I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6120 

To direct the Secretary of Commerce to establish a technology deployment 

and early-stage business investment grant program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 14, 2010 

Mr. PASTOR of Arizona introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to 

the Committee on Financial Services, 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 direct the Secretary of Commerce to establish a technology deployment and early-stage business investment 

grant 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 ‘‘Technology Deploy5 ment and Early-Stage Business Investment Act of 2010’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TECHNOLOGY DEPLOYMENT AND EARLY-STAGE 

2 BUSINESS INVESTMENT GRANT PROGRAM. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 60 days after 

4 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Com5 merce shall establish a technology deployment and early6 stage business investment grant program (in this section 

7 referred to as the ‘‘program’’) to support the development 

8 of early-stage businesses in targeted industries. 

9 (b) GRANT AUTHORITY.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the program, 

11 the Secretary is authorized to make grants to cov12 ered business accelerators. 

13 (2) GRANT AMOUNTS.— 

14 (A) NON-FEDERAL CAPITAL LIMITATION.— 

15 A grant made to a covered business accelerator 

16 under the program may not be in an amount 

17 that exceeds the amount of the accelerator’s 

18 capital that— 

19 (i) is not from a Federal source; and 

20 (ii) is available for investment and 

21 business assistance services on or before 

22 the date on which a grant is drawn upon. 

23 (B) AGGREGATE AMOUNT LIMITATION.— 

24 The aggregate amount of all grants made to a 

25 covered business accelerator under the program 

26 may not exceed $5,000,000. 


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1 (c) GRANT AWARD PROCESS.—In making a grant 

2 under the program, the Secretary shall commit a grant 

3 amount to a covered business accelerator and the amount 

4 of each such commitment shall remain available to be 

5 drawn upon by the accelerator during the 5-year period 

6 beginning on the date on which each such commitment 

7 is first drawn upon. 

8 (d) USE OF GRANT.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—A grant made under the 

10 program may be used by a covered business accel11 erator for the following: 

12 (A) Making an investment in an early13 stage business in a targeted industry. 

14 (B) Providing training, counseling, and 

15 other assistance to an early-stage business in a 

16 targeted industry to support the development of 

17 the business. 

18 (C) Making investments in and providing 

19 support to an early-stage business in a targeted 

20 industry to assist the business with proof of 

21 concept activities that accelerate the deployment 

22 and commercialization of technology. 

23 (D) Providing purchased services to an 

24 early-stage business in a targeted industry. 

25 (E) Conducting due diligence activities. 


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1 (F) Meeting operational expenses. 

2 (2) LIMITATIONS.— 

3 (A) PROOF OF CONCEPT ACTIVITIES.—Not 

4 more than 40 percent of the amount of a grant 

5 made to a covered business accelerator under 

6 the program may be used by the accelerator to 

7 provide assistance for proof of concept activi8 ties. 

9 (B) PURCHASED SERVICES.—Not more 

10 than 20 percent of the amount of a grant made 

11 to a covered business accelerator under the pro12 gram may be used by the accelerator to provide 

13 purchased services to an early-stage business in 

14 a targeted industry. 

15 (C) DUE DILIGENCE ACTIVITIES.—Not 

16 more than 10 percent of the amount of a grant 

17 made to a covered business accelerator under 

18 the program may be used by the accelerator to 

19 conduct due diligence activities. 

20 (D) OPERATIONAL EXPENSES.—Not more 

21 than 20 percent of the amount of a grant made 

22 to a covered business accelerator under the pro23 gram may be used by the accelerator to meet 

24 operational expenses. 


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1 (3) DESIGNATION OF GRANT USES.—In the ap2 plication of a covered business accelerator for a 

3 grant under the program, the accelerator shall notify 

4 the Secretary of the percentage of the grant amount 

5 that will be used for each of the activities described 

6 in subparagraphs (A) through (F) of paragraph (1) 

7 and provide a detailed description of the activities to 

8 be undertaken. 

9 (e) GRANT CONDITIONS.— 

10 (1) FUND MANAGER.—As a condition of receiv11 ing a grant under the program, a covered business 

12 accelerator shall designate an individual as the fund 

13 manager for the grant amount and that individual 

14 shall administer and be responsible to the Secretary 

15 for information with respect to the grant amounts 

16 received. 

17 (2) INVESTMENT REVIEW.—As a condition of 

18 receiving a grant under the program, a covered busi19 ness accelerator shall establish an investment evalua20 tion process that involves not fewer than 5 individ21 uals (3 of whom may not be employed by or related 

22 to the accelerator or an affiliate of the accelerator) 

23 who shall— 

24 (A) review proposals for and advise the ac25 celerator on the use of grant funds; 


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1 (B) provide letters of support and ref2 erence to the Secretary with respect to pro3 posals for the use of grant funds by the accel4 erator; and 

5 (C) submit periodic reports to the Sec6 retary on the results of activities carried out 

7 with grant funds. 

8 (3) COLLABORATOR.—As a condition of receiv9 ing a grant under the program, a covered business 

10 accelerator shall assign to each early-stage business 

11 in a targeted industry that is assisted with grant 

12 amounts a collaborator that shall be an individual or 

13 organization not otherwise employed by or related to 

14 the accelerator or an affiliate of the accelerator and 

15 that shall assist the accelerator in providing support 

16 to the business. 

17 (f) FEDERAL SHARE OF ACTIVITIES.—The Federal 

18 share of the cost of an activity carried out by a covered 

19 business accelerator with the assistance of a grant under 

20 the program shall not exceed 75 percent. 

21 (g) MONITORING AND EVALUATION.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall assess 

23 the effectiveness of covered business accelerators 

24 that receive a grant under the program. 


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1 (2) DATA FROM ACCELERATORS.—Not later 

2 than one year after the date of receiving a grant 

3 under the program, a covered business accelerator 

4 shall provide to the Secretary information on the ac5 tivities of the accelerator and the businesses assisted 

6 under the grant, including— 

7 (A) the number of technologies that the 

8 businesses have moved from proof of concept 

9 activities to commercialization; 

10 (B) the number of jobs created by the 

11 businesses; 

12 (C) the amount of taxes paid by the busi13 nesses and the employees of the businesses; 

14 (D) the amount of private investment the 

15 businesses have received; and 

16 (E) other data that, as determined by the 

17 Secretary, may be used to measure the value of 

18 assistance under the program. 

19 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

21 appropriated to carry out the program— 

22 (A) $250,000,000 for the first full fiscal 

23 year beginning after the date of enactment of 

24 this Act; and 


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1 (B) such sums as may be necessary for 

2 subsequent fiscal years. 

3 (2) PROHIBITION ON EARMARKS.—None of the 

4 funds appropriated for the program may be used for 

5 a congressional earmark as defined in clause 9(e) of 

6 rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Representa7 tives. 

8 (i) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act, the following defini9 tions apply: 

10 (1) COVERED BUSINESS ACCELERATOR.—The 

11 term ‘‘covered business accelerator’’ means a public 

12 or private not-for-profit organization, including an 

13 academic institution, that— 

14 (A) operates a program providing assist15 ance to early-stage businesses in targeted in16 dustries to support the development of those 

17 businesses, including assistance with proof of 

18 concept activities to accelerate the deployment 

19 and commercialization of technology; 

20 (B) has a physical location and on-site 

21 management for the program described under 

22 subparagraph (A); and 

23 (C) has procedures for selecting businesses 

24 for and graduating businesses from the pro25 gram described under subparagraph (A). 


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1 (2) DUE DILIGENCE ACTIVITIES.—The term 

2 ‘‘due diligence activities’’ means activities under3 taken to analyze and assess the desirability, value, 

4 and potential of an opportunity to provide assistance 

5 to an early-stage business in a targeted industry, in6 cluding activities to analyze and assess the tech7 nology deployment and market potential of the busi8 ness. 

9 (3) EARLY-STAGE BUSINESS IN A TARGETED

10 INDUSTRY.—The term ‘‘early-stage business in a 

11 targeted industry’’ means a small business concern 

12 that— 

13 (A) is domiciled in a State; 

14 (B) has not generated gross annual reve15 nues exceeding $5,000,000 in any of the pre16 vious 3 years; and 

17 (C) is engaged primarily in researching, 

18 developing, manufacturing, producing, or bring19 ing to market goods or services with respect to 

20 any of the following business sectors: 

21 (i) Agricultural technology. 

22 (ii) Energy technology. 

23 (iii) Environmental technology. 

24 (iv) Life science technology. 

25 (v) Biotechnology. 


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1 (vi) Information technology. 

2 (vii) Digital media. 

3 (viii) Clean technology. 

4 (ix) Defense technology. 

5 (x) Photonics technology. 

6 (xi) Electronic technology. 

7 (xii) Semiconductor technology. 

8 (xiii) Material science technology. 

9 (xiv) Aerospace. 

10 (xv) Communications. 

11 (xvi) Transportation. 

12 (4) OPERATIONAL EXPENSES.—The term 

13 ‘‘operational expenses’’ means the costs of operating 

14 a covered business accelerator, including overhead 

15 and management expenses. 

16 (5) PROOF OF CONCEPT ACTIVITIES.—The term 

17 ‘‘proof of concept activities’’ means activities carried 

18 out to validate and confirm the commercial viability 

19 of a technology, including the generation of data, 

20 prototypes, and pilot trials with respect to the tech21 nology. 

22 (6) PURCHASED SERVICES.—The term ‘‘pur23 chased services’’ means any training, counseling, or 

24 other assistance provided to an early-stage business 

25 in a targeted industry that is provided by a covered 


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1 business accelerator through an agreement with an2 other entity, and not by the accelerator directly. 

3 (7) SECRETARY.—The terms ‘‘Secretary’’ and 

4 ‘‘Secretary of Commerce’’ mean the Secretary of 

5 Commerce acting through the Assistant Secretary of 

6 Commerce for Economic Development. 

7 (8) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN.—The term 

8 ‘‘small business concern’’ has the meaning given 

9 that term in section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 

10 U.S.C. 632). 

Æ 


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