II 112th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 3198 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES May 17, 2012 Ms. Landrieu (for herself and Ms. Snowe) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship A BILL To amend the Small Business Act to improve the entrepreneurial development programs of the Small Business Administration, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Strengthening Resources for America's Entrepreneurs Act of 2012.

2.

Expanding entrepreneurship

Section 4 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 633) is amended by adding at the end the following: (g)

Management and direction

(1)

Plan for entrepreneurial development and job creation strategy

(A)

Plan required

The Administrator, in consultation with a representative from each entrepreneurial development program of the Administration, shall develop and submit to Congress a plan for using the entrepreneurial development programs of the Administration to create jobs during fiscal years 2013 and 2014. (B)

Contents of plan

The plan required under subparagraph (A) shall— (i)include the plan of the Administrator for using existing programs, including small business development centers, women’s business centers, the Service Corps of Retired Executives authorized by section 8(b)(1), veterans business centers, and programs of the Office of Native American Affairs, to create jobs; (ii)identify a strategy for each region of the Administration to use programs of the Administration to create or retain jobs in the region; and (iii)establish performance measures and criteria, including goals for job creation, job retention, and job retraining, to evaluate the success of the plan. (2)

Data collection process

(A)

In general

The Administrator shall, after notice and opportunity for comment, promulgate a rule to develop and implement a consistent data collection process for the entrepreneurial development programs. (B)

Contents

The data collection process developed under subparagraph (A) shall collect data relating to job creation and performance and any other data determined appropriate by the Administrator. (3)

Coordination and Alignment of SBA Entrepreneurial Development Programs

The Administrator, in consultation with other Federal departments and agencies as the Administrator determines is appropriate, shall submit an annual report to Congress describing opportunities to foster coordination of, limit duplication among, and improve program delivery for Federal entrepreneurial development programs. (4)

Database of Entrepreneurial Development Service Providers

(A)

Establishment

After providing a period of 60 days for public comment, the Administrator shall— (i)establish a database of providers of entrepreneurial development services; and (ii)make the database available through the website of the Administration. (B)

Searchability

The database established under subparagraph (A) shall be searchable by industry, geographic location, and service required. (5)

Community specialist

(A)

Designation

The Administrator shall designate not fewer than 1 staff member in each district office of the Administration as a community specialist whose full-time responsibility is working with local providers of entrepreneurial development services to increase coordination with Federal entrepreneurial development programs. (B)

Performance

The Administrator shall develop benchmarks for measuring the performance of community specialists under this paragraph. .