[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 104 (Monday, July 13, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1729]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          EARMARK DECLARATION

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. C.W. BILL YOUNG

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 13, 2009

  Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Madam Speaker, pursuant to the House Republican 
Standards on Congressional appropriations initiatives, I am submitting 
the following information regarding projects that were included at my 
request in H.R. 3170, the Fiscal Year 2010 Financial Services 
Appropriations Bill:
  Pinellas County Business Assistance Partnership Network
  Account: Small Business Administration
  Legal name and address of requesting entity: Pinellas County Board of 
County Commissioners, 315 Court Street, Clearwater, FL 33756
  Description of request: $262,000 is included in the bill for Pinellas 
County to support the Business Assistance Partnership Network, an 
innovative partnership program to grow small businesses and 
entrepreneurs in Pinellas County. The Pinellas County Economic 
Development office has implemented and seeks to expand, a tri-
partnership with many of the county's municipalities, chambers of 
commerce, and libraries that provides free business planning, financial 
resources, and technical assistance services on issues ranging from 
start-ups and major expansions to permitting and zoning information and 
workforce development. Business development services include, but are 
not limited to: financing assistance with SBA loans, micro loans and 
conventional loans; commercial and real estate financing programs; 
reference library featuring a full-range of business publications; 
computer workstations and maintenance and enhancement of website 
portal; assistance with contacts, business agreements and business/
marketing plans; qualification assistance for industrial revenue bonds; 
training classes for business start-up, entrepreneurial assessment, 
business financing, tax regulations, bookkeeping/accounting methods, 
marketing, and procurement opportunities; business counseling services, 
education training courses, customized business start-up guides, 
marketing plans and business plans, international export assistance, 
government contracts and certification assistance. The Business 
Assistance Partnership Network has a proven record of success. Since 
its inception in 1998, over 10,000 businesses have participated in face 
to face interviews and provided more than 35,000 business and technical 
solutions for local entrepreneurs. In the last three years, the program 
has secured more than $2,300,000 in business loans to create or retain 
more than 300 jobs. It is anticipated that a continuation of the 
program would sustain 10 positions and potentially create/sustain 125-
200 jobs annually. The Business Assistance Partnership Network provides 
services essential to small business entrepreneurs hurt by current 
economic conditions and will help secure public sector jobs. Partner 
organizations include: Clearwater Regional Chamber of Commerce; Largo 
Mid-Pinellas Chamber of Commerce; Upper Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce; 
Palm Harbor Chamber of Commerce; Pinellas Park/Gateway Chamber of 
Commerce; Safety Harbor Chamber of Commerce; Seminole Chamber of 
Commerce; St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce; Hispanic Business 
Initiative Fund; Tarpon Springs Chamber of Commerce; Florida High Tech 
Corridor; STAR TECH; Tampa Bay Technology Forum; and regional local 
governments. No previous federal funding has been requested for this 
project.
  Southwest Florida Partnership for Developing Business Infrastructure 
in Software Engineering
  Account: Small Business Administration
  Legal name and address of requesting entity: Florida Gulf Coast 
University, 10501 Florida Gulf Coast University Boulevard South, Fort 
Myers, FL 33965
  Description of request: $261,000 is included in the bill for Florida 
Gulf Coast University to establish a partnership with five other 
Florida state universities through its departments of Computer Science 
and Computer Information Systems, and local industrial companies active 
in software service industries, to spur innovation activities in a 
broad area of Information Technology. The primary objective of the 
proposed activities will include the interaction with small businesses 
whose primary line of business is software development, to foster 
commercialization of selected innovative software technologies 
developed jointly by FGCU and its industrial partners. Initial 
commitments have been obtained from a number of local companies in the 
following sectors: e-commerce, transportation, hospitality management, 
health care, financial services, and technology. Their participation 
has been documented recently by establishing two important initiatives: 
(1) Software Technologies Distinguished Lecture Series, conducted for 
the past two years (http://lectureseries.fgcu.edu), and (2) Southwest 
Florida Regional Technology Partnership (http://www.swfrtp.org/). Two 
supportive activities to achieve this major objective will be also 
conducted: (1) establishing the infrastructure for software innovation 
at FGCU by expanding a software engineering educational and training 
program and a software engineering lab; (2) systematically educating 
the workforce in innovative software technologies to help strengthen 
the local job market. The project will have economic and societal 
impact by establishing the innovation infrastructure in the region, 
producing graduates in software engineering specialization to feed the 
local industries, and, in the long run, by helping move to the 
knowledge-based economy. The project will boost software innovations 
originating in the region and thus change the structure of workforce 
and employment base by increasing the number of knowledge-based jobs 
and generating different employment patterns. No previous federal 
funding was requested for this project.
  Turnaround Business Assistance Program
  Account: Small Business Administration
  Legal name and address of requesting entity: University of West 
Florida, 11000 University Parkway, Pensacola, FL 32514
  Description of request: $262,000 is included in the bill for the 
University of West Florida, in partnership with four other Florida 
universities, for its Turnaround Business Assistance Program which will 
become a statewide intensive technical assistance program for the 
statewide business community to halt the accelerated number of business 
failures and closures and enhance the survivability rate of small 
businesses. The program will use an innovative approach to assist these 
second stage businesses through the creation of an on-line turnaround 
tips training portal that includes emails, video clips and a blog to 
share effective tips on turnaround strategies; a comprehensive 
``intensive care'' treatment package that includes use of an assessment 
tool to identify critical issues in marketing, finance, technology and 
management practices; and specialized training workshops on turnaround 
strategies. Reportable metrics will include items such as in-business 
status, employee retention/ growth, change in sales, and workshop 
attendance. The program will operate through the Florida Small Business 
Development Center Network's infrastructure of 33 centers located from 
Key West to Pensacola as well as utilize the outreach capacity of two 
mobile assistance centers to deliver and promote its services. This 
program will be implemented and administered by the highly successful 
Florida Small Business Development Center Network, designated through 
Florida statutes as the state's principal small business assistance 
program. The Florida SBDC program has shown a positive revenue impact 
on the state's budget and has directly assisted in the creation of more 
than 280,000 jobs and started more than 5,500 new businesses. No 
previous funding was requested for this project.

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