15 U.S.C. § 657d: Federal and State Technology Partnership Program

The term “applicant” means an entity, organization, or individual that submits a proposal for an award or a cooperative agreement under this section. The term “business advice and counseling” means providing advice and assistance on matters described in section 657e(c)(2)(B) of this title to small business concerns to guide them through the SBIR and STTR program process, from application to award and successful completion of each phase of the program. The term “catastrophic incident” means a major disaster that is comparable to the description of a catastrophic incident in the National Response Plan of the Administration, or any successor thereto. The term “FAST program” means the Federal and State Technology Partnership Program established under this section. The term “mentor” means an individual described in section 657e(c)(2) of this title . The term “Mentoring Network” means an association, organization, coalition, or other entity (including an individual) that meets the requirements of section 657e(c) of this title . The term “recipient” means a person that receives an award or becomes party to a cooperative agreement under this section. The term “SBIR program” has the same meaning as in section 638(e)(4) of this title . The term “State” means each of the several States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The term “STTR program” has the same meaning as in section 638(e)(6) of this title . The Administrator shall establish a program to be known as the Federal and State Technology Partnership Program, the purpose of which shall be to strengthen the technological competitiveness of small business concerns in the States. technology research and development by small business concerns; technology transfer from university research to technology-based small business concerns; technology deployment and diffusion benefiting small business concerns; State and local development agencies and entities; representatives of technology-based small business concerns; industries and emerging companies; universities; and small business development centers; and to make grants or loans to companies to pay a portion or all of the cost of developing SBIR proposals; to establish or operate a Mentoring Network within the FAST program to provide business advice and counseling that will assist small business concerns that have been identified by FAST program participants, program managers of participating SBIR agencies, the Administration, or other entities that are knowledgeable about the SBIR and STTR programs as good candidates for the SBIR and STTR programs, and that would benefit from mentoring, in accordance with section 657e of this title ; to create or participate in a training program for individuals providing SBIR outreach and assistance at the State and local levels; and to encourage the commercialization of technology developed through SBIR program funding. may only consider proposals by applicants that intend to use a portion of the Federal assistance provided under this section to provide outreach, financial support, or technical assistance to technology-based small business concerns participating in or interested in participating in the SBIR program; whether the applicant has demonstrated that the assistance to be provided would address unmet needs of small business concerns in the community, and whether it is important to use Federal funding for the proposed activities; whether the applicant has demonstrated that a need exists to increase the number or success of small high-technology businesses in the State, as measured by the number of first phase and second phase SBIR awards that have historically been received by small business concerns in the State; whether the projected costs of the proposed activities are reasonable; whether the proposal integrates and coordinates the proposed activities with other State and local programs assisting small high-technology firms in the State; the manner in which the applicant will measure the results of the activities to be conducted; and owned and controlled by women; owned and controlled by minorities; and located in areas that have historically not participated in the SBIR and STTR programs; and shall give special consideration to an applicant that is located in an area affected by a catastrophic incident. Not more than one proposal may be submitted for inclusion in the FAST program under this section to provide services in any one State in any 1 fiscal year. Proposals and applications for assistance under this section shall be in such form and subject to such procedures as the Administrator shall establish. The Administrator shall promulgate regulations establishing standards for the consideration of proposals under paragraph (2), including standards regarding each of the considerations identified in paragraph (2)(B). provide additional assistance to the applicant; and waive the matching requirements under subsection (e)(2). Federal agencies required by section 638 of this title to have an SBIR program; and State and local development agencies and entities; State committees established under the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research of the National Science Foundation (as established under section 1862g of title 42 ); State science and technology councils; and representatives of technology-based small business concerns. Awards and cooperative agreements under this section shall be made or entered into, as applicable, on a competitive basis. 50 cents for each Federal dollar, in the case of a recipient that will serve small business concerns located in one of the 18 States receiving the fewest SBIR first phase awards (as described in section 638(e)(4)(A) of this title ); except as provided in subparagraph (B), 1 dollar for each Federal dollar, in the case of a recipient that will serve small business concerns located in one of the 16 States receiving the greatest number of such SBIR first phase awards; and except as provided in subparagraph (B), 75 cents for each Federal dollar, in the case of a recipient that will serve small business concerns located in a State that is not described in clause (i) or (ii) that is receiving such SBIR first phase awards. The non-Federal share of the cost of the activity carried out using an award or under a cooperative agreement under this section shall be 50 cents for each Federal dollar that will be directly allocated by a recipient described in subparagraph (A) to serve small business concerns located in a qualified census tract, as that term is defined in section 42(d)(5)(C)(ii) 1 of title 26. Federal dollars not so allocated by that recipient shall be subject to the matching requirements of subparagraph (A). 1 See References in Text note below. The non-Federal share of the cost of an activity carried out by a recipient shall be comprised of not less than 50 percent cash and not more than 50 percent of indirect costs and in-kind contributions, except that no such costs or contributions may be derived from funds from any other Federal program. For purposes of subparagraph (A), the Administrator shall reevaluate the ranking of a State once every 2 fiscal years, beginning with fiscal year 2001, based on the most recent statistics compiled by the Administrator. Awards may be made or cooperative agreements entered into under this section for multiple years, not to exceed 5 years in total. a description of the structure and procedures of the program; a management plan for the program; and a description of the merit-based review process to be used in the program. the number and amount of awards provided and cooperative agreements entered into under the FAST program during the preceding year; a list of recipients under this section, including their location and the activities being performed with the awards made or under the cooperative agreements entered into; and the status of the inclusion of mentoring information in the database required by section 638(k) of this title ; and the status of the implementation and description of the usage of the Mentoring Networks. the extent to which recipients under the FAST program are measuring the performance of the activities being conducted and the results of such measurements; and the overall management and effectiveness of the FAST program. During the first quarter of fiscal year 2004, the Inspector General of the Administration shall submit a report to the Committee on Small Business of the Senate and the Committee on Science and the Committee on Small Business of the House of Representatives on the review conducted under paragraph (1). There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out the FAST program, including Mentoring Networks, under this section and section 657e of this title , $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2001 through 2005. Of the total amount made available under paragraph (1) for fiscal years 2001 through 2005, a reasonable amount, not to exceed a total of $500,000, may be used by the Administration to carry out section 657e(d) of this title . The authority to carry out the FAST program under this section shall terminate on September 30, 2005 . programs to foster economic development among small high-technology firms vary widely among the States; States that do not aggressively support the development of small high-technology firms, including participation by small business concerns in the SBIR program, are at a competitive disadvantage in establishing a business climate that is conducive to technology development; and building stronger national, State, and local support for science and technology research in these disadvantaged States will expand economic opportunities in the United States, create jobs, and increase the competitiveness of the United States in the world market.”