Topic: Domestic Commerce — Small Businesses
Subject: Commerce
Date: 2007-05-17 00:00:00

SBA Entrepreneurial Development Programs Act of 2007 - Title I: Revisions to Small Business Development Centers - (Sec. 101) Amends the Small Business Act to make operational changes to the Small Business Administration (SBA)'s small business development centers (SBDCs) program, including: (1) requiring new SBDC award grantees that are universities to be accredited; (2) requiring award grantees to be equal partners in grant program and contract negotiations; (3) prohibiting SBA interference in hiring practices of SBDC grant recipients; (4) prohibiting the SBA from using program resources for administrative expenses of examining SBDC operations; (5) exempting from the cap on non-matching portability grants grants made under a federally-designated disaster; (6) prohibiting the SBA Administrator from distributing funds to an SBDC if the state in which the SBDC is located is served by more than one SBDC, unless no SBDC applicant has applied to serve the entire state; and (7) requiring SBDCs to report broadband service purchases to the SBA Administrator. Title II: Grant Initiatives - (Sec. 201) Allows a lead SBDC to apply for an additional grant to carry out: (1) a capital access initiative program; (2) a disaster recovery program; (3) an innovation and competitiveness services to manufacturers initiative program; (4) a mature entrepreneurs assistance program; or (5) a small business sustainability initiative program. Outlines elements, and provides minimum and maximum grant amounts, under each program. (Sec. 206) Authorizes the Administrator to award a grant to a lead SBDC to provide assistance in securing affordable health insurance for small businesses and their employees. Provides a minimum grant amount of $200,000. Requires the: (1) grant recipient to report to the Administrator on the use of grant funds; and (2) Administrator to submit to Congress an evaluation of the grant program. (Sec. 207) Directs the Administrator to establish a program to provide regulatory compliance assistance to small businesses through selected SBDCs, the Association of Small Business Development Centers, and federal compliance partnership programs. Requires quarterly reports from participating SBDCs summarizing assistance provided. Requires the Administrator, in carrying out such program, to: (1) act as the repository of and clearinghouse for data and information submitted by participating SBDCs; and (2) report annually to the President and the congressional small business committees on assistance provided. Directs the: (1) Administrator to submit to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the SBA a list of regulations considered burdensome for small businesses; (2) Chief Counsel to review such regulations and identify those eligible for review by the appropriate federal rulemaking agency; and (3) Chief Counsel to annually publish a list of regulations determined eligible for review, and the results of such review. Allows only certified SBDCs to participate in the regulatory compliance assistance program, with a waiver if the Administrator determines that the SBDC is making a good faith effort to obtain such certification. Requires the Administrator to select for program participation the SBDC programs of two states from each of ten regional groups of states. Authorizes the Administrator to make additional SBDC program selections. Provides a minimum grant amount of $200,000. Requires the Comptroller General to evaluate the program, and to report evaluation results to the Administrator and the small business committees. (Sec. 208) Requires the Administrator to submit to Congress an evaluation of the effectiveness of the SBDC programs added by this title. Title III: SCORE - (Sec. 301) Repeals the Active Corps of Executives (ACE) program. (Sec. 302) Requires the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) to: (1) carry out a plan to increase the proportion of mentors who are from socially or economically disadvantaged backgrounds; and (2) establish benchmarks for use in evaluating the performance of its activities and volunteers.