 port to Congress 1 year after the date of the enactment 

18 of this section and annually thereafter containing the 

19 number of presentations made under this section, the 

20 number of small businesses served under this section, the 

21 extent to which this section resulted in the establishment 

22 of new businesses, and feedback on the usefulness of this 

23 medium in presenting entrepreneurial education and facili24 tating the exchange of peer-to-peer technical assistance 

25 throughout the United States. 

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1 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

3 $2,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2010 and 2011.’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives July 28, 2009. 

Attest: LORRAINE C. MILLER, 

Clerk. 

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