I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2981 

To establish a pilot program at the Small Business Administration that 

grants awards to historically Black colleges and universities establishing 

an entrepreneurship curriculum and placement of a Small Business Development Center on the physical campus of the institution, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 23, 2019 

Mr. CUMMINGS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the Committee on 

Small Business, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To establish a pilot program at the Small Business Administration that grants awards to historically Black colleges 

and universities establishing an entrepreneurship curriculum and placement of a Small Business Development 

Center on the physical campus of the institution, 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 ‘‘Parren Mitchell Minor3 ity Business Education and Empowerment Act of 2019’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 The Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) As many colleges and universities across the 

7 country kept their doors closed to African-American 

8 applicants, historically Black colleges and univer9 sities (referred to in this section as ‘‘HBCUs’’) 

10 played a central role in ensuring that African Ameri11 cans could attain an excellent education. 

12 (2) In 1970, Congressman Parren Mitchell be13 came the first African American from Maryland to 

14 be elected to the House of Representatives. During 

15 his time in Congress, Congressman Mitchell served 

16 as the Chairman of the Small Business Committee, 

17 was a founding member of the Congressional Black 

18 Caucus, and served as a senior member of the then19 House Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs Com20 mittee. In these roles, Congressman Mitchell vigor21 ously supported economic empowerment for minority 

22 businesses and education as a vehicle for social mo23 bility. 

24 (3) The Bureau of the Census in 2017 indi25 cated that African Americans have a median houseVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:30 Jun 07, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2981.IH H2981

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1 hold income that is 63 percent of the median house2 hold income of Whites. 

3 (4) In the first quarter of 2019, the African4 American unemployment rate was 7.1 percent, well 

5 above the national average of 4.1 percent. 

6 (5) According to the Minority Business Devel7 opment Agency— 

8 (A) minority firms are more likely to be 

9 denied loans at a rate of nearly three times 

10 higher than nonminority firms; 

11 (B) minority firms are likely to pay higher 

12 interest rates, on average 7.8 percent, while 

13 nonminority firms pay on average 6.4 percent; 

14 (C) minority firms are less likely to receive 

15 loans and, when approved, receive lower loan 

16 amounts; 

17 (D) minority firms secure a lower number 

18 and dollar amount of contracts in proportion to 

19 the number of available minority firms in the 

20 relevant market; and 

21 (E) minority business enterprises represent 

22 29 percent of all firms but only 11 percent have 

23 paid employees. 


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1 (6) If minority business enterprises were to ob2 tain entrepreneurial parity, the United States econ3 omy would realize 13 million more jobs. 

4 (7) Minority-owned businesses are nearly twice 

5 as likely to export their products and services as 

6 nonminority owned businesses. Minority-owned busi7 nesses are three times more likely to generate 100 

8 percent of their revenues from exporting than non9 minority owned firms. 

10 (8) Minority-owned businesses expand and di11 versify the tax base, creating sustainable commu12 nities with a steady rate of economic growth. 

13 (9) A 2019 GAO report found that only 18 out 

14 of 101 HBCUs are in the Small Business Develop15 ment Center (SBDC) network, and only 2 serve as 

16 ‘‘lead’’ (host organization) SBDCs. 

17 (10) Currently, to be a SBDC host organiza18 tion, an HBCU must provide matching funds, which 

19 has led to only 2 such sites in the history of the pro20 gram. 

21 (11) The 2019 GAO report stated that, while 

22 the Small Business Administration (SBA) is re23 quired by Executive order to submit an agency plan 

24 on an annual basis to the White House Initiative on 

25 HBCUs, GAO was only able to obtain the 2018 


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1 agency plan from the 2008–2018 time period and 

2 was unable to determine if the SBA had met its 

3 goals related to supporting HBCUs. 

4 (12) The 2018 SBA agency plan stated that 

5 the SBA would encourage the formation of strategic 

6 alliance memorandums between SBA district offices 

7 and HBCUs to promote entrepreneurship in under8 served markets. 

9 (13) The 2019 GAO report found that, accord10 ing to SBA officials, strategic alliance memoran11 dums with HBCUs are largely symbolic in nature. 

12 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

13 In this Act— 

14 (1) the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad15 ministrator of the Small Business Administration; 

16 (2) the term ‘‘historically Black colleges and 

17 universities’’ means the institutions that are within 

18 the definition given the term ‘‘part B institution’’ in 

19 section 322 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

20 (20 U.S.C. 1061); 

21 (3) the term ‘‘small business concern’’ has the 

22 same meaning as in section 3 of the Small Business 

23 Act (15 U.S.C. 632); and 


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1 (4) the term ‘‘small business development cen2 ter’’ has the same meaning as in section 21 of the 

3 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 648). 

4 SEC. 4. MINORITY ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION 

5 GRANTS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall make 

7 grants to historically Black colleges and universities— 

8 (1) to assist in establishing an entrepreneurship 

9 curriculum for undergraduate or graduate studies; 

10 and 

11 (2) for placement of a small business develop12 ment center on the physical campus of the institu13 tion. 

14 (b) CURRICULUM REQUIREMENT.—An institution of 

15 higher education receiving a grant under this section shall 

16 develop a curriculum that includes training in various skill 

17 sets needed by successful entrepreneurs, including— 

18 (1) business management and marketing, finan19 cial management and accounting, market analysis 

20 and competitive analysis, innovation, and strategic 

21 planning; and 

22 (2) additional entrepreneurial skill sets specific 

23 to the needs of the student population and the sur24 rounding community, as determined by the institu25 tion. 


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1 (c) SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER RE2 QUIREMENT.—Each institution receiving a grant under 

3 this section shall open a small business development center 

4 that— 

5 (1) performs studies, research, and counseling 

6 concerning the management, financing, and oper7 ation of small business concerns; 

8 (2) performs management training and tech9 nical assistance regarding the participation of small 

10 business concerns in international markets, export 

11 promotion and technology transfer, and the delivery 

12 or distribution of such services and information; 

13 (3) offers referral services for entrepreneurs 

14 and small business concerns to business develop15 ment, financing, and legal experts; 

16 (4) promotes market-specific innovation, niche 

17 marketing, capacity building, international trade, 

18 and strategic planning as keys to long-term growth 

19 for its small business concern and entrepreneur cli20 ents; and 

21 (5) provides free counseling concerning the 

22 management, financing, and operation of small busi23 ness concerns, with an emphasis on providing assist24 ance to student entrepreneurs. 


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1 (d) GRANT LIMITATIONS.—A grant under this sec2 tion— 

3 (1) may not exceed $1,000,000 per fiscal year 

4 for any 1 historically Black college or university; 

5 (2) may not be used for any purpose other than 

6 those associated with the direct costs incurred to de7 velop and implement a curriculum that fosters entre8 preneurship and the costs incurred to organize and 

9 run a small business development center on the 

10 grounds of the institution; and 

11 (3) may not be used for building expenses, ad12 ministrative travel budgets, or other expenses not di13 rectly related to the implementation of the cur14 riculum or activities authorized by this Act. 

15 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

16 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

17 $8,000,000, to remain available until expended, for each 

18 of fiscal years 2020, 2021, and 2022. 

19 (f) REPORT.—Not later than November 1 of each 

20 year, the Associate Administrator of Entrepreneurial De21 velopment of the Small Business Administration shall sub22 mit to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepre23 neurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small Busi24 ness of the House of Representatives, a report evaluating 


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1 the award and use of grants under this section during the 

2 preceding fiscal year, which shall include— 

3 (1) a description of each entrepreneurship pro4 gram developed with grant funds, the date of the 

5 award of such grant, and the number of partici6 pants, specifically students, in each such program; 

7 (2) a description of the curriculum developed 

8 and how it has been implemented; 

9 (3) data regarding the economic impact of the 

10 small business development center counseling pro11 vided under a grant under this section; and 

12 (4) the number of small business concerns as13 sisted by each small business development center es14 tablished with a grant under this section. 

15 (g) SUNSET.—The Administrator may not make any 

16 grants under this section after the end of fiscal year 2022. 

Æ 


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