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•HR 2419 EH1S 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘microenter-
prise development organization’ means a non-
profit entity that— 
‘‘(i) provides training and technical 
assistance to rural entrepreneurs; and 
‘‘(ii) facilitates access to capital or an-
other service described in subsection (b) 
for rural entrepreneurs. 
‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘microenter-
prise development organization’ includes an or-
ganization described in subparagraph (A) with 
a demonstrated record of delivering services to 
economically disadvantaged microentrepreneurs, 
or an effective plan to develop a program to de-
liver microenterprise services to rural entre-
preneurs effectively, as determined by the Sec-
retary. 
‘‘(8) MICROENTERPRISE
DEVELOPMENT
PRO-
GRAM.—The term ‘microenterprise development pro-
gram’ means a program administered by a qualified 
organization serving a rural area. 
‘‘(9) MICROENTREPRENEUR.—The term ‘micro-
entrepreneur means’ the owner, operator, or devel-
oper of a microenterprise.
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•HR 2419 EH1S 
‘‘(10) PROGRAM.—The term ‘program’ means 
the rural entrepreneur and microenterprise program 
established under subsection (b)(1). 
‘‘(11) QUALIFIED
ORGANIZATION.—The term 
‘qualified organization’ means— 
‘‘(A) a microenterprise development orga-
nization or microenterprise development pro-
gram that has a demonstrated record of deliv-
ering microenterprise services to rural entre-
preneurs, or an effective plan to develop a pro-
gram to deliver microenterprise services to rural 
entrepreneurs effectively, as determined by the 
Secretary; 
‘‘(B) an intermediary that has a dem-
onstrated record of delivering assistance to 
microenterprise development organizations or 
microenterprise development programs; 
‘‘(C) an Indian tribe, the tribal government 
of which certifies to the Secretary that there is 
no microenterprise development organization or 
microenterprise development program under the 
jurisdiction of the Indian tribe; 
‘‘(D) a group of 2 or more organizations or 
Indian tribes described in any of subparagraphs
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•HR 2419 EH1S 
(A) through (C) that agree to act jointly as a 
qualified organization under this section; or 
‘‘(E) for purposes of subsection (b), a pub-
lic college or university that has a demonstrated 
record of delivering assistance to microenter-
prise development organizations or microenter-
prise development programs. 
‘‘(12) RURAL
AREA.—The term ‘rural area’ 
means any area of the United States that is not— 
‘‘(A) included within the boundaries of any 
city, town, borough, or village, whether incor-
porated or unincorporated, with a population of 
more than 20,000 inhabitants; or 
‘‘(B) the urbanized area contiguous and 
adjacent to such a city or town. 
‘‘(13) RURAL CAPACITY-BUILDING SERVICE.— 
The term ‘rural capacity-building service’ means a 
service provided to an organization that— 
‘‘(A) is, or is in the process of becoming, 
a microenterprise development organization or 
microenterprise development program; and 
‘‘(B) serves rural areas for the purpose of 
enhancing the ability of the organization to pro-
vide training, technical assistance, and other re-
lated services to rural entrepreneurs.
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•HR 2419 EH1S 
‘‘(14) 
RURAL
ENTREPRENEUR.—The 
term 
‘rural entrepreneur’ means a microentrepreneur, or 
prospective microentrepreneur— 
‘‘(A) the principal place of business of 
which is in a rural area; and 
‘‘(B) that is unable to obtain sufficient 
training, technical assistance, or microcredit 
elsewhere, as determined by the Secretary. 
‘‘(15) TRIBAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘tribal 
government’ means the governing body of an Indian 
tribe. 
‘‘(b) RURAL
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
AND
MICRO-
ENTERPRISE PROGRAM.— 
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall es-
tablish a rural entrepreneurship and microenterprise 
program. 
‘‘(2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the program 
shall be to provide low-income individuals and mod-
erate-income individuals with— 
‘‘(A) the skills necessary to establish new 
small businesses in rural areas; and 
‘‘(B) continuing technical and financial as-
sistance as individuals and business starting or 
operating small businesses. 
‘‘(3) GRANTS.—
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•HR 2419 EH1S 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary may 
make a grant under the program to a qualified 
organization— 
‘‘(i) to provide training, operational 
support, or a rural capacity-building serv-
ice to a qualified organization to assist the 
qualified organization in developing micro-
enterprise training, technical assistance, 
market development assistance, and other 
related services, primarily for business with 
10 or fewer full-time-equivalent employees; 
‘‘(ii) to assist in researching and de-
veloping the best practices in delivering 
training, technical assistance, and micro-
credit to rural entrepreneurs; and 
‘‘(iii) to carry out such other projects 
and activities as the Secretary determines 
to be consistent with the purposes of this 
section. 
‘‘(B) DIVERSITY.—In making grants under 
this paragraph, the Secretary shall ensure, to 
the maximum extent practicable, that grant re-
cipients include qualified organizations— 
‘‘(i) of varying sizes; and