I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1418

To provide for business incubator activities, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 4, 2001

Mr. QUINN (for himself, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. LAFALCE, Mr. MCNULTY, Ms.

SLAUGHTER, and Mrs. MALONEY of New York) introduced the following

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services

A BILL

To provide for business incubator activities, 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 ‘‘Entrepreneurial Incu5 bators Development Act of 2001’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds the following:

8 (1) While small businesses have been an engine

9 of economic growth over the past decade, they often
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1 lack access to the technology available to larger busi2 nesses.

3 (2) Business incubators have proven an effec4 tive source of economic growth in the States.

5 (3) Scientific discoveries need to be quickly con6 verted into job and community ventures.

7 SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR SUPPORT OF BUSINESS INCUBATOR

8 ACTIVITIES.

9 (a) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this section to

10 encourage entrepreneurial creativity and risk taking

11 through the support of the furnishing of business incu12 bator services for newly established small businesses and

13 medium-sized businesses.

14 (b) GRANT PROGRAM.—To achieve the purpose of

15 this section, the Secretary of Commerce (in this section,

16 referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall carry out a program

17 to provide, through grants, financial assistance for the es18 tablishment and support of entities that provide business

19 incubator services in support of the initiation and initial

20 sustainment of business activities by newly established

21 small businesses and medium-sized businesses.

22 (c) AWARDS OF GRANTS.—

23 (1) ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.—The Sec24 retary shall prescribe the eligibility requirements for

25 the awarding of grants under this section.
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1 (2) COMPETITIVE SELECTION.—The Secretary

2 shall use a competitive process for the awarding of

3 grants under this section and, under that process,

4 select recipients of the grants on the basis of merit,

5 with priority given to underserved rural and urban

6 communities.

7 (3) APPLICATIONS FOR GRANTS.—The Sec8 retary shall prescribe the form and content of appli9 cations required for grants under this section.

10 (d) ADDITIONAL ADMINISTRATIVE AUTHORITIES.—

11 (1) COST-SHARING.—The Secretary may re12 quire the recipient of a grant under this section to

13 defray a specific level of its operating expenses for

14 business incubator services out of funds available

15 from sources other than the Federal Government.

16 (2) ADDITIONAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—

17 The Secretary, in awarding a grant, may impose any

18 other terms and conditions for the use of the pro19 ceeds of the grant that the Secretary determines ap20 propriate for carrying out the purpose of this section

21 and to protect the interests of the United States, in22 cluding the requirement that entities providing busi23 ness incubator services that receive a grant under

24 this section develop a plan for ultimately becoming

25 self-sufficient.
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1 (e) DEFINITIONS.—

2 (1) BUSINESS INCUBATOR SERVICES.—In this

3 section, the term ‘‘business incubator services’’ in4 cludes professional and technical services necessary

5 for the initiation and initial sustainment of oper6 ations of a newly established business, including

7 such services as the following:

8 (A) LEGAL SERVICES.—Legal services, in9 cluding aid in preparing corporate charters,

10 partnership agreements, and basic contracts.

11 (B) INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY SERV12 ICES.—Services in support of the protection of

13 intellectual property through patents, trade14 marks, or otherwise.

15 (C) TECHNOLOGY SERVICES.—Services in

16 support of the acquisition and use of advanced

17 technology, including the use of Internet serv18 ices and web-based services.

19 (D) PLANNING.—Advice on—

20 (i) strategic planning; and

21 (ii) marketing, including advertising.

22 (2) SMALL BUSINESS AND MEDIUM-SIZED BUSI23 NESS.—

24 (A) SECRETARY TO PRESCRIBE.—The Sec25 retary shall prescribe the definitions of the
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1 terms ‘‘small business’’ and ‘‘medium-sized

2 business’’ for the purpose of this section.

3 (B) SMALL BUSINESS STANDARDS.—In de4 fining the term ‘‘small business’’ for the pur5 pose of this section, the Secretary shall apply

6 the standards applicable for the definition of

7 the term ‘‘small-business concern’’ under sec8 tion 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C.

9 632).

10 (f) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall prescribe

11 regulations for the grant program administered under this

12 section.

13 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

14 authorized to be appropriated for the Department of Com15 merce for carrying out this section $50,000,000 for fiscal

16 year 2002, and $200,000,000 for each fiscal year there17 after.

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