Office of Rural Affairs of the Small Business Administration

Section 26 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 653) is amended—(1)in subsection (a), by inserting Establishment.— before There;(2)by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:

(b)

Appointment of Assistant Administrator

(1)

In general

The Office shall be administered by an Assistant Administrator, who shall—(A)be appointed by the Administrator; and(B)serve as a noncareer appointee, as defined in section 3132(a)(7) of title 5, United States Code.(2)

Qualification

The position of Assistant Administrator shall be a Senior Executive Service position under section 3132(a)(2) of title 5, United States Code.

;

(3)in subsection (c)—(A)in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by inserting Duties.— before The Office;(B)in paragraph (1), by striking small business concerns located in rural areas and inserting rural small business concerns;(C)in paragraph (3), by striking concerning the and all that follows through the semicolon at the end and inserting the following: on the policies and programs of the Administration and of other Federal departments and agencies for assisting rural small business concerns;;(D)in paragraph (4), by striking ; and and inserting a semicolon;(E)in paragraph (5)—(i)by striking the United States Tourism and Travel Administration and inserting the National Travel and Tourism Office of the Department of Commerce;(ii)by striking small businesses in rural areas and inserting rural small business concerns; and(iii)by striking the period at the end and inserting ; and; and(F)by adding at the end the following:

(6)host outreach events for rural small business concerns as described in subsection (d).

; and

(4)by adding at the end the following:

(d)

Outreach

The Assistant Administrator shall—(1)host outreach events in various regions of the United States for rural small business concerns; and(2)invite representatives from district offices of the Administration, resource partners, Federal and State agencies, and other interested persons to participate in such outreach events.(e)

Interagency cooperation

The Assistant Administrator shall coordinate with the Department to—(1)conduct outreach regarding programs of the Administration and the Department and to improve awareness and utilization of the existing programs and services of each agency; and(2)convene interagency working groups to address issues including—(A)capital access and investment in rural areas of the United States, which may include—(i)identifying areas of overlap between the business loan programs of the Administration and the Department of Agriculture, including where intermediaries may be able to participate in programs at both agencies;(ii)assessing opportunities for coordination between the Administration and the Department on programs for rural communities of each agency through the district offices of the Administration, relationships with rural lenders, resource partners of the Administration, and joint outreach and marketing efforts;(iii)improving information sharing and discussion of best practices between the Administration and the Department;(iv)examining coordination between the small business investment company program under part A of title III of the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 681 et seq.) and related programs at the Department, including the Rural Business Investment Program of the Department;(v)examining opportunities for coordination between the disaster assistance programs of the Administration and the Department; and(vi)addressing barriers and examining opportunities for cooperatives to participate in programs and access resources of the Administration that are similar to the financing programs of the Department that serve cooperatives; and(B)assisting rural small business concerns, which may include—(i)identifying overlap and fragmentation among the rural markets identified by the Department and rural census tracts identified by the Administration;(ii)exploring opportunities to support innovation in rural areas;(iii)coordinating effective support initiatives that benefit Native Americans; and(iv)collaborating on technical assistance, especially with respect to exportation and procurement.(f)

Updates

Not later than 7 days after any change to or new issuance of a memorandum of understanding between the Administration and the Department, the Administration shall notify the appropriate congressional committees.(g)

Report

(1)

In general

Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this subsection, and annually thereafter, the Administrator shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees and make publicly available on a website of the Administration a report on the activities of the Office during the 1-year period immediately preceding the date of submission of the report.(2)

Contents

Each report required under paragraph (1) shall include the following:(A)The operational details of the Office, including the name of the Assistant Administrator, the budget of the Office, and the number of full-time employees employed by or detailed to the Office.(B)A summary of the activities conducted under subsection (c).(C)The number of outreach events conducted by the Administration to promote policies and programs described in paragraph (3) of subsection (c) and to provide information described in paragraph (4) of such subsection.(D)An analysis of the lending programs of the Administration in serving the needs of rural small business concerns.(E)A summary of activities conducted under subsection (e), including—(i)the status of any memorandum of understanding between the Administration and the Department of Agriculture to further the goals of improving service delivery, advice, and assistance for rural small business concerns;(ii)a summary of outreach efforts under subsection (e)(1);(iii)a summary of working groups created under subsection (e)(2), including any areas of overlap identified in capital access programs under subparagraph (A) of such subsection; and(iv)efforts to assist rural small business concerns under subsection (e)(2)(B).(h)

Definitions

In this section:(1)

Appropriate congressional committees

The term appropriate congressional committees means—(A)the Committees on Small Business and Entrepreneurship and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate; and (B)the Committee on Small Business and the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives. (2)

Assistant Administrator

The term Assistant Administrator means the Assistant Administrator of the Office of Rural Affairs appointed under subsection (b).(3)

Department

The term Department means the Department of Agriculture.