II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1191 

To authorize the Secretary of Commerce to award grants to States to establish revolving loan funds to provide loans to small manufacturers to 

develop new products, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 24, 2007 

Mr. BROWN (for himself, Mr. DORGAN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, and Mr. SCHUMER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Commerce to award grants 

to States to establish revolving loan funds to provide 

loans to small manufacturers to develop new products, 

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 ‘‘Growth Opportunity 

5 Act of 2007’’. 


hmoore on PRODPC68 with HMBILLS
2 

•S 1191 IS

1 SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR STATES TO ESTABLISH REVOLVING 

2 LOAN FUNDS TO PROVIDE LOANS TO SMALL 

3 MANUFACTURERS. 

4 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

5 (1) CENTER.—The term ‘‘Center’’ means a Re6 gional Center for the Transfer of Manufacturing 

7 Technology described in section 25 of the National 

8 Institute of Standards and Technology Act (15 

9 U.S.C. 278k). 

10 (2) MANUFACTURING EXTENSION PARTNERSHIP

11 PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Manufacturing Extension 

12 Partnership program’’ means the program under 

13 sections 25 and 26 of the National Institute of 

14 Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278k and 

15 278l). 

16 (3) REVOLVING LOAN FUND.—The term ‘‘re17 volving loan fund’’ means a revolving loan fund de18 scribed in subsection (d). 

19 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

20 the Secretary of Commerce. 

21 (5) SMALL MANUFACTURER.—The term ‘‘small 

22 manufacturer’’ means a manufacturer with less than 

23 $50,000,000 in annual sales. 

24 (b) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 


hmoore on PRODPC68 with HMBILLS
3 

•S 1191 IS

1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized 

2 to award grants to States to establish revolving loan 

3 funds. 

4 (2) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—The Secretary may 

5 not award a grant under this section in an amount 

6 that exceeds $10,000,000. 

7 (3) MULTIPLE GRANT AWARDS.—A State may 

8 not receive more than 1 grant under this section in 

9 any fiscal year. 

10 (c) CRITERIA FOR THE AWARDING OF GRANTS.— 

11 (1) MATCHING FUNDS.—The Secretary may not 

12 make a grant to a State under this section unless 

13 the State agrees to provide contributions in an 

14 amount equal to not less than 25 percent of the 

15 Federal funds provided under the grant. 

16 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—A State receiving 

17 a grant under this section may only use such 

18 amount of the grant for the costs of administering 

19 the revolving loan fund as the Secretary shall pro20 vide in regulations. 

21 (3) PREFERENCE.—In awarding grants each 

22 year, the Secretary shall give preference to States 

23 that have not previously been awarded a grant under 

24 this section. 

25 (4) APPLICATION.— 


hmoore on PRODPC68 with HMBILLS
4 

•S 1191 IS

1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each State seeking a 

2 grant under this section shall submit to the 

3 Secretary an application therefor in such form 

4 and in such manner as the Secretary considers 

5 appropriate. 

6 (B) CONTENT.—Each application sub7 mitted under subparagraph (A) shall contain 

8 the following: 

9 (i) Evidence that the applicant can es10 tablish and administer a revolving loan 

11 fund. 

12 (ii) The applicant’s need for a grant 

13 under this section. 

14 (iii) The impact that receipt of a 

15 grant under this section would have on the 

16 applicant. 

17 (d) REVOLVING LOAN FUNDS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State receiving a grant 

19 under this section shall establish, maintain, and ad20 minister a revolving loan fund in accordance with 

21 this subsection. 

22 (2) DEPOSITS.—A revolving loan fund shall 

23 consist of the following: 

24 (A) Amounts from grants awarded under 

25 this section. 


hmoore on PRODPC68 with HMBILLS
5 

•S 1191 IS

1 (B) All amounts held or received by the 

2 State incident to the provision of loans de3 scribed in subsection (e), including all collec4 tions of principal and interest. 

5 (3) EXPENDITURES.—Amounts in the revolving 

6 loan fund shall be available for the provision and ad7 ministration of loans in accordance with subsection 

8 (e). 

9 (4) ADMINISTRATION.—A State may enter into 

10 an agreement with a Center to administer a revolv11 ing loan fund. 

12 (e) LOANS.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—A State receiving a grant 

14 under this section shall use the amount in the re15 volving loan fund to make the following loans: 

16 (A) STAGE-1 LOANS.—A stage-1 loan 

17 means a loan made to a small manufacturer in 

18 an amount not to exceed $50,000, for new 

19 product development to conduct the following: 

20 (i) Patent research. 

21 (ii) Market research. 

22 (iii) Technical feasibility testing. 

23 (iv) Competitive analysis. 

24 (B) STAGE-2 LOANS.—A stage-2 loan 

25 means a loan made to a small manufacturer in 


hmoore on PRODPC68 with HMBILLS
6 

•S 1191 IS

1 an amount not to exceed $100,000 to develop 

2 a prototype of and test a new product. 

3 (2) LOAN TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—The fol4 lowing shall apply with respect to loans provided 

5 under paragraph (1): 

6 (A) DURATION.—Except as provided in 

7 subparagraph (B), loans shall be for a period 

8 not to exceed 10 years. 

9 (B) PREPAYMENT.—A recipient of a loan 

10 may prepay such loan before the end of the du11 ration of such loan without penalty. 

12 (C) INTEREST RATE.—Loans shall bear in13 terest at a rate of 3.5 percent annually. 

14 (D) ACCRUAL OF INTEREST.—Loans shall 

15 accrue interest during the entire duration of the 

16 loan. 

17 (E) PAYMENT OF INTEREST.—A State 

18 may not require a recipient of a loan to make 

19 interest payments on such loan during the first 

20 3 years of such loan. 

21 (F) COLLATERAL.—No collateral or per22 sonal guaranty shall be required for receipt of 

23 a loan. 

24 (G) SECURED INTEREST IN INTELLECTUAL

25 PROPERTY.—Each loan shall be secured by an 


hmoore on PRODPC68 with HMBILLS
7 

•S 1191 IS

1 interest in any intellectual property developed 

2 by the recipient of such loan through the use of 

3 amounts from such loan. 

4 (H) DEVELOPMENT OF BUSINESS PLANS

5 AND BUDGETS.—Each recipient of a loan shall 

6 develop, in cooperation with a Center, a busi7 ness plan and a budget for the use of loan 

8 amounts. 

9 (I) PREFERENCE FOR LOAN APPLICANTS

10 THAT PARTICIPATE IN THE MANUFACTURING

11 EXTENSION PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM.—In se12 lecting small manufacturers to receive a loan, a 

13 recipient of a grant under this section shall give 

14 preference to small manufacturers that are par15 ticipants in the Manufacturing Extension Part16 nership program. 

17 (J) LOCATION OF PRODUCT DEVELOP18 MENT.—Each recipient of a loan shall commit 

19 to developing and manufacturing the product 

20 for which a loan is sought in the State that pro21 vides the loan for the duration of the loan if 

22 such product is developed during such duration. 

23 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

24 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 


hmoore on PRODPC68 with HMBILLS
8 

•S 1191 IS

1 out the provisions of this section, $52,000,000 for each 

2 of fiscal years 2008 through 2014, of which— 

3 (1) $50,000,000 shall be for providing grants 

4 under this section; and 

5 (2) $2,000,000 shall be for the costs of admin6 istering grants awarded under this section. 

Æ 


hmoore on PRODPC68 with HMBILLS