IIB 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1803 

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 amend the Small Business Act to establish a Veterans 

Business Center program, 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 ‘‘Veterans Business 

3 Center Act of 2009’’. 

4 SEC. 2. VETERANS BUSINESS CENTER PROGRAM. 

5 Section 32 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

6 657b) is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (f), by inserting ‘‘(other than 

8 subsections (g), (h), and (i))’’ after ‘‘this section’’; 

9 and 

10 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(g) VETERANS BUSINESS CENTER PROGRAM.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall es13 tablish a Veterans Business Center program within 

14 the Administration to provide entrepreneurial train15 ing and counseling to veterans in accordance with 

16 this subsection. 

17 ‘‘(2) DIRECTOR.—The Administrator shall ap18 point a Director of the Veterans Business Center 

19 program, who shall implement and oversee such pro20 gram and who shall report directly to the Associate 

21 Administrator for Veterans Business Development. 

22 ‘‘(3) DESIGNATION OF VETERANS BUSINESS

23 CENTERS.—The Director shall establish by regula24 tion an application, review, and notification process 

25 to designate entities as veterans business centers for 

26 purposes of this section. The Director shall make 

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1 publicly known the designation of an entity as a vet2 erans business center and the award of a grant to 

3 such center under this subsection. 

4 ‘‘(4) FUNDING FOR VETERANS BUSINESS CEN5 TERS.— 

6 ‘‘(A) INITIAL GRANTS.—The Director is 

7 authorized to make a grant (hereinafter in this 

8 subsection referred to as an ‘initial grant’) to 

9 each veterans business center each year for not 

10 more than 5 years in the amount of $200,000. 

11 ‘‘(B) GROWTH FUNDING GRANTS.—After a 

12 veterans business center has received 5 years of 

13 initial grants under subparagraph (A), the Di14 rector is authorized to make a grant (herein15 after in this subsection referred to as a ‘growth 

16 funding grant’) to such center each year for not 

17 more than 3 years in the amount of $150,000. 

18 After such center has received 3 years of 

19 growth funding grants, the Director shall re20 quire such center to meet performance bench21 marks established by the Director to be eligible 

22 for growth funding grants in subsequent years. 

23 ‘‘(5) CENTER RESPONSIBILITIES.—Each vet24 erans business center receiving a grant under this 

25 subsection shall use the funds primarily on veteran 

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1 entrepreneurial development, counseling of veteran2 owned small businesses through one-on-one instruc3 tion and classes, and providing government procure4 ment assistance to veterans. 

5 ‘‘(6) MATCHING FUNDS.—Each veterans busi6 ness center receiving a grant under this subsection 

7 shall be required to provide a non-Federal match of 

8 50 percent of the Federal funds such center receives 

9 under this subsection. The Director may issue to a 

10 veterans business center, upon request, a waiver 

11 from all or a portion of such matching requirement 

12 upon a determination of hardship. The Director may 

13 waive the matching funds requirement under this 

14 paragraph with respect to veterans business centers 

15 that serve communities with a per capita income less 

16 than 75 percent of the national per capita income 

17 and an unemployment rate at least 150 percent 

18 higher than the national average. 

19 ‘‘(7) TARGETED AREAS.—The Director shall 

20 give priority to applications for designations and 

21 grants under this subsection that will establish a 

22 veterans business center in a geographic area, as de23 termined by the Director, that is not currently 

24 served by a veterans business center and in which— 

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1 ‘‘(A) the population of veterans exceeds the 

2 national median of such measure; or 

3 ‘‘(B) the population of veterans of Oper4 ation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring 

5 Freedom exceeds the national median of such 

6 measure. 

7 ‘‘(8) TRAINING PROGRAM.—The Director shall 

8 develop and implement, directly or by contract, an 

9 annual training program for the staff and personnel 

10 of designated veterans business centers to provide 

11 education, support, and information on best prac12 tices with respect to the establishment and operation 

13 of such centers. The Director shall develop such 

14 training program in consultation with veterans busi15 ness centers, the interagency task force established 

16 under subsection (c), and veterans service organiza17 tions. 

18 ‘‘(9) INCLUSION OF OTHER ORGANIZATIONS IN

19 PROGRAM.—Upon the date of the enactment of this 

20 subsection, each Veterans Business Outreach Center 

21 established by the Administrator under the authority 

22 of section 8(b)(17) and each center that received 

23 funds during fiscal year 2006 from the National 

24 Veterans Business Development Corporation estab25 lished under section 33 and that remains in opermstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with BILLS

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1 ation shall be treated as designated as a veterans 

2 business center for purposes of this subsection and 

3 shall be eligible for grants under this subsection. 

4 ‘‘(10) RURAL AREAS.—The Director shall sub5 mit annually to the Administrator a report on 

6 whether a sufficient percentage, as determined by 

7 the Director, of veterans in rural areas have ade8 quate access to a veterans business center. If the Di9 rector submits a report under this paragraph that 

10 does not demonstrate that a sufficient percentage of 

11 veterans in rural areas have adequate access to a 

12 veterans business center, the Director shall give pri13 ority during the 1-year period following the date of 

14 the submission of such report to applications for 

15 designations and grants under this subsection that 

16 will establish veterans business centers in rural 

17 areas. 

18 ‘‘(11) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

19 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

20 this subsection $12,000,000 for fiscal year 2010 and 

21 $14,000,000 for fiscal year 2011. 

22 ‘‘(h) ADDITIONAL GRANTS AVAILABLE TO VETERANS

23 BUSINESS CENTERS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) ACCESS TO CAPITAL GRANT PROGRAM.— 

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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the 

2 Veterans Business Center program shall estab3 lish a grant program under which the Director 

4 is authorized to make, to veterans business cen5 ters designated under subsection (g), grants for 

6 the following: 

7 ‘‘(i) Developing specialized programs 

8 to assist veteran-owned small businesses to 

9 secure capital and repair damaged credit. 

10 ‘‘(ii) Providing informational seminars 

11 on securing loans to veteran-owned small 

12 businesses. 

13 ‘‘(iii) Providing one-on-one counseling 

14 to veteran-owned small businesses to im15 prove the financial presentations of such 

16 businesses to lenders. 

17 ‘‘(iv) Facilitating the access of vet18 eran-owned small businesses to both tradi19 tional and non-traditional financing 

20 sources. 

21 ‘‘(v) Providing one-on-one or group 

22 counseling to owners of small business con23 cerns who are members of the reserve com24 ponents of the armed forces, as specified in 

25 section 10101 of title 10, United States 

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1 Code, to assist such owners to effectively 

2 prepare their small businesses for periods 

3 when such owners are deployed in support 

4 of a contingency operation. 

5 ‘‘(vi) Developing specialized programs 

6 to assist unemployed veterans to become 

7 entrepreneurs. 

8 ‘‘(B) AWARD SIZE.—The Director may not 

9 award a veterans business center more than 

10 $75,000 in grants under this paragraph. 

11 ‘‘(C) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA12 TIONS.—There is authorized to be appropriated 

13 to carry out this paragraph $1,500,000 for each 

14 of fiscal years 2010 and 2011. 

15 ‘‘(2) PROCUREMENT ASSISTANCE GRANT PRO16 GRAM.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall es18 tablish a grant program under which the Direc19 tor is authorized to make, to veterans business 

20 centers designated under subsection (g), grants 

21 for the following: 

22 ‘‘(i) Assisting veteran-owned small 

23 businesses to identify contracts that are 

24 suitable to such businesses. 

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1 ‘‘(ii) Preparing veteran-owned small 

2 businesses to be ready as subcontractors 

3 and prime contractors for contracts made 

4 available through the American Recovery 

5 and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public 

6 Law 111–5) through training and business 

7 advisement, particularly with respect to the 

8 construction trades. 

9 ‘‘(iii) Providing veteran-owned small 

10 businesses technical assistance with respect 

11 to the Federal procurement process, in12 cluding assisting such businesses to comply 

13 with Federal regulations and bonding re14 quirements. 

15 ‘‘(B) AWARD SIZE.—The Director may not 

16 award a veterans business center more than 

17 $75,000 in grants under this paragraph. 

18 ‘‘(C) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA19 TIONS.—There is authorized to be appropriated 

20 to carry out this paragraph $1,500,000 for each 

21 of fiscal years 2010 and 2011. 

22 ‘‘(3) SERVICE-DISABLED VETERAN-OWNED

23 SMALL BUSINESS GRANT PROGRAM.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall es25 tablish a grant program under which the Direcmstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with BILLS

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1 tor is authorized to make, to veterans business 

2 centers designated under subsection (g), grants 

3 for the following: 

4 ‘‘(i) Developing outreach programs for 

5 service-disabled veterans to promote self6 employment opportunities. 

7 ‘‘(ii) Providing training to service-dis8 abled veterans with respect to business 

9 plan development, marketing, budgeting, 

10 accounting, and merchandising. 

11 ‘‘(iii) Assisting service-disabled vet12 eran-owned small businesses to locate and 

13 secure business opportunities. 

14 ‘‘(B) AWARD SIZE.—The Director may not 

15 award a veterans business center more than 

16 $75,000 in grants under this paragraph. 

17 ‘‘(C) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA18 TIONS.—There is authorized to be appropriated 

19 to carry out this paragraph $1,500,000 for each 

20 of fiscal years 2010 and 2011. 

21 ‘‘(i) VETERANS ENTREPRENEURIAL DEVELOPMENT

22 SUMMIT.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Vet24 erans Business Center program is authorized to 

25 carry out an event, once every two years, for the 

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1 purpose of providing networking opportunities, out2 reach, education, training, and support to veterans 

3 business centers funded under this section, veteran4 owned small businesses, veterans service organiza5 tions, and other entities as determined appropriate 

6 for inclusion by the Director. Such event shall in7 clude education and training with respect to improv8 ing outreach to veterans in areas of high unemploy9 ment. 

10 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

11 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

12 this subsection $450,000 for fiscal years 2010 and 

13 2011. 

14 ‘‘(j) INCLUSION OF SURVIVING SPOUSES.—For pur15 poses of subsections (g), (h), and (i) the following apply: 

16 ‘‘(1) The term ‘veteran’ includes a surviving 

17 spouse of the following: 

18 ‘‘(A) A member of the Armed Forces, in19 cluding a reserve component thereof. 

20 ‘‘(B) A veteran. 

21 ‘‘(2) The term ‘veteran-owned small business’ 

22 includes a small business owned by a surviving 

23 spouse of the following: 

24 ‘‘(A) A member of the Armed Forces, in25 cluding a reserve component thereof. 

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1 ‘‘(B) A veteran. 

2 ‘‘(k) INCLUSION OF RESERVE COMPONENTS.—For 

3 purposes of subsections (g), (h), and (i) the following 

4 apply: 

5 ‘‘(1) The term ‘veteran’ includes a member of 

6 the reserve components of the armed forces as speci7 fied in section 10101 of title 10, United States 

8 Code. 

9 ‘‘(2) The term ‘veteran-owned small business’ 

10 includes a small business owned by a member of the 

11 reserve components of the armed forces as specified 

12 in section 10101 of title 10, United States Code.’’. 

13 SEC. 3. REPORTING REQUIREMENT FOR INTERAGENCY 

14 TASK FORCE. 

15 Section 32(c) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

16 657b(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(4) REPORT.—The Administrator shall submit 

18 to Congress biannually a report on the appointments 

19 made to and activities of the task force.’’. 

20 SEC. 4. COMPTROLLER GENERAL STUDY OF SMALL BUSI21 NESS CONCERNS OWNED AND CONTROLLED 

22 BY VETERANS. 

23 The Comptroller General shall carry out a study on 

24 the effects of this Act and the amendments made by this 

25 Act on small business concerns owned and controlled by 

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1 veterans and submit to Congress a report on the results 

2 of such study. Such report shall include the recommenda3 tions of the Comptroller General with respect to how this 

4 Act and the amendments made by this Act may be imple5 mented to more effectively serve small business concerns 

6 owned and controlled by veterans. 

Passed the House of Representatives July 28, 2009. 

Attest: LORRAINE C. MILLER, 

Clerk. 

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