I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2809 

To amend the Riegle Community Development and Regulatory Improvement 

Act of 1994 to improve the microenterprise technical assistance and 

capacity building grant program, to establish an Office of Youth Entrepreneurship in the Small Business Administration, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 5, 2011 

Mr. RICHMOND introduced the following bill 

SEPTEMBER 6, 2011 

Referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committees on Small Business, and Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Riegle Community Development and Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994 to improve the microenterprise technical assistance and capacity building grant 

program, to establish an Office of Youth Entrepreneurship in the Small Business Administration, 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, 

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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Microenterprise and 

3 Youth Entrepreneurship Development Act of 2011’’. 

4 SEC. 2. MICROENTERPRISE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND 

5 CAPACITY BUILDING PROGRAM. 

6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 172(5) of the Riegle 

7 Community Development and Regulatory Improvement 

8 Act of 1994 (15 U.S.C. 6901(5)) is amended— 

9 (1) in subparagraph (B) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 

10 end; 

11 (2) in subparagraph (C) by striking the period 

12 at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

13 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(D) an entrepreneur that operates a busi15 ness or intends to operate a business in an in16 vestment area (as such term is defined in sec17 tion 103(16) of this Act).’’. 

18 (b) USES OF ASSISTANCE.—Section 174 of the Riegle 

19 Community Development and Regulatory Improvement 

20 Act of 1994 (15 U.S.C. 6903) is amended— 

21 (1) in paragraph (3) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

22 end; 

23 (2) by redesignating paragraph (4) as para24 graph (5); and 

25 (3) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol26 lowing: 

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1 ‘‘(4) to advertise in print, electronic, and other 

2 media the training and technical assistance provided 

3 under paragraph (1); and’’. 

4 (c) TARGETED ASSISTANCE.—Section 176(b) of the 

5 Riegle Community Development and Regulatory Improve6 ment Act of 1994 (15 U.S.C. 6905(b)) is amended by 

7 striking ‘‘50 percent’’ and inserting ‘‘60 percent’’. 

8 (d) MATCHING REQUIREMENTS.—Section 177(c) of 

9 the Riegle Community Development and Regulatory Im10 provement Act of 1994 (15 U.S.C. 6906(c)) is amended 

11 by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(3) CONSIDERATION.—In determining whether 

13 to reduce or eliminate matching requirements under 

14 paragraph (1), the Administrator shall consider the 

15 impact of the economic crisis of 2007 through 2009 

16 on the geographic area in which an applicant oper17 ates.’’. 

18 (e) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

19 of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Small 

20 Business Administration shall submit to the Committee on 

21 Small Business of the House of Representatives and the 

22 Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of 

23 the Senate a report describing recommendations for im24 proving the application and grant making process of the 

25 microenterprise technical assistance and capacity building 

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1 grant program (carried out under subtitle C of title I of 

2 the Riegle Community Development and Regulatory Im3 provement Act of 1994), including recommendations, de4 veloped in consultation with stakeholders, for streamlining 

5 the application and grant making process of that program. 

6 (f) MICROENTERPRISE COORDINATOR.— 

7 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 1 year 

8 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis9 trator shall establish in the Small Business Adminis10 tration the position of Microenterprise Coordinator. 

11 (2) DUTIES.—The Microenterprise Coordinator 

12 shall— 

13 (A) work to ensure that the contributions 

14 of microenterprises to the economy are maxi15 mized; 

16 (B) work to enhance, support, and coordi17 nate the programs of the Federal Government 

18 providing assistance to microenterprises, includ19 ing Federal technical assistance programs; 

20 (C) work to ensure that underserved entre21 preneurs are included in the programs of the 

22 Federal Government providing assistance to 

23 microenterprises; 

24 (D) make available to the public annually 

25 a comprehensive list and description of each 

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1 Federal program that provides assistance to 

2 microenterprises; and 

3 (E) encourage public-private partnerships 

4 that support entrepreneurship. 

5 (3) MICROENTERPRISE DEFINED.—In this sub6 section, the term ‘‘microenterprise’’ has the meaning 

7 given that term in section 172(10) of the Riegle 

8 Community Development and Regulatory Improve9 ment Act of 1994 (15 U.S.C. 6901(10)). 

10 SEC. 3. OFFICE OF YOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP. 

11 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 1 year after 

12 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of 

13 the Small Business Administration shall establish an Of14 fice of Youth Entrepreneurship (in this section referred 

15 to as the ‘‘Office’’) in the Small Business Administration. 

16 (b) DIRECTOR.—The Administrator shall appoint a 

17 Director of Youth Entrepreneurship (in this section re18 ferred to as the ‘‘Director’’) to serve as the head of the 

19 Office. 

20 (c) DUTIES.—The Director shall— 

21 (1) carry out the youth entrepreneurship tech22 nical assistance grant program described in sub23 section (d); 

24 (2) carry out the youth entrepreneurship cur25 riculum grant program described in subsection (e); 

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1 (3) promote the growth of youth entrepreneur2 ship by establishing public-private partnerships and 

3 carrying out advertising campaigns; 

4 (4) sponsor and support State and national 

5 youth entrepreneurship competitions that raise 

6 awareness of the importance of small business devel7 opment; 

8 (5) study and promote Federal activities that 

9 support entrepreneurship education; and 

10 (6) support the establishment of public and pri11 vate youth entrepreneurship education and men12 toring opportunities. 

13 (d) YOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP TECHNICAL AS14 SISTANCE GRANT PROGRAM.—The Director shall estab15 lish a program under which the Director may make grants 

16 to assist entities, including nonprofit microenterprise de17 velopment organizations, to provide individuals under 25 

18 years of age with technical assistance related to entrepre19 neurship. 

20 (e) YOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP CURRICULUM

21 GRANT PROGRAM.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall establish 

23 a program under which the Director may make 

24 grants to a covered entity to assist the development, 

25 improvement, or implementation of a youth entremstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 preneurship curriculum that includes information on 

2 the topics of— 

3 (A) securing capital and borrowing; 

4 (B) business plan conception and drafting; 

5 (C) accounting; 

6 (D) management; and 

7 (E) marketing. 

8 (2) APPLICATION PROCESS.—To be eligible for 

9 a grant described in paragraph (1), a covered entity 

10 shall submit to the Director an application at such 

11 time, in such manner, and containing such informa12 tion as the Director may require, except that the ap13 plication shall include at least— 

14 (A) a description of the curriculum to be 

15 developed, improved, or implemented; 

16 (B) a description of how grant funds will 

17 be used; 

18 (C) a description of goals relating to the 

19 use of grant funds and the curriculum to be de20 veloped, improved, or implemented; and 

21 (D) a description of how progress will be 

22 measured with respect to the goals described in 

23 subparagraph (C). 

24 (3) COVERED ENTITY DEFINED.—In this sub25 section, the term ‘‘covered entity’’ means a local 

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1 educational agency in any of the several States, the 

2 District of Columbia, or a territory or possession of 

3 the United States and a local educational agency of 

4 a federally recognized Indian tribe. 

5 (f) INVESTMENT AREAS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall ensure 

7 that at least 25 percent of the amounts made avail8 able to carry out the Office each fiscal year are used 

9 to assist youth in investment areas. 

10 (2) INVESTMENT AREA DEFINED.—In this sub11 section, the term ‘‘investment area’’ has the meaning 

12 given that term in section 103(16) of the Riegle 

13 Community Development and Regulatory Improve14 ment Act of 1994 (12 U.S.C. 4702(16)). 

15 (g) STUDENT LOAN ASSISTANCE.—Not later than 

16 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Di17 rector, in consultation with the Secretary of Education, 

18 shall submit to Congress a report that includes detailed 

19 recommendations for legislation— 

20 (1) establishing a program to forgive student 

21 loans in a manner that assists youth entrepreneur22 ship by making available capital for business forma23 tion; and 

24 (2) establishing a program to defer student loan 

25 repayments in a manner that assists youth entrepremstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 neurship by making available capital for business 

2 formation. 

3 SEC. 4. GAO STUDY AND REPORT. 

4 (a) STUDY.—The Comptroller General of the United 

5 States shall conduct a study on— 

6 (1) the economic impact of allowing youth en7 trepreneurs to defer student loan repayments to 

8 make available capital for business formation; 

9 (2) the economic impact of increasing the par10 ticipation of individuals under 25 years of age in the 

11 microloan program of the Small Business Adminis12 tration (carried out under section 7(m) of the Small 

13 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(m)), notwithstanding 

14 the limited collateral and formal business experience 

15 of such individuals; 

16 (3) alternative methods for measuring credit17 worthiness that may assist youth entrepreneurship; 

18 and 

19 (4) actions Congress should consider to promote 

20 youth entrepreneurship. 

21 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

22 of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall 

23 submit to the Committee on Small Business of the House 

24 of Representatives and the Committee on Small Business 

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1 and Entrepreneurship of the Senate a report on the re2 sults of the study conducted under subsection (a). 

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