I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4613 

To authorize the Small Business Administrator to establish a grant program 

to empower encore entrepreneurs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 8, 2014 

Mr. GARCIA (for himself and Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Small Business 

A BILL 

To authorize the Small Business Administrator to establish 

a grant program to empower encore entrepreneurs. 

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 ‘‘Empowering Encore 

5 Entrepreneurs Act of 2014’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) ADMINISTRATION.—The term ‘‘Administra9 tion’’ means the Small Business Administration. 


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1 (2) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis2 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Small Busi3 ness Administration. 

4 (3) ENCORE ENTREPRENEUR.—The term ‘‘en5 core entrepreneur’’ means an entrepreneur, business6 person, or owner of a small business concern— 

7 (A) who is seeking to start a new small 

8 business concern or expand an existing small 

9 business concern; and 

10 (B) who— 

11 (i) is not less than 50 years of age; or 

12 (ii) has not less than 20 years of ex13 perience in a workplace. 

14 (4) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The term 

15 ‘‘nonprofit organization’’ means an organization that 

16 is described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Rev17 enue Code of 1986 and is exempt from taxation 

18 under section 501(a) of such Code. 

19 (5) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN.—The term 

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

21 that term under section 3 of the Small Business Act 

22 (15 U.S.C. 632). 

23 (6) SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CEN24 TER.—The term ‘‘small business development cen25 ter’’ means a small business development center deVerDate Mar 15 2010 20:16 May 16, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4613.IH H4613

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1 scribed in section 21 of the Small Business Act (15 

2 U.S.C. 648). 

3 (7) WOMEN’S BUSINESS CENTER.—The term 

4 ‘‘women’s business center’’ means a project carried 

5 out under section 29 of the Small Business Act (15 

6 U.S.C. 656). 

7 SEC. 3. EMPOWERING ENCORE ENTREPRENEURS PRO8 GRAM. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of ap10 propriations, the Administrator shall establish a program 

11 under which the Administrator may enter into contracts 

12 or cooperative agreements with, or make grants to, non13 profit organizations, including small business development 

14 centers, women’s business centers, chapters participating 

15 in the SCORE program authorized by section 8(b)(1)(B) 

16 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(b)(1)(B)), and 

17 other resource partners of the Administration, and appro18 priate private sector organizations or entities to provide 

19 technical assistance, mentoring, and other specialized 

20 training activities for encore entrepreneurs. 

21 (b) USES OF FUNDS.—Amounts made available 

22 under subsection (a) may be used to provide technical as23 sistance, mentoring, and other specialized training activi24 ties including— 


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1 (1) online resources and training for encore en2 trepreneurs, including virtual networking and men3 toring tools; 

4 (2) workshops, training, and business net5 working events for encore entrepreneurs; or 

6 (3) programs to assist encore entrepreneurs in 

7 remaining in or re-entering the labor market 

8 through self-employment. 

9 (c) APPLICATION.—An entity desiring a grant, con10 tract, or cooperative agreement under subsection (a) shall 

11 submit to the Administrator an application that con12 tains— 

13 (1) a description of the goals of the project to 

14 be funded; 

15 (2) a list of any partners that plan to partici16 pate in the project to be funded; and 

17 (3) any other information the Administrator de18 termines is necessary. 

19 (d) SPECIAL CONSIDERATION.—The Administrator 

20 shall give special consideration to applications seeking 

21 funding for programs for— 

22 (1) members of the Armed Forces impacted by 

23 base closures or realignment; or 

24 (2) encore entrepreneurs unemployed for a pe25 riod of not less than 1 year. 


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1 (e) TERMINATION.—The program established in sub2 section (a) shall terminate on September 30, 2017. 

3 SEC. 4. REPORT ON BARRIERS FACED BY ENCORE ENTRE4 PRENEURS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

6 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in con7 sultation with other relevant Federal agencies, shall sub8 mit to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepre9 neurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small Busi10 ness of the House of Representatives a report that de11 scribes the barriers and obstacles faced by encore entre12 preneurs in starting new small business concerns or ex13 panding existing small business concerns. 

14 (b) CONTENTS.—The report required under sub15 section (a) shall include— 

16 (1) a review of the accessibility and availability 

17 of credit and other forms of financing for encore en18 trepreneurs; 

19 (2) a review of the availability of Federal con20 tracting opportunities for encore entrepreneurs; 

21 (3) a review of the accessibility and availability 

22 of counseling and mentoring programs for encore en23 trepreneurs; and 


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1 (4) policy recommendations, if any, for improv2 ing Federal assistance and coordination on programs 

3 assisting encore entrepreneurs. 

Æ 


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