I 
109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6020 
To support business incubation in academic settings, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 28, 2006 
Mr. TIERNEY (for himself, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. CASE, Mr. FILNER, Ms. 
MCCOLLUM of Minnesota, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. OWENS, Mr. MCGOVERN, 
Mr. POMEROY, Mr. BISHOP of New York, Mr. MEEHAN, Ms. BALDWIN, 
Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. NEAL of Massa-
chusetts, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. KIND, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. 
GRIJALVA, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. OLVER, Mr. ALLEN, 
Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Mr. HIGGINS, Mr. 
MCINTYRE, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode 
Island, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. SIMMONS, Ms. JACKSON-LEE 
of Texas, Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. 
GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. WYNN, Mr. HONDA, Mrs. MCCAR-
THY, 
Mr. 
MICHAUD, 
Ms. 
HOOLEY, 
Mr. 
MCCOTTER, 
Mr. 
RUPPERSBERGER, 
Mr. 
BROWN
of 
Ohio, 
Mr. 
CLEAVER, 
Mr. 
FORTENBERRY, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. HOLT, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. UDALL 
of New Mexico, Mr. MCHUGH, Mr. LIPINSKI, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDON-
ALD, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. FORD, Mr. MILLER of North Caro-
lina, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. CARNAHAN, Ms. ESHOO, 
Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, and Mr. LEVIN) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To support business incubation in academic settings, and 
for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND FINDINGS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Linking Educators and Developing Entrepreneurs for 
Reaching Success (LEADERS) Act’’. 
(b) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find-
ings: 
(1) Business incubators housed in academic set-
tings provide unique educational opportunities for 
students, provide entrepreneurs with enhanced ac-
cess to a skilled workforce, and bring a wealth of re-
sources to business, academia, and communities. 
(2) Academic affiliated incubators bridge the 
missions of academic institutions by bringing to-
gether education, economic development, and tech-
nology commercialization efforts. 
(3) Studies have shown that incubator tenant 
companies have an average success rate of 87 per-
cent, and 90 percent for technology-based incubator 
tenant companies. These success rates are dramati-
cally higher than the success rates for companies in 
the general economy. 
(4) Incubator companies are also more likely to 
remain in the same communities as they grow and 
to provide high paying jobs and benefits to their em-
ployees. 
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(5) Business incubators help academic institu-
tions contribute to local goals of sustaining economic 
development in their surrounding communities. 
(6) Education in entrepreneurship and other 
business formation skills is essential to business suc-
cess and sustainable economic development. 
SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 
The purpose of this Act is to encourage entrepreneur-
ship by increasing the role for academia in entrepreneur-
ship by providing space and expertise in an academic set-
ting to house and support new and emerging small busi-
nesses. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) 
DEGREE-GRANTING
INSTITUTION.—The 
term ‘‘degree-granting institution’’ means an institu-
tion of higher education, as defined in section 101 
of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1001), that awards an associate or baccalaureate de-
gree. 
(2) INCUBATOR.—The term ‘‘incubator’’ means 
an entity affiliated with or housed in a degree-grant-
ing institution that provides space and coordinated 
and specialized services to entrepreneurial businesses 
which meet selected criteria during the businesses’ 
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