I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4109 

To codify the Small Business Administration’s Growth Accelerator Fund 

Competition, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 30, 2019 

Mr. ESPAILLAT (for himself and Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Small Business 

A BILL 

To codify the Small Business Administration’s Growth 

Accelerator Fund Competition, 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. GROWTH ACCELERATOR FUND COMPETITION. 

4 The Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) by redesignating section 49 as section 50; 

7 and 

8 (2) by inserting after section 48 the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 49. GROWTH ACCELERATOR FUND COMPETITION. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is established a program 

3 within the Small Business Administration to be known as 

4 the ‘Growth Accelerator Fund Competition’ under which 

5 the Administrator shall award prizes on a competitive 

6 basis to covered entities that— 

7 ‘‘(1) assist small business concerns with access8 ing capital and finding mentors and networking op9 portunities; and 

10 ‘‘(2) advise small business concerns, including 

11 advising on market analysis, company strategy, rev12 enue growth, and securing funding. 

13 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.—Except as otherwise provided 

14 in this section, the Administrator shall carry out the pro15 gram established under this section in accordance with the 

16 requirements of section 24 of the Stevenson-Wydler Tech17 nology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3719). 

18 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.—A prize only may be awarded to 

19 a covered entity that submits to the Administrator an ap20 plication at such time, in such manner, and containing 

21 such information as the Administrator may require. 

22 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to apply for a prize 

23 under this section, a covered entity— 

24 ‘‘(1) may not have an outstanding, unresolved 

25 financial obligation to the Federal Government; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) may not be currently suspended or 

2 debarred as specified under subpart 9.4 of title 48, 

3 Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor regu4 lation). 

5 ‘‘(e) SELECTION OF COVERED ENTITIES.—From ap6 plications submitted under subsection (c), the Adminis7 trator shall select covered entities that will provide to 

8 small business concerns— 

9 ‘‘(1) regular networking opportunities, including 

10 introductions to customers, partners, suppliers, advi11 sory boards and other persons; 

12 ‘‘(2) mentorship opportunities, including advice 

13 on strategy, technology, finances, and commer14 cialization assistance; 

15 ‘‘(3) shared working environments focused on 

16 building a strong community amongst other similar 

17 small business concerns; 

18 ‘‘(4) resources and co-working arrangements; 

19 ‘‘(5) opportunities to pitch ideas to investors 

20 and other capital formation opportunities; 

21 ‘‘(6) small amounts of angel money, seed cap22 ital, or structured loans; and 

23 ‘‘(7) where appropriate, assistance in securing 

24 funding under the SBIR program or the STTR pro25 gram established under section 9. 


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1 ‘‘(f) PRIORITY.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in ap3 proving applications under this section, shall give 

4 priority to applications that include methods to pro5 vide assistance and advice to small business concerns 

6 located in underserved communities, including— 

7 ‘‘(A) small business concerns owned and 

8 controlled by women; 

9 ‘‘(B) small business concerns owned and 

10 controlled by veterans; and 

11 ‘‘(C) small business concerns owned and 

12 controlled by socially and economically dis13 advantaged individuals (as defined in section 

14 8(d)(3)(C)). 

15 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATION.—Of prizes awarded to cov16 ered entities under this section in a fiscal year, the 

17 Administrator shall ensure that— 

18 ‘‘(A) not less than 20 percent of such cov19 ered entities will assist and advise small busi20 ness concerns owned and controlled by women; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(B) not less than 20 percent of such cov23 ered entities will assist and advise small busi24 ness concerns owned and controlled by socially 

25 and economically disadvantaged individuals. 


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1 ‘‘(g) SELECTION OF SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS.— 

2 A covered entity that receives a prize under the Growth 

3 Accelerator Fund Competition shall use a selective process 

4 to identify small business concerns to provide assistance 

5 and advice described under subsection (a). 

6 ‘‘(h) DEVELOPMENT OF METRICS.—The Adminis7 trator shall develop metrics to evaluate the effectiveness 

8 and the benefit to the people of the United States of the 

9 Growth Accelerator Fund Competition that— 

10 ‘‘(1) are science-based and statistically driven; 

11 ‘‘(2) reflect the mission of the Administration; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(3) include factors relating to the economic 

14 impact of the Growth Accelerator Fund Competition. 

15 ‘‘(i) COVERED ENTITY DEFINED.—In this section, 

16 the term ‘covered entity’ means a private entity that is 

17 incorporated in and maintains a primary place of business 

18 in the United States. 

19 ‘‘(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

20 are authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator 

21 such sums as may be necessary to carry out the Growth 

22 Accelerator Fund Competition.’’. 

Æ 


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