IIB 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4387 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 22, 2019 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and 

Entrepreneurship 

AN ACT 

To establish Growth Accelerator Fund Competition within 

the Small Business Administration, 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. 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 of the Small Business Administration 

6 shall award prizes on a competitive basis to covered enti7 ties that— 

8 (1) assist small business concerns with access9 ing capital and finding mentors and networking op10 portunities; and 

11 (2) advise small business concerns, including 

12 advising on market analysis, company strategy, rev13 enue growth, and securing funding. 

14 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—Except as otherwise provided 

15 in this section, the Administrator shall carry out the pro16 gram established under this section in accordance with the 

17 requirements of section 24 of the Stevenson-Wydler Tech18 nology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3719). 

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

20 a covered entity that submits to the Administrator an ap21 plication at such time, in such manner, and containing 

22 such information as the Administrator may require. 

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

24 under this section, a covered entity— 

25 (1) may not have an outstanding, unresolved fi26 nancial obligation to the Federal Government; and 


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1 (2) may not be currently suspended or debarred 

2 as specified under subpart 9.4 of title 48, Code of 

3 Federal Regulations (or any successor regulation). 

4 (e) SELECTION OF COVERED ENTITIES.—From ap5 plications submitted under subsection (c), the Adminis6 trator shall select covered entities that will provide to 

7 small business concerns— 

8 (1) regular networking opportunities, including 

9 introductions to customers, partners, suppliers, advi10 sory boards, and other persons; 

11 (2) mentorship opportunities, including advice 

12 on strategy, technology, finances, and commer13 cialization assistance; 

14 (3) shared working environments focused on 

15 building a strong community amongst other similar 

16 small business concerns; 

17 (4) resources and co-working arrangements; 

18 (5) opportunities to pitch ideas to investors and 

19 other capital formation opportunities; 

20 (6) small amounts of angel money, seed capital, 

21 or structured loans; and 

22 (7) where appropriate, assistance in securing 

23 funding under the SBIR program or the STTR pro24 gram established under section 9 of the Small Busi25 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 638). 


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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) of the Small Business Act (15 

15 U.S.C. 637(d)(3)(C))). 

16 (2) ALLOCATION.—Of prizes awarded to cov17 ered entities under this section in a fiscal year, the 

18 Administrator shall ensure that— 

19 (A) not less than 20 percent of such cov20 ered entities will assist and advise small busi21 ness concerns owned and controlled by women; 

22 and 

23 (B) not less than 20 percent of such cov24 ered entities will assist and advise small busiVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:57 Oct 22, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4387.RFS H4387

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1 ness concerns owned and controlled by socially 

2 and economically disadvantaged individuals. 

3 (g) SELECTION OF SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS.— 

4 A covered entity that receives a prize under the Growth 

5 Accelerator Fund Competition shall use a selective process 

6 to identify small business concerns to provide assistance 

7 and advice described under subsection (a). 

8 (h) DEVELOPMENT OF METRICS.—The Adminis9 trator shall develop metrics to evaluate the effectiveness 

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

11 Growth Accelerator Fund Competition that— 

12 (1) are science-based and statistically driven; 

13 (2) reflect the mission of the Small Business 

14 Administration; and 

15 (3) include factors relating to the economic im16 pact of the Growth Accelerator Fund Competition. 

17 (i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

18 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis19 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Small Busi20 ness Administration. 

21 (2) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘‘covered en22 tity’’ means a private entity that is incorporated in 

23 and maintains a primary place of business in the 

24 United States. 


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1 (3) SMALL BUSINESS ACT DEFINITIONS.—The 

2 terms ‘‘small business concern’’, ‘‘small business 

3 concern owned and controlled by women’’, ‘‘small 

4 business concern owned and controlled by veterans’’ 

5 have the meanings given such terms, respectively, in 

6 section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

7 632). 

8 (j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

9 are authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator 

10 $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020, 2021, 2022, and 

11 2023 to carry out the Growth Accelerator Fund Competi12 tion. 

Passed the House of Representatives October 21, 

2019. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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