I 

★

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4059 

To amend the Small Business Act to create a grant program for governmental 

and other nonprofit organizations that support startup businesses in 

formation and early growth stages by providing entrepreneurs with resources and services to produce viable businesses, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2014 

Mr. SCHNEIDER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Small Business 

A BILL 

To amend the Small Business Act to create a grant program 

for governmental and other nonprofit organizations that 

support startup businesses in formation and early growth 

stages by providing entrepreneurs with resources and 

services to produce viable businesses, 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 ‘‘Accelerate Our 

5 Startups Act of 2014’’. 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

HR 4059 IH1S 

1 SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR ORGANIZATIONS THAT SUPPORT 

2 STARTUP BUSINESSES. 

3 Add at the end of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 

4 631 et seq.) the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 48. GRANTS FOR NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS THAT 

6 SUPPORT STARTUP BUSINESSES. 

7 ‘‘(a) GRANTS.—The Administrator shall develop and 

8 implement, beginning not later than one year after the 

9 date of the enactment of this section, a grant program 

10 under this section for State and local governmental and 

11 other nonprofit organizations that are located in the 

12 United States and support startup businesses in the 

13 United States to provide those organizations assistance to 

14 use for construction costs, space acquisition, and pro15 grammatic purposes. 

16 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENT FOR RECIPIENTS.—A recipient 

17 of a grant under this section must demonstrate to the sat18 isfaction of the Administrator that it will use the grant 

19 to provide assistance to at least 5 client businesses per 

20 year that have been in business for less than 5 years. 

21 ‘‘(c) CRITERIA FOR GRANTS.—The Administrator 

22 shall establish criteria for grants under this section favor23 ing recipients that provide startups the following: 

24 ‘‘(1) Office, manufacturing, or warehouse space, 

25 including appropriate operations infrastructure. 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

HR 4059 IH1S 

1 ‘‘(2) Access to capital (either directly from the 

2 organization or though guidance and contacts for ac3 quiring capital from outside investors), except that 

4 such capital may not be made available from the 

5 grant funds (including by making subgrants). 

6 ‘‘(3) Access to professional services (either di7 rectly from the organization or guidance and con8 tacts for acquiring those services) including account9 ing and legal services, except that litigation expenses 

10 may not be made available from the grant funds. 

11 ‘‘(4) A formal structured mentorship or devel12 opmental program that assists startups with build13 ing business skills and competencies. 

14 ‘‘(d) CONSIDERATIONS TO BE APPLIED IN CHOOS15 ING RECIPIENTS.—In determining whether or not to make 

16 a grant under this section to an organization, the Adminis17 trator shall take into account the following: 

18 ‘‘(1) If the organization is an existing organiza19 tion, the previous record of that organization, as 

20 measured by— 

21 ‘‘(A) the number of participating client 

22 businesses each of the previous 3 years, if appli23 cable; 

24 ‘‘(B) the number of businesses applying 

25 each of the previous 3 years, if applicable; 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

HR 4059 IH1S 

1 ‘‘(C) the retention rate of client businesses; 

2 ‘‘(D) the average duration of client busi3 ness participation in program; total, average, 

4 and median capital raised by participation cli5 ent businesses; 

6 ‘‘(E) the total, average, and median num7 ber of employees of participating client busi8 nesses; and 

9 ‘‘(F) other metrics deemed appropriate by 

10 the Administrator. 

11 ‘‘(2) Promoting growth in underserviced geo12 graphic areas with sufficient population density. 

13 ‘‘(3) How experienced the entrepreneurial lead14 ership of the organization is. 

15 ‘‘(4) The ability of the organization to utilize 

16 and leverage local strengths, including human re17 sources, infrastructure, or educational institutions. 

18 ‘‘(e) REQUIREMENT OF FEE PAID BY PARTICIPATING

19 STARTUPS.—Each recipient of a grant under this section 

20 shall require each participating client business in the pro21 gram assisted under this section to pay, at minimum, a 

22 entry fee for participation in the program. 

23 ‘‘(f) MATCHING PUBLIC FUNDING REQUIREMENT.— 

24 The Small Business Administration shall require as condi25 tion of grant under this section, that the recipient obtain 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

HR 4059 IH1S 

1 a grant from a local or State government for the same 

2 purposes as a grant may be made under this section, to 

3 carry out the program of the recipient assisted under this 

4 section. The amount of that grant from a local or State 

government may not be less than 1 5 ⁄2 the amount received 

6 by that recipient under this section. 

7 ‘‘(g) MATCHING NONPUBLIC FUNDING REQUIRE8 MENT.—The Small Business Administration shall require 

9 as condition of grant under this section, that the recipient 

10 obtain nonpublic (defined as private or nonprofit) funding 

11 for the same purposes as a grant may be made under this 

12 section, to carry out the program of the recipient assisted 

13 under this section. The amount of that funding from a 

nonpublic source may not be less than 1 14 ⁄2 the amount re15 ceived by that recipient under this section. 

16 ‘‘(h) CONSEQUENCES OF FAILURE TO ABIDE BY

17 TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF GRANT OR REQUIREMENTS

18 OF THIS SECTION.—Each recipient shall be notified that 

19 failure to abide by the terms and conditions of the grant 

20 or the requirements of this section may, in the discretion 

21 of the Administrator and in addition to any other civil or 

22 criminal consequences, result in recapture by the Adminis23 tration of the grant funds. 

24 ‘‘(i) ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORTING BY RECIPIENTS

25 OF GRANTS.—Each recipient of a grant under this section 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

HR 4059 IH1S 

1 shall annually report to the Administrator on the progress 

2 of the program assisted under this section, including— 

3 ‘‘(1) the number of participating client busi4 nesses each of the previous 3 years, if applicable; 

5 ‘‘(2) the number of businesses applying each of 

6 the previous 3 years, if applicable; 

7 ‘‘(3) the retention rate of client businesses; 

8 ‘‘(4) the average duration of client business 

9 participation in program; 

10 ‘‘(5) the total, average, and median capital 

11 raised by participation client businesses; 

12 ‘‘(6) the total, average, and median number of 

13 employees of participating client businesses; and 

14 ‘‘(7) other metrics deemed appropriate by the 

15 Administrator. 

16 ‘‘(j) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Administrator 

17 shall report annually to Congress the Administrator’s as18 sessment of the effectiveness of the grant program under 

19 this section including the metrics listed in subsection (i). 

20 ‘‘(k) COORDINATION WITH OTHER SMALL BUSINESS

21 ADMINISTRATION PROGRAMS.—The Administrator shall 

22 take appropriate action to encourage grantees under this 

23 section to utilize and incorporate Small Business Adminis24 tration programs, such as Small Business Development 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

HR 4059 IH1S 

1 Centers; Small Business Investment Companies, section 

2 7(a) loans, and section 504 loans. 

3 ‘‘(l) LISTING ON WEBSITE.—The Administrator shall 

4 include a list of recipients of the grants under this section 

5 on the Small Business Administration website. 

6 ‘‘(m) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘State’ 

7 includes the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 

8 Puerto Rico, and any other territory or possession of the 

9 United States. 

10 ‘‘(n) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATION.—There 

11 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

12 $5,000,000 for each fiscal year beginning with the first 

13 fiscal year that begins after the date of the enactment of 

14 this Act and each of the succeeding 4 fiscal years.’’. 

Æ 


tjames on DSK6SPTVN1PROD with BILLS