II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2850 

To amend the Small Business Act to create a program to provide funding 

for 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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 17 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 16), 2014 

Mr. BOOKER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

A BILL 

To amend the Small Business Act to create a program to 

provide funding for 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 ‘‘Startup Opportunity 

5 Accelerator Act of 2014’’ or the ‘‘SOAR Act’’. 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 2850 IS

1 SEC. 2. FUNDING FOR ORGANIZATIONS THAT SUPPORT 

2 STARTUP BUSINESSES. 

3 The Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is 

4 amended— 

5 (1) by redesignating section 47 (15 U.S.C. 631 

6 note) as section 48; and 

7 (2) by inserting after section 46 the following: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 47. FUNDING FOR ORGANIZATIONS THAT SUPPORT 

9 STARTUP BUSINESSES. 

10 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

11 ‘‘(1) the term ‘eligible entity’ means an organi12 zation— 

13 ‘‘(A) that is located in the United States; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(B) the primary purpose of which is to 

16 support new small business concerns; 

17 ‘‘(2) the term ‘new small business concern’ 

18 means a small business concern that has been in op19 eration for not more than 5 years; and 

20 ‘‘(3) the term ‘State’ means any State of the 

21 United States, the District of Columbia, the Com22 monwealth of Puerto Rico, and any territory or pos23 session of the United States. 

24 ‘‘(b) FUNDING.— 

25 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

26 the date of enactment of this section, the AdminisVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Sep 24, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2850.IS S2850

smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 2850 IS

1 trator shall develop and begin implementing a pro2 gram to award cash prizes of not more than $50,000 

3 to eligible entities to support new small business 

4 concerns. 

5 ‘‘(2) USE OF FUNDS.—A prize under this sec6 tion— 

7 ‘‘(A) may be used for construction costs, 

8 space acquisition, and programmatic purposes; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(B) may not be used to provide capital or 

11 professional services to new small business con12 cerns directly or through the subaward of 

13 funds. 

14 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENT FOR APPLICANTS.—An eligible 

15 entity desiring a prize under this section shall demonstrate 

16 that the eligible entity will use the prize to provide assist17 ance to not less than 10 new small business concerns per 

18 year. 

19 ‘‘(d) CRITERIA.—The Administrator shall establish 

20 criteria for prizes under this section that shall give priority 

21 to eligible entities that are providing or plan to provide 

22 to new small business concerns— 

23 ‘‘(1) office, manufacturing, or warehouse space, 

24 including appropriate operations infrastructure; 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 2850 IS

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

2 eligible entity (using amounts other than the 

3 amounts provided under the prize) or through guid4 ance and contacts for acquiring capital from outside 

5 investors); 

6 ‘‘(3) access to professional services (either di7 rectly from the eligible entity (using amounts other 

8 than the amounts provided under the prize) or 

9 through guidance and contacts for acquiring profes10 sional services), including accounting and legal serv11 ices; or 

12 ‘‘(4) a formal structured mentorship or develop13 mental program that assists new small business con14 cerns with building business skills and competencies. 

15 ‘‘(e) CONSIDERATIONS IN CHOOSING RECIPIENTS.— 

16 In determining whether to award a prize under this sec17 tion to an eligible entity, the Administrator shall take into 

18 account— 

19 ‘‘(1) for eligible entities that have in operation 

20 a program to support new small business concerns, 

21 the record of the eligible entity in assisting new 

22 small business concerns, including, for each of the 3 

23 full years before the date on which the eligible entity 

24 applies for a prize under this section— 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 2850 IS

1 ‘‘(A) the retention rate of new small busi2 ness concerns in the program of the eligible en3 tity; 

4 ‘‘(B) the average period of participation by 

5 new small business concerns in the program of 

6 the eligible entity; 

7 ‘‘(C) the total, average, and median capital 

8 raised by new small business concerns partici9 pating in the program of the eligible entity; and 

10 ‘‘(D) the total, average, and median num11 ber of employees of new small business concerns 

12 participating in the program of the eligible enti13 ty; 

14 ‘‘(2) for all eligible entities— 

15 ‘‘(A) the number of new small business 

16 concerns assisted or anticipated to be assisted 

17 by the eligible entity; 

18 ‘‘(B) the number of new small business 

19 concerns applying or anticipated to apply for 

20 assistance from the eligible entity; 

21 ‘‘(C) whether the program of the eligible 

22 entity provides or would provide assistance to 

23 individuals in gender, racial, or ethnic groups 

24 underrepresented by existing programs to assist 

25 new small business concerns; and 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 2850 IS

1 ‘‘(D) other metrics determined appropriate 

2 by the Administrator; 

3 ‘‘(3) the need in the geographic area to be 

4 served by the program to be carried out using the 

5 prize for additional assistance for new small business 

6 concerns, if the area has sufficient population den7 sity, as determined by the Administrator; 

8 ‘‘(4) the level of experience of the entrepre9 neurial leadership of the eligible entity; and 

10 ‘‘(5) the ability of the eligible entity to use and 

11 leverage local strengths, including human resources, 

12 infrastructure, and educational institutions. 

13 ‘‘(f) MATCHING NONPUBLIC FUNDING REQUIRE14 MENT.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity receiving 

16 a prize under this section shall obtain funds from a 

17 private individual or entity (including a for profit or 

18 nonprofit entity) that are— 

19 ‘‘(A) for the same purposes as a prize may 

20 be made under this section; 

21 ‘‘(B) used to carry out the program of the 

22 eligible entity carried out using the prize under 

23 this section; and 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 2850 IS

1 ‘‘(C) in an amount that is not to be less 

2 than 50 percent of the amount of the prize 

3 under this section. 

4 ‘‘(2) FORM OF NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—Not 

5 more than 25 percent of the funds obtained under 

6 paragraph (1) may be in the form of in-kind con7 tributions. 

8 ‘‘(g) CONSEQUENCES OF FAILURE TO ABIDE BY

9 TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF PRIZE OR REQUIREMENTS

10 OF THIS SECTION.—The Administrator shall notify each 

11 eligible entity receiving a prize under this section that fail12 ure to abide by the terms and conditions of the prize or 

13 the requirements of this section may, in the discretion of 

14 the Administrator and in addition to any other civil or 

15 criminal consequences, result in the Administrator order16 ing the eligible entity to return the prize funds. 

17 ‘‘(h) ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORTING BY RECIPIENTS

18 OF PRIZE.—Each eligible entity receiving a prize under 

19 this section shall submit to the Administrator an annual 

20 report on the progress of the program carried out using 

21 the amounts received under the prize, including— 

22 ‘‘(1) the number of new small business concerns 

23 participating in the program during each of the pre24 vious 3 years; 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 2850 IS

1 ‘‘(2) the number of new small business concerns 

2 applying to participate in the program during each 

3 of the previous 3 years; 

4 ‘‘(3) the retention rate of new small business 

5 concerns in the program; 

6 ‘‘(4) the average period of participation in the 

7 program by new small business concerns; 

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

9 raised by new small business concerns participating 

10 in the program; 

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

12 employees of new small business concerns partici13 pating in the program; and 

14 ‘‘(7) other metrics determined appropriate by 

15 the Administrator. 

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

17 shall submit to Congress an annual report on the program 

18 under this section, which shall include an assessment of 

19 the effectiveness of the program, including an assessment 

20 based on the metrics listed in subsection (h). 

21 ‘‘(j) COORDINATION WITH OTHER SMALL BUSINESS

22 ADMINISTRATION PROGRAMS.—The Administrator shall 

23 take appropriate action to encourage eligible entities re24 ceiving a prize under this section to use and incorporate 

25 other programs of the Administration, such as small busiVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:37 Sep 24, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2850.IS S2850

smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
9 

•S 2850 IS

1 ness development centers, small business investment com2 panies, loans under section 7(a), and assistance under title 

3 V of the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 (15 

4 U.S.C. 695 et seq.). 

5 ‘‘(k) LISTING ON WEBSITE.—The Administrator 

6 shall include a list of eligible entities receiving a prize 

7 under this section on the website of the Administration. 

8 ‘‘(l) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATION.—There 

9 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

10 $5,000,000 for each of the first 5 fiscal years beginning 

11 after the date of the enactment of this section.’’. 

Æ 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS