II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2348 

To establish within the Office of Entrepreneurial Development of the Small 

Business Administration a training curriculum relating to businesses 

owned by older individuals, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 14, 2021 

Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina (for himself and Mrs. SHAHEEN) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

A BILL 

To establish within the Office of Entrepreneurial Development of the Small Business Administration a training 

curriculum relating to businesses owned by older individuals, 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 ‘‘Golden-preneurship 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act— 


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1 (1) the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad2 ministrator of the Small Business Administration; 

3 (2) the term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con4 gress’’ means— 

5 (A) the Committee on Small Business and 

6 Entrepreneurship of the Senate; 

7 (B) the Special Committee on Aging of the 

8 Senate; and 

9 (C) the Committee on Small Business of 

10 the House of Representatives; 

11 (3) the term ‘‘eligible entity’’ means an oper12 ating business that is owned by an older individual; 

13 (4) the terms ‘‘Federal agency’’, ‘‘Small Busi14 ness Innovation Research Program’’, and ‘‘Small 

15 Business Technology Transfer Program’’ have the 

16 meanings given the terms in section 9(e) of the 

17 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(e)); 

18 (5) the term ‘‘older individual’’ has the meaning 

19 given the term in section 102 of the Older Ameri20 cans Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3002); 

21 (6) the term ‘‘operating business’’ means a 

22 small business concern that, as of the date on which 

23 the small business concern seeks to enroll in the 

24 Program— 


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1 (A) has been in operation for not less than 

2 3 years; and 

3 (B) for the most recently completed tax4 able year, had revenue of not less than 

5 $150,000; 

6 (7) the term ‘‘Program’’ means the Golden En7 trepreneurs Training and Demonstration Curriculum 

8 established under section 4; 

9 (8) the term ‘‘resource partner’’ means— 

10 (A) a small business development center 

11 described in section 21 of the Small Business 

12 Act (15 U.S.C. 648); 

13 (B) the Service Corps of Retired Execu14 tives described in section 8(b)(1)(B) of the 

15 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(b)(1)(B)); 

16 (C) a women’s business center described in 

17 section 29 of the Small Business Act (15 

18 U.S.C. 656); or 

19 (D) a Veteran Business Outreach Center; 

20 (9) the term ‘‘selected entity’’ means an entity 

21 selected by the Administrator to carry out the Pro22 gram, as described in section 4(a)(3); and 

23 (10) the term ‘‘small business concern’’ has the 

24 meaning given the term in section 3(a) of the Small 

25 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(a)). 


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1 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) In 2018— 

(A) 1 4 ⁄2 of all new successful entrepreneurs 

5 in the United States were older than 45 years 

6 of age; and 

7 (B) 3 out of 10 entrepreneurs in the 

8 United States were older than 50 years of age, 

9 a 50 percent increase since 2007. 

10 (2) As of the date of enactment of this Act, en11 trepreneurs who are older than 55 years of age rep12 resent 55 percent of all small business employers in 

13 the United States. 

14 (3) Businesses started by older entrepreneurs— 

15 (A) represent some of the highest growth 

16 businesses in the United States; and 

17 (B) rank among the top 0.1 percent of 

18 startups, based on growth in the first 5 years 

19 of business. 

20 SEC. 4. GOLDEN ENTREPRENEURS CURRICULUM. 

21 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 

22 the Office of Entrepreneurial Development of the Small 

23 Business Administration the Golden Entrepreneurs Train24 ing and Demonstration Curriculum— 


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1 (1) the purpose of which shall be to provide eli2 gible entities with tools to accelerate the growth of 

3 those entities; 

4 (2) which shall be a 210-day, comprehensive 

5 curriculum— 

6 (A) to effectuate the purpose described in 

7 paragraph (1); 

8 (B) that provides to eligible entities the re9 sources described in subsection (b); 

10 (C) which shall be customizable by an eligi11 ble entity enrolled in the curriculum; and 

12 (D) that has the capability for both in-per13 son and virtual enrollment and participation; 

14 (3) that shall be carried out by an organization 

15 that is described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal 

16 Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from tax under 

17 section 501(a) of such Code, or by a resource part18 ner, which the Administrator shall select after sub19 mitting a request for proposal with respect to that 

20 responsibility; and 

21 (4) that includes specific outreach, training, 

22 and engagement directed towards eligible entities 

23 that are located in, or that serve, rural areas. 


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1 (b) RESOURCES.—Under the Program, the Adminis2 trator, acting through a selected entity, shall provide to 

3 eligible entities the following: 

4 (1) Resources and training relating to— 

5 (A) technology and digitization of business 

6 operations; 

7 (B) business expansion and hiring; 

8 (C) estate management and retirement 

9 strategies; and 

10 (D) the winding down of business oper11 ations, including training relating to— 

12 (i) the sale of an eligible entity; 

13 (ii) the formation or transfer of assets 

14 to an employee stock ownership plan, as 

15 that term is defined in section 4975(e)(7) 

16 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; and 

17 (iii) the transfer of the management 

18 functions of an eligible entity. 

19 (2) Access to capital resources and training. 

20 (3) Mentorship and networking opportunities. 

21 (4) Information regarding Federal and State 

22 government contracting opportunities. 

23 (5) With respect to the 2-year period after the 

24 date on which an eligible entity completes the Pro25 gram— 


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1 (A) the establishment of benchmarks for 

2 the eligible entity with respect to the perform3 ance and growth of the eligible entity; and 

4 (B) feedback with respect to the bench5 marks established under subparagraph (A). 

6 (c) LOCATIONS.—A training module under the Pro7 gram shall be located in— 

8 (1) a district office of the Small Business Ad9 ministration; 

10 (2) a facility provided by a nonprofit organiza11 tion that partners with the Small Business Adminis12 tration; or 

13 (3) a facility provided by a resource partner. 

14 (d) GOAL.—In carrying out the Program, the Admin15 istrator, acting through a selected entity, shall establish 

16 the goal of providing training to 1,000 eligible entities per 

17 year. 

18 (e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec19 tion may be construed to prevent the Administrator from 

20 selecting multiple entities under subsection (a)(3) to carry 

21 out the responsibilities described in that provision. 

22 SEC. 5. DATA COLLECTION. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date that is 90 

24 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis25 trator, in consultation with the head of any other Federal 


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1 agency as may be necessary, shall track the number and 

2 dollar amount of— 

3 (1) loans and grants made to older individuals, 

4 and to small business concerns owned by older indi5 viduals, under all of the programs of the Small Busi6 ness Administration, including under— 

7 (A) section 7(a) of the Small Business Act 

8 (15 U.S.C. 636(a)); 

9 (B) section 7(m) of the Small Business Act 

10 (15 U.S.C. 636(m)); and 

11 (C) title V of the Small Business Invest12 ment Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 695 et seq.); and 

13 (2) awards to small business concerns owned by 

14 older individuals under the Small Business Innova15 tion Research Programs and Small Business Tech16 nology Transfer Programs. 

17 (b) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 1 

18 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually 

19 thereafter, the Administrator shall submit to the appro20 priate committees of Congress a report regarding the data 

21 collected under subsection (a) for the period covered by 

22 the report. 

23 (c) CONTINUATION OF REQUIREMENTS.—The re24 quirements under subsections (a) and (b) shall continue 


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1 in effect without regard to whether the Program, or the 

2 authorization to carry out the Program, is repealed. 

3 SEC. 6. RESCISSION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR COMMUNITY 

4 NAVIGATOR PILOT PROGRAM. 

5 Of the unobligated balances of amounts appropriated 

6 under section 5004(b)(2) of the American Rescue Plan 

7 Act of 2021 (Public Law 117–2) on the date of enactment 

8 of this Act, $6,000,000 is rescinded. 

9 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

10 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Ad11 ministrator $3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 and 

12 2023 to carry out this Act. 

Æ 


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