[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 250 (Thursday, December 29, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 96155-96157]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-31455]


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SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION


Announcement of the Aspire Challenge--An Agency Prize Competition

AGENCY: U.S. Small Business Administration.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Aspire Challenge is a prize competition conducted under 
the America Competes Act. The objective of the prizes is to spur the 
development and provision of innovative entrepreneurial development and 
access to capital resources for formerly incarcerated individuals or 
those who are non-violent ex-offenders

DATES: The submission period for entries will begin on December 29, 
2016 and close on February 13, 2017. SBA anticipates that winners will 
be announced no later than March 14, 2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Matthew Stevens, Strategic Initiatives 
Manager, Office of Entrepreneurial Development, U.S. Small Business 
Administration, 409 Third Street SW., 6th Floor, Washington, DC 20416, 
(202) 205-7699, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), officially 
established in 1953, maintains and strengthens the nation's economy by 
aiding, counseling, assisting, and protecting the interests of small 
businesses, and by helping families and businesses to recover from 
national disasters. The SBA's mission includes assisting small 
businesses to start, grow, and compete in markets by providing quality 
training, counseling, and access to resources.
    The Aspire Challenge is a prize competition designed to spur the 
development and provision of innovative entrepreneurial development and 
access to capital resources for formerly incarcerated individuals or 
those who are non-violent ex-offenders. Of the 600,000 individuals 
released on average each year from federal prisons, an estimated 60 
percent remain unemployed one year after their release, raising the 
risk of recidivism and resulting in lost lifetime earnings. In fact, 
two-thirds of these individuals historically are rearrested within 
three years of their release.
    This challenge competition is separate but builds on the momentum 
of the Aspire Entrepreneurship Initiative, a public-private partnership 
announced in August 2016 between the SBA, W.K. Kellogg Foundation and 
JUSTINE Petersen. The three-year initiative is a pilot to test 
entrepreneurship education programming and microloan assistance through 
SBA Microloan Intermediaries to formerly incarcerated individuals in 
St. Louis, MO, Chicago, IL, Louisville, KY and Detroit, MI. The goal of 
the Aspire Challenge is to source additional

[[Page 96156]]

innovative solutions in other areas in the United States beyond these 
four metropolitan areas. This challenge also aligns with other actions 
identified by the Federal Interagency Reentry Council, a cabinet-level 
working group to support the federal government's efforts to promote 
public safety and economic opportunity through purposeful cross-agency 
coordination and collaboration.\1\
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    \1\ https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/11/02/fact-sheet-president-obama-announces-new-actions-promote-rehabilitation.
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    Through the design and delivery of intensive entrepreneurial 
education and increased access to micro-loans, the Aspire Challenge 
will serve as a catalyst to leverage business formation as a tool for 
economic mobility and self-employment for the formerly incarcerated. 
This competition is designed to award prizes to entrepreneurial support 
organizations that propose innovative and sustainable solutions to 
equipping the formerly incarcerated with the education and technical 
assistance they need to start and grow a business.

Competition Details

    (1) Subject of Challenge Competition: The SBA is working to create 
pathways towards entrepreneurship and access to capital resources to 
individuals who have been formerly incarcerated. The SBA is looking for 
contestants who offer solutions that are innovative and relevant based 
on the needs of this target market. Solutions should incorporate the 
following two components:
    (i) Delivery of Intensive Entrepreneurial Education to individuals 
who have been formerly incarcerated, by providing innovative and 
comprehensive entrepreneurial education with a focus on the following:
    (A) Develop and deliver comprehensive entrepreneurship training, 
for which individuals who have been incarcerated will earn a 
certificate upon completion;
    (B) Provide individualized business mentoring to support 
participants' growth as prospective entrepreneurs;
    (C) Build participants' ties to the larger business community; and
    (D) Connect participants to opportunities for life skills 
development and financial literacy.
    (ii) Access to Capital:
    When appropriate, link participants with participating microlenders 
including SBA Microloan Intermediaries, to fund new businesses and 
provide capital to existing ventures.
    (iii) Aspire Challenge contestants shall provide a data-driven 
assessment of the proposed community's entrepreneurial ecosystem as it 
exists today and identify training, education and support gaps for 
individuals who have been formerly incarcerated. Contestants shall 
propose an intensive entrepreneurship education and program plan that 
provides targeted support to participating entrepreneurs in an effort 
to increase their ability to start and grow businesses, while at the 
same time, enhancing their personal and professional skills to improve 
their employment outlook. Contestants shall demonstrate an ability and 
cultural competency to reach formerly incarcerated individuals or those 
who are non-violent ex-offenders.
    (2) Eligibility Rules for Participating in the Competition: To be 
eligible to win a prize under this competition, a contestant:
    (i) Shall have registered to participate in the competition under 
the rules promulgated by SBA;
    (ii) Shall have complied with all the requirements under this 
Notice;
    (iii) In the case of a private entity, shall be incorporated in and 
maintain a primary place of business in the United States, and
    (iv) May not be a Federal entity or Federal employee acting within 
the scope of their employment;
    (v) Shall not be an SBA employee working on their applications 
during assigned duty hours.
    (3) Registration Process for Contestants: Contestants will submit 
their application through challenge.gov. Winners will be required to 
have an account in System for Award Management (SAM) https://www.sam.gov to receive the award.
    (4) Amount of Prize: Through the Aspire Challenge, the SBA will 
award up to sixteen awards of up to $75,000 each for a total of up to 
$1.2 million in prizes.
    (5) Payment of Prize: The cash prize portion of the award will be 
disbursed in a series of three of payments. The first payment, equal to 
40 percent of a winner's total prize amount, will be disbursed upon 
award once all initial requirements in the Official Rules available at 
https://www.challenge.gov (see Rules tab under the Aspire 
Entrepreneurship Challenge subpage) have been met and the contestant 
has provided documentary evidence satisfactory to SBA. The second 
payment, equal to 30 percent of a winner's total prize amount, will be 
disbursed after a winner has delivered a kickoff event and the first 
50% of the proposed training program has been delivered to the intended 
audience and the contestant has provided documentary evidence 
satisfactory to SBA. The kickoff and first 50% of the program must be 
executed within six months of the date of the award unless otherwise 
specified by the SBA. The remaining 30 percent of the total prize 
amount will be disbursed after a winner submits a written assessment 
that includes, but is not limited to, the outcomes and outputs of the 
pilot implementation of the training program as measured by the metrics 
outlined in its challenge application, a summary of any lessons learned 
and best practices, and suggestions for any improvements to the design 
or implementation of similar competitions in the future. The written 
assessment must be submitted to SBA no later than eighteen months after 
a winner receives its first prize payment and the documentation must be 
satisfactory to SBA.
    (6) Selection of Winners:
    (i) Competition entries will be evaluated by a review committee 
that may be comprised of SBA officials, employees of other Federal 
agencies, and/or private sector experts. Winners will be selected based 
on the quality, clarity, completeness, and feasibility of their 
proposals in addressing the issues outlined in the criteria below. In 
addition, in order to achieve nationwide distribution of prizes for the 
purpose of assisting business startups across the entire United States, 
SBA may take into account contestants' geographic locations and areas 
of service when selecting winners. For the announcement of winners, any 
travel or related expenses to attend an event will be the 
responsibility of the winner and may not be paid with prize funds.
    (ii) Each Aspire Challenge solution plan shall include innovative 
solutions under the following criteria:
    (A) Entrepreneurial Education
    (1) Recruitment: Key to testing entrepreneurship training/access to 
microloans as a tool to reduce recidivism is the outreach to and 
recruitment of formerly incarcerated individuals. The applicant shall 
demonstrate how they intend to identify the participants who will 
receive the services described in this challenge.
    (2) Classroom Instruction: A proven, existing intensive 
entrepreneurship education curriculum designed for starting and growing 
businesses. Contests shall include how contestants will:
    (i) Organize participants to meet in-person for classroom 
instructions that progressively develops over several weeks;
    (ii) Provide online resources and other components/activities that 
supplement the in-person curriculum;

[[Page 96157]]

    (iii) Guide participants to explore their personal entrepreneurial 
interests and visions;
    (iv) Address topics such as process, strategy, financing, 
marketing, human resources, leadership, contracting and market/product 
development;
    (v) Guide all participants, by the end of the training, to refine 
and draft a complete business plan.
    (3) Mentoring:
    (i) Provide individualized support on developing entrepreneurial 
skills and strategies.
    (4) Community Connections:
    (i) Opportunities to connect with the local business community and 
social service providers to increase participants' financial literacy.
    (B) Access to Capital
    (1) Access to micro-lending and other capital/funding 
opportunities: \2\ (i) Link participants with participating 
microlenders, including SBA Microloan Intermediaries, when appropriate, 
to fund and grow new businesses;
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    \2\ In 2015, the SBA published a final rule for its Microloan 
Program allowing microloans to be made by SBA Microloan 
Intermediaries to small businesses owners currently on probation or 
parole. 13 CFR 120.707(a). The SBA's Microloan Program is focused on 
new businesses and other underserved markets and provides loans up 
to $50,000.
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    (ii) Provide Assistance to prepare to meet with capital providers, 
preparing proper documentation, matchmaking events with local lenders 
and funders, or business pitch events to angel investors, for example.
    (7) Applicable Law: This Competition is being conducted by SBA 
pursuant to the America Competes Act (15 U.S.C. 3719) and is subject to 
all applicable federal laws and regulations. By participating in this 
competition, each contestant gives its full and unconditional agreement 
to the Official Rules, located on www.challenge.gov and the related 
administrative decisions described in this notice, which are final and 
binding in all matters related to the competition. A contestant's 
eligibility for a prize award is contingent upon its fulfilling all 
requirements identified in this notice and in the Official Rules. 
Publication of this notice is not an obligation of funds on the part of 
SBA. SBA reserves the right to modify or cancel this competition, in 
whole or in part, at any time prior to the award of prizes.
    (8) Conflicts of Interest: No individual acting as a judge at any 
stage of this competition may have personal or financial interests in, 
or be an employee, officer, director, or agent of any contestant or 
have a familial or financial relationship with a contestant.
    (9) Intellectual Property Rights:
    (i) All entries submitted in response to this competition will 
remain the sole intellectual property of the individuals or 
organizations that developed them. By registering and entering a 
submission, each contestant represents and warrants that it is the sole 
author and copyright owner of the submission, and that the submission 
is an original work of the contestant, or if the submission is a work 
based on an existing application, that the contestant has acquired 
sufficient rights to use and to authorize others to use the submission, 
and that the submission does not infringe upon any copyright or upon 
any other third party rights of which the contestant is aware.
    (ii) The winning contestant will, in consideration of the prize to 
be awarded, grant to SBA an irrevocable, royalty-free, exclusive 
worldwide license to reproduce, distribute, copy, display, create 
derivative works, and publicly post, link to, and share the solutions 
or parts thereof that are to be developed as a result of winning this 
competition or for any official SBA purpose.
    (10) Publicity Rights: By registering and entering a submission, 
each contestant consents to SBA's and its agents' use, in perpetuity, 
of its name, likeness, photograph, voice, opinions, and/or hometown and 
state information for promotional or informational purposes through any 
form of media, worldwide, without further payment or consideration.
    (11) Liability and Insurance Requirements: By registering and 
entering a submission, each contestant agrees to assume any and all 
risks and waive claims against the Federal Government and its related 
entities, except in the case of willful misconduct, for any injury, 
death, damage, or loss of property, revenue, or profits, whether 
direct, indirect, or consequential, arising from their participation in 
this competition, whether the injury, death, damage, or loss arises 
through negligence or otherwise. By registering and entering a 
submission, each contestant further represents and warrants that it 
possesses sufficient liability insurance or financial resources to 
cover claims by a third party for death, bodily injury, or property 
damage or loss resulting from any activity it carries out in connection 
with its participation in this competition, or claims by the Federal 
Government for damage or loss to government property resulting from 
such an activity. Competition winners shall be prepared to demonstrate 
proof of insurance or financial responsibility in the event SBA deems 
it necessary.
    (12) Record Retention and Disclosure: All submissions and related 
materials provided to SBA in the course of this competition 
automatically become SBA records and cannot be returned. Contestants 
shall identify any confidential commercial information contained in 
their entries at the time of their submission.
    Award Approving Official: Lori Gillen, Deputy Associate 
Administrator, Office of Entrepreneurial Development, U.S. Small 
Business Administration, 409 Third Street SW., Washington, DC 20416.

    Authority: America Competes Reauthorization Act of 2010, 15 
U.S.C. 3719.

Maria Contreras-Sweet,
Administrator, U.S. Small Business Administration.
[FR Doc. 2016-31455 Filed 12-28-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 8025-01-P