I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4387 

To establish Growth Accelerator Fund Competition within the Small Business 

Administration, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 18, 2019 

Mr. ESPAILLAT (for himself and Mr. BALDERSON) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Small Business 

A BILL 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. GROWTH ACCELERATOR FUND COMPETITION. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established a program 

5 within the Small Business Administration to be known as 

6 the ‘‘Growth Accelerator Fund Competition’’ under which 

7 the Administrator of the Small Business Administration 

8 shall award prizes on a competitive basis to covered enti9 ties that— 


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1 (1) assist small business concerns with access2 ing capital and finding mentors and networking op3 portunities; and 

4 (2) advise small business concerns, including 

5 advising on market analysis, company strategy, rev6 enue growth, and securing funding. 

7 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—Except as otherwise provided 

8 in this section, the Administrator shall carry out the pro9 gram established under this section in accordance with the 

10 requirements of section 24 of the Stevenson-Wydler Tech11 nology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3719). 

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

13 a covered entity that submits to the Administrator an ap14 plication at such time, in such manner, and containing 

15 such information as the Administrator may require. 

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

17 under this section, a covered entity— 

18 (1) may not have an outstanding, unresolved fi19 nancial obligation to the Federal Government; and 

20 (2) may not be currently suspended or debarred 

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

22 Federal Regulations (or any successor regulation). 

23 (e) SELECTION OF COVERED ENTITIES.—From ap24 plications submitted under subsection (c), the AdminisVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:34 Sep 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4387.IH H4387

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1 trator shall select covered entities that will provide to 

2 small business concerns— 

3 (1) regular networking opportunities, including 

4 introductions to customers, partners, suppliers, advi5 sory boards, and other persons; 

6 (2) mentorship opportunities, including advice 

7 on strategy, technology, finances, and commer8 cialization assistance; 

9 (3) shared working environments focused on 

10 building a strong community amongst other similar 

11 small business concerns; 

12 (4) resources and co-working arrangements; 

13 (5) opportunities to pitch ideas to investors and 

14 other capital formation opportunities; 

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

16 or structured loans; and 

17 (7) where appropriate, assistance in securing 

18 funding under the SBIR program or the STTR pro19 gram established under section 9 of the Small Busi20 ness Act (15 U.S.C. 638). 

21 (f) PRIORITY.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in ap23 proving applications under this section, shall give 

24 priority to applications that include methods to proVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:51 Sep 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4387.IH H4387

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1 vide assistance and advice to small business concerns 

2 located in underserved communities, including— 

3 (A) small business concerns owned and 

4 controlled by women; 

5 (B) small business concerns owned and 

6 controlled by veterans; and 

7 (C) small business concerns owned and 

8 controlled by socially and economically dis9 advantaged individuals (as defined in section 

10 8(d)(3)(C) of the Small Business Act (15 

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

12 (2) ALLOCATION.—Of prizes awarded to cov13 ered entities under this section in a fiscal year, the 

14 Administrator shall ensure that— 

15 (A) not less than 20 percent of such cov16 ered entities will assist and advise small busi17 ness concerns owned and controlled by women; 

18 and 

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

22 and economically disadvantaged individuals. 

23 (g) SELECTION OF SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS.— 

24 A covered entity that receives a prize under the Growth 

25 Accelerator Fund Competition shall use a selective process 


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1 to identify small business concerns to provide assistance 

2 and advice described under subsection (a). 

3 (h) DEVELOPMENT OF METRICS.—The Adminis4 trator shall develop metrics to evaluate the effectiveness 

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

6 Growth Accelerator Fund Competition that— 

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

8 (2) reflect the mission of the Small Business 

9 Administration; and 

10 (3) include factors relating to the economic im11 pact of the Growth Accelerator Fund Competition. 

12 (i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

13 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis14 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Small Busi15 ness Administration. 

16 (2) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘‘covered en17 tity’’ means a private entity that is incorporated in 

18 and maintains a primary place of business in the 

19 United States. 

20 (3) SMALL BUSINESS ACT DEFINITIONS.—The 

21 terms ‘‘small business concern’’, ‘‘small business 

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

23 business concern owned and controlled by veterans’’ 

24 have the meanings given such terms, respectively, in 


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

2 632). 

3 (j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

4 are authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator 

5 $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020, 2021, 2022, and 

6 2023 to carry out the Growth Accelerator Fund Competi7 tion. 

Æ 


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