PRINTER'S NO. 3363
No. 2357 Session of 2006
INTRODUCED BY KILLION, KAUFFMAN, BALDWIN, BEYER, BOYD, CALTAGIRONE, CAPPELLI, CLYMER, DeWEESE, DIVEN, J. EVANS, GEIST, GINGRICH, GOODMAN, GRELL, GRUCELA, HARRIS, HENNESSEY, HERSHEY, KOTIK, MARKOSEK, PYLE, REED, SATHER, SIPTROTH, SOLOBAY, E. Z. TAYLOR, THOMAS, WILT, YOUNGBLOOD, SAINATO AND FREEMAN, JANUARY 18, 2006
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, JANUARY 18, 2006
AN ACT 1 Providing for the establishment of additional centers within the 2 system of university-based and college-based entrepreneurial 3 centers known as the Pennsylvania Small Business Development 4 Centers and for an appropriation. 5 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 6 hereby enacts as follows: 7 Section 1. Short title. 8 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Pennsylvania 9 Small Business Development Center Expansion Act. 10 Section 2. Legislative findings. 11 The General Assembly finds that the Pennsylvania Small 12 Business Development Centers (SBDCs) have since their inception 13 in 1980 provided important entrepreneurial and small business 14 start-up consulting to tens of thousands of persons. The General 15 Assembly finds further that this consulting has resulted in the 16 establishment of thousands of firms and the employment of many 17 thousands of citizens of this Commonwealth. Further, the General
1 Assembly finds that the Pennsylvania SBDC program is an 2 extremely cost-effective economic development tool. The General 3 Assembly finds that changing demographics in this Commonwealth 4 and other factors may have caused some regions of this 5 Commonwealth to be underserved by this valuable program. 6 Section 3. Definitions. 7 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall 8 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the 9 context clearly indicates otherwise: 10 "Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers." 11 University-based and college-based centers for entrepreneurial 12 and small business consulting established by the Pennsylvania 13 Small Business Act (Public Law 85-536, 15 U.S.C. § 631 et seq.). 14 "State director." The State director of the Pennsylvania 15 Small Business Development Centers. 16 Section 4. Optimizing Pennsylvania Small Business Development 17 Centers service delivery. 18 The office of the State director shall at its expense 19 undertake a study to determine the optimum number of 20 Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers to adequately 21 and appropriately serve the needs of this Commonwealth's 22 entrepreneurial and small business citizenry. The State director 23 shall apportion Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers 24 service territories as necessary to serve the community. The 25 State director shall determine whether any regions of this 26 Commonwealth are underserved and could be better served with the 27 establishment of a new small business development center. The 28 State director shall make all findings that have been made 29 available to the General Assembly. 30 Section 5. Establishment of additional centers. 20060H2357B3363 - 2 -
1 (1) If the State director finds that any regions of this 2 Commonwealth are underserved and could be better served with 3 the establishment of a new small business development center, 4 the State director shall take action to: 5 (i) Identify appropriate institutions of higher 6 education staffed and equipped to host a small business 7 development center. 8 (ii) Confirm the identified potential host 9 universities or colleges will make, on an ongoing basis, 10 the necessary one-half funding match to the operations of 11 a small business development center. 12 (iii) Select appropriate hosts and create new small 13 business development centers as necessary to serve the 14 entrepreneurial and small business citizens of this 15 Commonwealth. 16 (2) The State director shall make selections on the 17 following criteria: 18 (i) The institution must offer an undergraduate 19 four-year degree in business. Preference will be given to 20 institutions offering advanced degrees in business or 21 closely related fields. 22 (ii) The area proposed to be served must include at 23 least 35,000 businesses and a population of at least 24 235,000. 25 (iii) The institution must present a plan to deliver 26 the full range of basic services in the proposed service 27 area, including: 28 (A) Effective outreach to the business community 29 in the service area. 30 (B) Training programs designed to assist 20060H2357B3363 - 3 -
1 individuals in determining business feasibility and 2 to plan for initiation of new ventures. 3 (C) One-on-one consulting to assist small 4 businesses in the development of skills in finance, 5 financial management, marketing, 6 accounting/bookkeeping, strategic planning and other 7 business management skills. 8 (D) Development and presentation of training 9 programs to meet identified educational needs. 10 (E) Research in electronic information 11 resources. 12 (F) Screening for referral to specialized 13 services offered by other Pennsylvania Small Business 14 Development Centers. 15 (G) Screening for referral to other appropriate 16 business development activities. 17 (H) Development of relationships with 18 appropriate business and economic development 19 activities. 20 (I) Appropriate integration into the academic 21 activities of the host institution. 22 (iv) The proposed center must agree the Pennsylvania 23 Small Business Development Centers will, within the 24 institution, be an identifiable entity with dedicated 25 staff and facilities. 26 (v) The Pennsylvania Small Business Development 27 Centers director must have a reporting relationship which 28 supports the operations of the center and indicates its 29 value within the institution. 30 (vi) The proposed center must describe the 20060H2357B3363 - 4 -
1 integration of the Pennsylvania Small Business 2 Development Centers within the host institution and the 3 capacity of the Pennsylvania Small Business Development 4 Centers to access resources of the institution in order 5 to serve clients. 6 (vii) The institution must provide adequate space 7 for Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers 8 operations, including space to accommodate confidential 9 consulting. 10 (viii) The college or university must be willing to 11 contribute $1 matching funds for every dollar provided. 12 No more than one-half of those matching funds can consist 13 of waived indirect costs or in-kind contributions. 14 (ix) The initial minimum total budget to enable the 15 Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers to serve 16 the required business population must be not less than 17 $350,000. 18 (x) The level of service proposed must represent a 19 cost-effective use of Pennsylvania Small Business 20 Development Centers funds. 21 (xi) The application must include evidence of the 22 support of the community and of cooperating economic and 23 business development organizations. 24 (3) Subsequent to the creation of a new small business 25 development center or centers, the State director shall 26 reapportion Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers 27 service territories as necessary to serve the community. 28 Section 6. Funding. 29 In addition to the annual appropriation for the Pennsylvania 30 Small Business Development Centers program in any general 20060H2357B3363 - 5 -
1 appropriation act, the sum of $625,000 is hereby appropriated to 2 the Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers program in 3 the creation of new centers. 4 Section 7. Effective date. 5 This act shall take effect July 1, 2006, or immediately, 6 whichever is later. L19L71JS/20060H2357B3363 - 6 -