II 

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 and Mr. ENZI) introduced the following bill; which 

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

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’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REGIONAL SBIR STATE COLLABORATIVE INITIA7 TIVE PILOT PROGRAM. 

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

9 is amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (mm)— 


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

2 3 fiscal years beginning after the date of enact3 ment of this subsection,’’ and inserting ‘‘and 

4 until September 30, 2017,’’; and 

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

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

7 is required to conduct an SBIR program shall pro8 vide 15 percent of the funds allocated to the SBIR 

9 program of the Federal agency that are set aside for 

10 administrative purposes under paragraph (1) to the 

11 Administration— 

12 ‘‘(A) for the Regional SBIR State Collabo13 rative Initiative Pilot Program established 

14 under subsection (tt); 

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

16 Partnership Program established under section 

17 34; and 

18 ‘‘(C) to support the Office of the Adminis19 tration that administers the SBIR program and 

20 the STTR program, subject to reasonable costs, 

21 in carrying out those programs, including any 

22 conference relating to the programs. 

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

24 the Administration under paragraph (1), not less 

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


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1 under the Regional SBIR State Collaborative Initia2 tive Pilot Program established under subsection (tt) 

3 for each fiscal year in which the program is in ef4 fect.’’; and 

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

6 ‘‘(tt) REGIONAL SBIR STATE COLLABORATIVE INI7 TIATIVE PILOT PROGRAM.— 

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

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

10 ‘‘(i) a research institution; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) a small business concern; 

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

13 ‘‘(i) a State that the Administration 

14 determines is in the bottom third of States 

15 with respect to the average number of an16 nual SBIR program and STTR program 

17 awards made to companies in the State for 

18 the preceding 3 years for which the Ad19 ministration has applicable data; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) an EPSCoR State that— 

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

22 (i); or 

23 ‘‘(II) is— 

24 ‘‘(aa) not a State described 

25 in clause (i); and 


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1 ‘‘(bb) invited to participate 

2 in a regional collaborative; 

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

4 State that participates in the Experimental 

5 Program to Stimulate Competitive Research of 

6 the National Science Foundation, as established 

7 under section 113 of the National Science 

8 Foundation Authorization Act of 1988 (42 

9 U.S.C. 1862g); 

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

11 Federal and State Technology Partnership Pro12 gram established under section 34; 

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

14 Regional SBIR State Collaborative Initiative 

15 Pilot Program established under paragraph (2); 

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

17 means a collaborative consisting of eligible enti18 ties that are located in not less than 3 eligible 

19 States; and 

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

21 the United States, the District of Columbia, the 

22 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any terri23 tory or possession of the United States. 

24 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator 

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


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1 Regional SBIR State Collaborative Initiative Pilot 

2 Program, under which the Administrator shall pro3 vide grants to regional collaboratives to address the 

4 needs of small business concerns in order to be more 

5 competitive in the proposal and selection process for 

6 awards under the SBIR program and the STTR 

7 program and to increase technology transfer and 

8 commercialization. 

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

10 are— 

11 ‘‘(A) to create regional collaboratives that 

12 allow eligible entities to work cooperatively to 

13 leverage resources to address the needs of small 

14 business concerns; 

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

16 program cooperative research and development 

17 and commercialization through increased 

18 awards under those programs; 

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

20 that have historically received a lower level of 

21 awards under the SBIR program and the 

22 STTR program; 

23 ‘‘(D) to utilize the strengths and advan24 tage of regional collaboratives to better leverage 

25 resources, best practices, and economies of scale 


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1 in a region for the purpose of increasing 

2 awards; 

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

4 SBIR program and the STTR program; 

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

6 for applicants for an award under the SBIR 

7 program and the STTR program, including 

8 venture capitalists, angel investor groups, pri9 vate industry, crowd funding, and special loan 

10 programs; and 

11 ‘‘(G) to offer increased one-on-one engage12 ments with companies and entrepreneurs for 

13 SBIR program and STTR program education, 

14 assistance, and successful outcomes. 

15 ‘‘(4) APPLICATION.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A regional collabo17 rative that desires to participate in the pilot 

18 program shall submit to the Administrator an 

19 application at such time, in such manner, and 

20 containing such information as the Adminis21 trator may require. 

22 ‘‘(B) INCLUSION OF LEAD ELIGIBLE ENTI23 TIES AND COORDINATOR.—A regional collabo24 rative shall include in an application submitted 

25 under subparagraph (A)— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the name of each lead eligible en2 tity from each eligible State in the regional 

3 collaborative, as designated under para4 graph (5); and 

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

6 the regional collaborative, as designated 

7 under paragraph (6). 

8 ‘‘(5) LEAD ELIGIBLE ENTITY.— 

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

10 a regional collaborative shall designate 1 eligible 

11 entity located in the eligible State to serve as 

12 the lead eligible entity for the eligible State. 

13 ‘‘(B) AUTHORIZATION BY GOVERNOR.— 

14 Each lead eligible entity designated under sub15 paragraph (A) shall be authorized to act as the 

16 lead eligible entity by the Governor of the appli17 cable eligible State. 

18 ‘‘(C) RESPONSIBILITIES.—Each lead eligi19 ble entity designated under subparagraph (A) 

20 shall be responsible for administering the activi21 ties and program initiatives described in para22 graph (7) in the applicable eligible State. 

23 ‘‘(6) REGIONAL COLLABORATIVE COORDI24 NATOR.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each regional collabo2 rative shall designate a coordinator from 

3 amongst the eligible entities located in the eligi4 ble States in the regional collaborative, who 

5 shall serve as the interface between the regional 

6 collaborative and the Administration with re7 spect to the management of grants received 

8 under the pilot program. 

9 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—A regional collabo10 rative may not appoint as coordinator under 

11 subparagraph (A) an eligible entity located in 

12 an EPSCoR State described in paragraph 

13 (1)(B)(ii)(II). 

14 ‘‘(7) USE OF FUNDS.—Each regional collabo15 rative that is awarded a grant under the pilot pro16 gram shall, in each eligible State in which an eligible 

17 entity of the regional collaborative is located— 

18 ‘‘(A) establish an initiative under which 

19 first-time applicants for an award under the 

20 SBIR program or the STTR program are re21 viewed by experienced, national experts in the 

22 United States, as determined by the lead eligi23 ble entity designated under paragraph (5); 

24 ‘‘(B) engage national mentors on a fre25 quent basis to work directly with applicants for 


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1 an award under the SBIR program or the 

2 STTR program, particularly during Phase II, 

3 to assist with the process of preparing and sub4 mitting a proposal; 

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

6 mechanism to serve as a resource for applicants 

7 for an award under the SBIR program or the 

8 STTR program to identify and connect with 

9 Federal labs, prime government contractor com10 panies, other industry partners, and regional in11 dustry cluster organizations; 

12 ‘‘(D) conduct focused and concentrated 

13 outreach efforts to increase participation in the 

14 SBIR program and the STTR program by 

15 small business concerns owned and controlled 

16 by women, small business concerns owned and 

17 controlled by veterans, small business concerns 

18 owned and controlled by socially and economi19 cally disadvantaged individuals (as defined in 

20 section 8(d)(3)(C)), and historically Black col21 leges and universities; 

22 ‘‘(E) administer a structured program of 

23 training and technical assistance— 


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1 ‘‘(i) to prepare applicants for an 

2 award under the SBIR program or the 

3 STTR program— 

4 ‘‘(I) to compete more effectively 

5 for Phase I and Phase II awards; and 

6 ‘‘(II) to develop and implement a 

7 successful commercialization plan; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) to create more competitive pro9 posals to increase awards under the SBIR 

10 program and the STTR program; and 

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

12 under the SBIR program or the STTR program 

13 to identify sources of outside funding, including 

14 venture capitalists, angel investor groups, pri15 vate industry, crowd funding, and special loan 

16 programs. 

17 ‘‘(8) GRANT AMOUNT.— 

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

19 may award a grant to each eligible State in 

20 which an eligible entity of a regional collabo21 rative is located not more than $300,000 to 

22 carry out the activities described in paragraph 

23 (7). 

24 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.— 


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

2 may not receive an award under both the 

3 FAST program and the pilot program for 

4 the same year. 

5 ‘‘(ii) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.— 

6 Nothing in clause (i) shall be construed to 

7 prevent an eligible State from applying for 

8 an award under the FAST program and 

9 the pilot program for the same year. 

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

11 under this subsection shall be for a period of not 

12 more than 1 year, and may be renewed by the Ad13 ministrator for 1 additional year. 

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

15 terminate on September 30, 2017. 

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

17 the date on which the pilot program terminates, the 

18 Administrator shall submit to the Committee on 

19 Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate 

20 and the Committee on Small Business of the House 

21 of Representatives a report on the pilot program, 

22 which shall include— 

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

24 and the effectiveness of the pilot program in 

25 meeting the goals described in paragraph (3); 


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

2 including an analysis of how the pilot program 

3 compares to the FAST program and a single 

4 State approach; and 

5 ‘‘(C) recommendations as to whether any 

6 aspect of the pilot program should be extended 

7 or made permanent.’’. 

8 SEC. 3. FAST PROGRAM. 

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

10 657d) is amended— 

11 (1) in subsection (h)— 

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

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

14 and 

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

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

17 of fiscal years 2016 and 2017’’; and 

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

19 30, 2005’’ and inserting ‘‘September 30, 2017’’. 

Æ 


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