II 

Calendar No. 310 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2136 

To establish the Regional SBIR State Collaborative Initiative Pilot Program, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 6, 2015 

Mr. VITTER (for himself, Mr. ENZI, and Mr. COONS) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

DECEMBER 3, 2015 

Reported by Mr. VITTER, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To establish the Regional SBIR State Collaborative Initiative 

Pilot 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Improving Small Busi5 ness Innovative Research and Technologies Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REGIONAL SBIR STATE COLLABORATIVE INITIA2 TIVE PILOT PROGRAM. 

3 Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638) 

4 is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (mm)— 

6 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘for the 

7 3 fiscal years beginning after the date of enact8 ment of this subsection,’’ and inserting ‘‘and 

9 until September 30, 2017,’’; and 

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

11 ‘‘(7) IN GENERAL.—Each Federal agency that 

12 is required to conduct an SBIR program shall pro13 vide 15 percent of the funds allocated to the SBIR 

14 program of the Federal agency that are set aside for 

15 administrative purposes under paragraph (1) to the 

16 Administration— 

17 ‘‘(A) for the Regional SBIR State Collabo18 rative Initiative Pilot Program established 

19 under subsection (tt); 

20 ‘‘(B) for the Federal and State Technology 

21 Partnership Program established under section 

22 34; and 

23 ‘‘(C) to support the Office of the Adminis24 tration that administers the SBIR program and 

25 the STTR program, subject to reasonable costs, 


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1 in carrying out those programs, including any 

2 conference relating to the programs. 

3 ‘‘(8) PILOT PROGRAM.—Of amounts provided to 

4 the Administration under paragraph (1), not less 

5 than $5,000,000 shall be used to provide grants 

6 under the Regional SBIR State Collaborative Initia7 tive Pilot Program established under subsection (tt) 

8 for each fiscal year in which the program is in ef9 fect.’’; and 

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

11 ‘‘(tt) REGIONAL SBIR STATE COLLABORATIVE INI12 TIATIVE PILOT PROGRAM.— 

13 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

14 ‘‘(A) the term ‘eligible entity’ means— 

15 ‘‘(i) a research institution; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) a small business concern; 

17 ‘‘(B) the term ‘eligible State’ means— 

18 ‘‘(i) a State that the Administration 

19 determines is in the bottom third of States 

20 with respect to the average number of an21 nual SBIR program and STTR program 

22 awards made to companies in the State for 

23 the preceding 3 years for which the Ad24 ministration has applicable data; and 

25 ‘‘(ii) an EPSCoR State that— 


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1 ‘‘(I) is a State described in clause 

2 (i); or 

3 ‘‘(II) is— 

4 ‘‘(aa) not a State described 

5 in clause (i); and 

6 ‘‘(bb) invited to participate 

7 in a regional collaborative; 

8 ‘‘(C) the term ‘EPSCoR State’ means a 

9 State that participates in the Experimental 

10 Program to Stimulate Competitive Research of 

11 the National Science Foundation, as established 

12 under section 113 of the National Science 

13 Foundation Authorization Act of 1988 (42 

14 U.S.C. 1862g); 

15 ‘‘(D) the term ‘FAST program’ means the 

16 Federal and State Technology Partnership Pro17 gram established under section 34; 

18 ‘‘(E) the term ‘pilot program’ means the 

19 Regional SBIR State Collaborative Initiative 

20 Pilot Program established under paragraph (2); 

21 ‘‘(F) the term ‘regional collaborative’ 

22 means a collaborative consisting of eligible enti23 ties that are located in not less than 3 eligible 

24 States; and 


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1 ‘‘(G) the term ‘State’ means any State of 

2 the United States, the District of Columbia, the 

3 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any terri4 tory or possession of the United States. 

5 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator 

6 shall establish a pilot program, to be known as the 

7 Regional SBIR State Collaborative Initiative Pilot 

8 Program, under which the Administrator shall pro9 vide grants to regional collaboratives to address the 

10 needs of small business concerns in order to be more 

11 competitive in the proposal and selection process for 

12 awards under the SBIR program and the STTR 

13 program and to increase technology transfer and 

14 commercialization. 

15 ‘‘(3) GOALS.—The goals of the pilot program 

16 are— 

17 ‘‘(A) to create regional collaboratives that 

18 allow eligible entities to work cooperatively to 

19 leverage resources to address the needs of small 

20 business concerns; 

21 ‘‘(B) to grow SBIR program and STTR 

22 program cooperative research and development 

23 and commercialization through increased 

24 awards under those programs; 


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1 ‘‘(C) to increase the participation of States 

2 that have historically received a lower level of 

3 awards under the SBIR program and the 

4 STTR program; 

5 ‘‘(D) to utilize the strengths and advan6 tage of regional collaboratives to better leverage 

7 resources, best practices, and economies of scale 

8 in a region for the purpose of increasing 

9 awards; 

10 ‘‘(E) to increase the competitiveness of the 

11 SBIR program and the STTR program; 

12 ‘‘(F) to identify sources of outside funding 

13 for applicants for an award under the SBIR 

14 program and the STTR program, including 

15 venture capitalists, angel investor groups, pri16 vate industry, crowd funding, and special loan 

17 programs; and 

18 ‘‘(G) to offer increased one-on-one engage19 ments with companies and entrepreneurs for 

20 SBIR program and STTR program education, 

21 assistance, and successful outcomes. 

22 ‘‘(4) APPLICATION.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A regional collabo24 rative that desires to participate in the pilot 

25 program shall submit to the Administrator an 


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1 application at such time, in such manner, and 

2 containing such information as the Adminis3 trator may require. 

4 ‘‘(B) INCLUSION OF LEAD ELIGIBLE ENTI5 TIES AND COORDINATOR.—A regional collabo6 rative shall include in an application submitted 

7 under subparagraph (A)— 

8 ‘‘(i) the name of each lead eligible en9 tity from each eligible State in the regional 

10 collaborative, as designated under para11 graph (5); and 

12 ‘‘(ii) the name of the coordinator for 

13 the regional collaborative, as designated 

14 under paragraph (6). 

15 ‘‘(5) LEAD ELIGIBLE ENTITY.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible State in 

17 a regional collaborative shall designate 1 eligible 

18 entity located in the eligible State to serve as 

19 the lead eligible entity for the eligible State. 

20 ‘‘(B) AUTHORIZATION BY GOVERNOR.— 

21 Each lead eligible entity designated under sub22 paragraph (A) shall be authorized to act as the 

23 lead eligible entity by the Governor of the appli24 cable eligible State. 


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1 ‘‘(C) RESPONSIBILITIES.—Each lead eligi2 ble entity designated under subparagraph (A) 

3 shall be responsible for administering the activi4 ties and program initiatives described in para5 graph (7) in the applicable eligible State. 

6 ‘‘(6) REGIONAL COLLABORATIVE COORDI7 NATOR.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each regional collabo9 rative shall designate a coordinator from 

10 amongst the eligible entities located in the eligi11 ble States in the regional collaborative, who 

12 shall serve as the interface between the regional 

13 collaborative and the Administration with re14 spect to the management of grants received 

15 under the pilot program. 

16 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—A regional collabo17 rative may not appoint as coordinator under 

18 subparagraph (A) an eligible entity located in 

19 an EPSCoR State described in paragraph 

20 (1)(B)(ii)(II). 

21 ‘‘(7) USE OF FUNDS.—Each regional collabo22 rative that is awarded a grant under the pilot pro23 gram shall, in each eligible State in which an eligible 

24 entity of the regional collaborative is located— 


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1 ‘‘(A) establish an initiative under which 

2 first-time applicants for an award under the 

3 SBIR program or the STTR program are re4 viewed by experienced, national experts in the 

5 United States, as determined by the lead eligi6 ble entity designated under paragraph (5); 

7 ‘‘(B) engage national mentors on a fre8 quent basis to work directly with applicants for 

9 an award under the SBIR program or the 

10 STTR program, particularly during Phase II, 

11 to assist with the process of preparing and sub12 mitting a proposal; 

13 ‘‘(C) create and make available an online 

14 mechanism to serve as a resource for applicants 

15 for an award under the SBIR program or the 

16 STTR program to identify and connect with 

17 Federal labs, prime government contractor com18 panies, other industry partners, and regional in19 dustry cluster organizations; 

20 ‘‘(D) conduct focused and concentrated 

21 outreach efforts to increase participation in the 

22 SBIR program and the STTR program by 

23 small business concerns owned and controlled 

24 by women, small business concerns owned and 

25 controlled by veterans, small business concerns 


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1 owned and controlled by socially and economi2 cally disadvantaged individuals (as defined in 

3 section 8(d)(3)(C)), and historically Black col4 leges and universities; 

5 ‘‘(E) administer a structured program of 

6 training and technical assistance— 

7 ‘‘(i) to prepare applicants for an 

8 award under the SBIR program or the 

9 STTR program— 

10 ‘‘(I) to compete more effectively 

11 for Phase I and Phase II awards; and 

12 ‘‘(II) to develop and implement a 

13 successful commercialization plan; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) to create more competitive pro15 posals to increase awards under the SBIR 

16 program and the STTR program; and 

17 ‘‘(F) to assist applicants for an award 

18 under the SBIR program or the STTR program 

19 to identify sources of outside funding, including 

20 venture capitalists, angel investor groups, pri21 vate industry, crowd funding, and special loan 

22 programs. 

23 ‘‘(8) GRANT AMOUNT.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

25 may award a grant to each eligible State in 


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1 which an eligible entity of a regional collabo2 rative is located not more than $300,000 to 

3 carry out the activities described in paragraph 

4 (7). 

5 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.— 

6 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—An eligible State 

7 may not receive an award under both the 

8 FAST program and the pilot program for 

9 the same year. 

10 ‘‘(ii) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.— 

11 Nothing in clause (i) shall be construed to 

12 prevent an eligible State from applying for 

13 an award under the FAST program and 

14 the pilot program for the same year. 

15 ‘‘(9) DURATION OF GRANT.—A grant awarded 

16 under this subsection shall be for a period of not 

17 more than 1 year, and may be renewed by the Ad18 ministrator for 1 additional year. 

19 ‘‘(10) TERMINATION.—The pilot program shall 

20 terminate on September 30, 2017. 

21 ‘‘(11) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after 

22 the date on which the pilot program terminates, the 

23 Administrator shall submit to the Committee on 

24 Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate 

25 and the Committee on Small Business of the House 


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1 of Representatives a report on the pilot program, 

2 which shall include— 

3 ‘‘(A) an assessment of the pilot program 

4 and the effectiveness of the pilot program in 

5 meeting the goals described in paragraph (3); 

6 ‘‘(B) an assessment of the best practices, 

7 including an analysis of how the pilot program 

8 compares to the FAST program and a single 

9 State approach; and 

10 ‘‘(C) recommendations as to whether any 

11 aspect of the pilot program should be extended 

12 or made permanent.’’. 

13 SEC. 3. FAST PROGRAM. 

14 Section 34 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

15 657d) is amended— 

16 (1) in subsection (h)— 

17 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘2001 

18 through 2005’’ and inserting ‘‘2016 and 2017’’; 

19 and 

20 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘fiscal 

21 years 2001 through 2005’’ and inserting ‘‘each 

22 of fiscal years 2016 and 2017’’; and 

23 (2) in subsection (i), by striking ‘‘September 

24 30, 2005’’ and inserting ‘‘September 30, 2017’’. 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Improving Small Busi3 ness Innovative Research and Technologies Act of 2015’’. 

4 SEC. 2. REGIONAL SBIR STATE COLLABORATIVE INITIATIVE 

5 PILOT PROGRAM. 

6 Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638) 

7 is amended— 

8 (1) in subsection (mm)— 

9 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘for the 

10 3 fiscal years beginning after the date of enact11 ment of this subsection,’’ and inserting ‘‘and 

12 until September 30, 2017,’’; and 

13 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(7) SBIR AND STTR PROGRAMS; FAST PRO15 GRAM.— 

16 ‘‘(A) DEFINITION.—In this paragraph, the 

17 term ‘covered Federal agency’ means a Federal 

18 agency that— 

19 ‘‘(i) is required to conduct an SBIR 

20 program; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) elects to use the funds allocated to 

22 the SBIR program of the Federal agency for 

23 the purposes described in paragraph (1). 

24 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT.—Each covered Federal 

25 agency shall provide an amount equal to 15 per26 cent of the funds that are used for the purposes 


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1 described in paragraph (1) to the Administra2 tion— 

3 ‘‘(i) for the Regional SBIR State Col4 laborative Initiative Pilot Program estab5 lished under subsection (tt); 

6 ‘‘(ii) for the Federal and State Tech7 nology Partnership Program established 

8 under section 34; and 

9 ‘‘(iii) to support the Office of the Ad10 ministration that administers the SBIR 

11 program and the STTR program, subject to 

12 agreement from other agencies about how 

13 the funds will be used, in carrying out those 

14 programs and the programs described in 

15 clauses (i) and (ii). 

16 ‘‘(8) PILOT PROGRAM.— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Of amounts provided to 

18 the Administration under paragraph (7), not less 

19 than $5,000,000 shall be used to provide awards 

20 under the Regional SBIR State Collaborative 

21 Initiative Pilot Program established under sub22 section (tt) for each fiscal year in which the pro23 gram is in effect. 

24 ‘‘(B) DISBURSEMENT FLEXIBILITY.—The 

25 Administration may used any unused funds 


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1 made available under subparagraph (A) as of 

2 April 1 of each fiscal year for awards to carry 

3 out clauses (ii) and (iii) of paragraph (7)(B) 

4 after providing written notice to— 

5 ‘‘(i) the Committee on Small Business 

6 and Entrepreneurship and the Committee 

7 on Appropriations of the Senate; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) the Committee on Small Business 

9 and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

10 House of Representatives.’’; and 

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

12 ‘‘(tt) REGIONAL SBIR STATE COLLABORATIVE INITIA13 TIVE PILOT PROGRAM.— 

14 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

15 ‘‘(A) the term ‘eligible entity’ means— 

16 ‘‘(i) a research institution; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) a small business concern; 

18 ‘‘(B) the term ‘eligible State’ means— 

19 ‘‘(i) a State that the Administrator de20 termines is in the bottom half of States, 

21 based on the average number of annual 

22 SBIR program awards made to companies 

23 in the State for the preceding 3 years for 

24 which the Administration has applicable 

25 data; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) an EPSCoR State that— 

2 ‘‘(I) is a State described in clause 

3 (i); or 

4 ‘‘(II) is— 

5 ‘‘(aa) not a State described 

6 in clause (i); and 

7 ‘‘(bb) invited to participate 

8 in a regional collaborative; 

9 ‘‘(C) the term ‘EPSCoR State’ means a 

10 State that participates in the Experimental Pro11 gram to Stimulate Competitive Research of the 

12 National Science Foundation, as established 

13 under section 113 of the National Science Foun14 dation Authorization Act of 1988 (42 U.S.C. 

15 1862g); 

16 ‘‘(D) the term ‘FAST program’ means the 

17 Federal and State Technology Partnership Pro18 gram established under section 34; 

19 ‘‘(E) the term ‘pilot program’ means the 

20 Regional SBIR State Collaborative Initiative 

21 Pilot Program established under paragraph (2); 

22 ‘‘(F) the term ‘regional collaborative’ means 

23 a collaborative consisting of eligible entities that 

24 are located in not less than 3 eligible States; and 


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1 ‘‘(G) the term ‘State’ means any State of 

2 the United States, the District of Columbia, the 

3 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any terri4 tory or possession of the United States. 

5 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator shall 

6 establish a pilot program, to be known as the Re7 gional SBIR State Collaborative Initiative Pilot Pro8 gram, under which the Administrator shall provide 

9 awards to regional collaboratives to address the needs 

10 of small business concerns in order to be more com11 petitive in the proposal and selection process for 

12 awards under the SBIR program and the STTR pro13 gram and to increase technology transfer and com14 mercialization. 

15 ‘‘(3) GOALS.—The goals of the pilot program 

16 are— 

17 ‘‘(A) to create regional collaboratives that 

18 allow eligible entities to work cooperatively to le19 verage resources to address the needs of small 

20 business concerns; 

21 ‘‘(B) to grow SBIR program and STTR 

22 program cooperative research and development 

23 and commercialization through increased awards 

24 under those programs; 


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1 ‘‘(C) to increase the participation of States 

2 that have historically received a lower level of 

3 awards under the SBIR program and the STTR 

4 program; 

5 ‘‘(D) to utilize the strengths and advantages 

6 of regional collaboratives to better leverage re7 sources, best practices, and economies of scale in 

8 a region for the purpose of increasing awards 

9 and increasing the commercialization of the 

10 SBIR program and STTR projects; 

11 ‘‘(E) to increase the competitiveness of the 

12 SBIR program and the STTR program; 

13 ‘‘(F) to identify sources of outside funding 

14 for applicants for an award under the SBIR 

15 program or the STTR program, including ven16 ture capitalists, angel investor groups, private 

17 industry, crowd funding, and special loan pro18 grams; and 

19 ‘‘(G) to offer increased one-on-one engage20 ments with companies and entrepreneurs for 

21 SBIR program and STTR program education, 

22 assistance, and successful outcomes. 

23 ‘‘(4) APPLICATION.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A regional collaborative 

25 that desires to participate in the pilot program 


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1 shall submit to the Administrator an application 

2 at such time, in such manner, and containing 

3 such information as the Administrator may re4 quire. 

5 ‘‘(B) INCLUSION OF LEAD ELIGIBLE ENTI6 TIES AND COORDINATOR.—A regional collabo7 rative shall include in an application submitted 

8 under subparagraph (A)— 

9 ‘‘(i) the name of each lead eligible enti10 ty from each eligible State in the regional 

11 collaborative, as designated under para12 graph (5)(A); and 

13 ‘‘(ii) the name of the coordinator for 

14 the regional collaborative, as designated 

15 under paragraph (6). 

16 ‘‘(C) AVOIDANCE OF DUPLICATION.—A re17 gional collaborative shall include in an applica18 tion submitted under subparagraph (A) an ex19 planation as to how the activities of the regional 

20 collaborative under the pilot program would dif21 fer from other State and Federal outreach activi22 ties in each eligible State in the regional collabo23 rative. 

24 ‘‘(5) LEAD ELIGIBLE ENTITY.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible State in a 

2 regional collaborative shall designate 1 eligible 

3 entity located in the eligible State to serve as the 

4 lead eligible entity for the eligible State. 

5 ‘‘(B) AUTHORIZATION BY GOVERNOR.— 

6 Each lead eligible entity designated under sub7 paragraph (A) shall be authorized to act as the 

8 lead eligible entity by the Governor of the appli9 cable eligible State. 

10 ‘‘(C) RESPONSIBILITIES.—Each lead eligi11 ble entity designated under subparagraph (A) 

12 shall be responsible for administering the activi13 ties and program initiatives described in para14 graph (7) in the applicable eligible State. 

15 ‘‘(6) REGIONAL COLLABORATIVE COORDI16 NATOR.—Each regional collaborative shall designate a 

17 coordinator from amongst the eligible entities located 

18 in the eligible States in the regional collaborative, 

19 who shall serve as the interface between the regional 

20 collaborative and the Administration with respect to 

21 measuring cross-State collaboration and program ef22 fectiveness and documenting best practices. 

23 ‘‘(7) USE OF FUNDS.—Each regional collabo24 rative that is provided an award under the pilot proVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:53 Dec 04, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2136.RS S2136

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1 gram may, in each eligible State in which an eligible 

2 entity of the regional collaborative is located— 

3 ‘‘(A) establish an initiative under which 

4 first-time applicants for an award under the 

5 SBIR program or the STTR program are re6 viewed by experienced, national experts in the 

7 United States, as determined by the lead eligible 

8 entity designated under paragraph (5)(A); 

9 ‘‘(B) engage national mentors on a frequent 

10 basis to work directly with applicants for an 

11 award under the SBIR program or the STTR 

12 program, particularly during Phase II, to assist 

13 with the process of preparing and submitting a 

14 proposal; 

15 ‘‘(C) create and make available an online 

16 mechanism to serve as a resource for applicants 

17 for an award under the SBIR program or the 

18 STTR program to identify and connect with 

19 Federal labs, prime government contractor com20 panies, other industry partners, and regional in21 dustry cluster organizations; 

22 ‘‘(D) conduct focused and concentrated out23 reach efforts to increase participation in the 

24 SBIR program and the STTR program by small 

25 business concerns owned and controlled by 


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1 women, small business concerns owned and con2 trolled by veterans, small business concerns 

3 owned and controlled by socially and economi4 cally disadvantaged individuals (as defined in 

5 section 8(d)(3)(C)), and historically black col6 leges and universities; 

7 ‘‘(E) administer a structured program of 

8 training and technical assistance— 

9 ‘‘(i) to prepare applicants for an 

10 award under the SBIR program or the 

11 STTR program— 

12 ‘‘(I) to compete more effectively 

13 for Phase I and Phase II awards; and 

14 ‘‘(II) to develop and implement a 

15 successful commercialization plan; 

16 ‘‘(ii) to assist eligible States focusing 

17 on transition and commercialization to win 

18 Phase III awards from public and private 

19 partners; 

20 ‘‘(iii) to create more competitive pro21 posals to increase awards from all Federal 

22 sources, with a focus on awards under the 

23 SBIR program and the STTR program; 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(iv) to assist first-time applicants by 

2 providing small grants for proof of concept 

3 research; and 

4 ‘‘(F) assist applicants for an award under 

5 the SBIR program or the STTR program to 

6 identify sources of outside funding, including 

7 venture capitalists, angel investor groups, pri8 vate industry, crowd funding, and special loan 

9 programs. 

10 ‘‘(8) AWARD AMOUNT.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

12 shall provide an award to each eligible State in 

13 which an eligible entity of a regional collabo14 rative is located in an amount that is not more 

15 than $300,000 to carry out the activities de16 scribed in paragraph (7). 

17 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.— 

18 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—An eligible State 

19 may not receive an award under both the 

20 FAST program and the pilot program for 

21 the same year. 

22 ‘‘(ii) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Noth23 ing in clause (i) shall be construed to pre24 vent an eligible State from applying for an 


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1 award under the FAST program and the 

2 pilot program for the same year. 

3 ‘‘(9) DURATION OF AWARD.—An award provided 

4 under the pilot program shall be for a period of not 

5 more than 1 year, and may be renewed by the Ad6 ministrator for 1 additional year. 

7 ‘‘(10) TERMINATION.—The pilot program shall 

8 terminate on September 30, 2017. 

9 ‘‘(11) REPORT.—Not later than September 30, 

10 2018, the Administrator shall submit to the Com11 mittee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of 

12 the Senate and the Committee on Small Business of 

13 the House of Representatives a report on the pilot 

14 program, which shall include— 

15 ‘‘(A) an assessment of the pilot program 

16 and the effectiveness of the pilot program in 

17 meeting the goals described in paragraph (3); 

18 ‘‘(B) an assessment of the best practices, in19 cluding an analysis of how the pilot program 

20 compares to the FAST program and a single 

21 State approach; and 

22 ‘‘(C) recommendations as to whether any 

23 aspect of the pilot program should be extended or 

24 made permanent.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. FAST PROGRAM. 

2 Section 34 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 657d) 

3 is amended— 

4 (1) in subsection (h)— 

5 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘2001 

6 through 2005’’ and inserting ‘‘2016 and 2017’’; 

7 and 

8 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘fiscal 

9 years 2001 through 2005’’ and inserting ‘‘each of 

10 fiscal years 2016 and 2017’’; and 

11 (2) in subsection (i), by striking ‘‘September 30, 

12 2005’’ and inserting ‘‘September 30, 2017’’. 


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Calendar No. 310 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2136 

A BILL 

To establish the Regional SBIR State Collaborative 

Initiative Pilot Program, and for other purposes. 

DECEMBER 3, 2015 

Reported with an amendment 


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