[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4422 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4422

  To establish the Minority Entrepreneurship and Business Development 
                    Program, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 12, 2010

  Mr. Sestak introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committees on 
Education and Labor and Small Business, 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 establish the Minority Entrepreneurship and Business Development 
                    Program, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Minority Entrepreneurship and 
Business Development Act''.

SEC. 2. MINORITY ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND BUSINESS ENTREPRISE CENTER GRANT 
              PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--The Director may make grants to an eligible 
educational institution or an eligible association or organization--
            (1) to assist in establishing an entrepreneurship 
        curriculum for studies; and
            (2) for placement of a Minority Business Entreprise Center 
        within the educational institution, association, or 
        organization.
    (b) Use of Funds.--
            (1) Curriculum and capacity training requirement.--An 
        eligible educational institution, association, or organization 
        receiving a grant under this section shall develop a curriculum 
        and capacity training requirement that includes training in 
        various skill sets needed by successful entrepreneurs, 
        including--
                    (A) business management and marketing, financial 
                management and accounting, marketing analysis and 
                competitive analysis, and innovation and strategic 
                planning; and
                    (B) additional entrepreneurial skill sets specific 
                to the needs of the student population and the 
                surrounding community, as determined by the 
                institution.
            (2) Minority business enterprise center requirement.--Each 
        eligible educational institution, association or organization 
        receiving a grant under this section shall open a Minority 
        Business Enterprise Center that follows the duties as prescibed 
        by the Director of the Minority Business Development Agency.
    (c) Grant Awards.--
            (1) In general.--The Director may not award a grant under 
        this section to a single eligible educational institution, 
        association or organization--
                    (A) in excess of $1,500,000 in any fiscal year; or
                    (B) for a term of more than 3 years.
            (2) Limitation on use of funds.--Funds made available under 
        this section may not be used for--
                    (A) any purpose other than those associated with 
                the direct costs incurred by the eligible educational 
                institution, association or organization to--
                            (i) develop and implement the curriculum 
                        described in subsection (b)(1); or
                            (ii) organize and operate a minority 
                        business enterprise center, as described 
                        subsection (b)(2); or
                    (B) building expenses, administrative travel 
                budgets, or other expenses not directly related to the 
                costs described in subparagraph (A).
    (d) Matching Requirement.--Grants made under this Act shall require 
a private matching grant of 15 percent.
    (e) Report.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 120 days following the end 
        of the fiscal year of each year in which funds are made 
        available for grants under this section, the Director shall 
        submit to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 
        of the Senate and the Committee on Small Business of the House 
        of Representatives, a report evaluating the success of the 
        program under this section during the preceding fiscal year.
            (2) Contents of report.--Each report under paragraph (1) 
        shall include--
                    (A) a description of each entrepreneurship program 
                developed with grant funds, the date of the award, and 
                the number of participants in each such program;
                    (B) the number of small business assisted through 
                the minority business enterprise center with grant 
                funds; and
                    (C) data regarding the economic impact of minority 
                business enterprise center with grant funds.
    (f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $40,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2010 through 2012, to remain available until expended.
    (g) Limitation on Use of Funds.--The Director shall carry out this 
section only with amounts appropriated in advance specifically to carry 
out this section.

SEC. 3. OFFICE OF MINORITY ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT.

    (a) Office of Minority Entrepreneurship and Business Development.--
There is established in the Minority Business Development Agency an 
Office of Minority Entrepreneurship and Business Development, which 
shall be administered by an Associate Director for Minority 
Entrepreneurship and Business Development appointed under section 
3(b)(1) (in this section referred to as the ``Associate Director'').
    (b) Associate Director for Minority Entrepreneurship and Business 
Development.--The Associate Director shall--
            (1) be--
                    (A) an appointee in the Senior Executive Service 
                who is a career appointee; or
                    (B) an employee in the competitive service;
            (2) increase the proportion of counseling and training that 
        goes to minority start-ups and the Agency's entrepreneurial 
        development programs;
            (3) increase the proportion of the Agency's contracts to 
        minority entrepreneur and new businesses;
            (4) work with the partners of the Agency, trade 
        associations, and business groups to identify and carry out 
        policies and procedures to more effectively market the 
        resources of the Agency to new and small minority-owned 
        businesses;
            (5) ensure that the Agency's district offices and regional 
        offices have adequate staff, funding, and other resources to 
        market the grant program to newly formed and emerging minority-
        owned businesses and eligible institutions of higher education;
            (6) report to and be responsible directly to the Director.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section--
            (1) $7,000,000 for fiscal year 2010;
            (2) $7,000,000 for fiscal year 2011; and
            (3) $7,000,000 for fiscal year 2012.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act--
            (1) the terms ``Agency'' and ``Director'' mean the Minority 
        Small Business Development Agency and the Director thereof, 
        respectively;
            (2) the term ``eligible association or organization'' means 
        an association or organization that--
                    (A) is--
                            (i) a minority business association 
                        described under paragraph (3) or (6) of section 
                        501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and 
                        exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of 
                        such Code; or
                            (ii) a foundation of minority business 
                        associations described under section 501(c)(3) 
                        of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt 
                        from taxation under section 501(a) of such 
                        Code; and
                    (B) has been in existence for at least the 5-year 
                period before the date of awarding a grant under 
                section 2;
            (3) the term ``eligible educational institution'' means an 
        institution that is--
                    (A) a public or private institution of higher 
                education (including any land-grant college or 
                university, any college or school of business, 
                engineering, commerce, or agriculture, or community 
                college or junior college) or any entity formed by 2 or 
                more institutions of higher education; and
                    (B) a--
                            (i) historically Black college;
                            (ii) Hispanic-serving institution;
                            (iii) Asian-serving institution;
                            (iv) Native Hawaiian-serving institution; 
                        or
                            (v) tribal college;
            (4) the term ``historically Black college'' means a part B 
        institution, as that term is defined in section 322 of the 
        Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061);
            (5) the term ``Hispanic-serving institution'' has the 
        meaning given that term in section 502 of the Higher Education 
        Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1101a);
            (6) the term ``institution of higher education'' has the 
        meaning given that term in section 101 of the Higher Education 
        Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001);
            (7) the term ``small business concern'' has the meaning 
        given that term in section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 
        U.S.C. 632); and
            (8) the term ``tribal college'' has the same meaning as the 
        term ``tribally controlled college or university'' under 
        section 2(a)(4) of the Tribally Controlled Community College 
        Assistance Act of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 1801(a)(4)).
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