15 U.S.C. § 657e — Mentoring Networks

Page 1063 TITLE 15—COMMERCE AND TRADE § 657e (h) Program levels (1) In general There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out the FAST program, including Men- toring Networks, under this section and sec- tion 657e of this title, $10,000,000 for each of fis- cal years 2001 through 2005. (2) Mentoring database 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. (i) Termination The authority to carry out the FAST program under this section shall terminate on September 30, 2005. (Pub. L. 85–536, § 2[34], as added Pub. L. 106–554, § 1(a)(9) [title I, § 111(b)(2)], Dec. 21, 2000, 114 Stat. 2763, 2763A–674; amended Pub. L. 107–50, § 8, Oct. 15, 2001, 115 Stat. 265; Pub. L. 114–88, div. B, title I, § 2104, Nov. 25, 2015, 129 Stat. 691; Pub. L. 116–283, div. A, title VIII, § 867(2), Jan. 1, 2021, 134 Stat. 3787.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT Subpar. (C) of section 42(d)(5) of title 26, referred to in subsec. (e)(2)(B), was redesignated (B) by Pub. L. 110–289, div. C, title I, § 3003(g)(3), July 30, 2008, 122 Stat. 2882. PRIOR PROVISIONS A prior section 2[34] of Pub. L. 85–536 was renumbered section 2[49] and is set out as a note under section 631 of this title. AMENDMENTS 2021—Subsec. (a)(9). Pub. L. 116–283 substituted ‘‘American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands’’ for ‘‘and American Samoa’’. 2015—Subsec. (a)(3) to (10). Pub. L. 114–88, § 2104(a), added par. (3) and redesignated former pars. (3) to (9) as (4) to (10), respectively. Subsec. (c)(2)(C). Pub. L. 114–88, § 2104(b), added sub- par. (C). Subsec. (c)(5). Pub. L. 114–88, § 2104(c), added par. (5). 2001—Subsec. (c)(2)(B)(vi). Pub. L. 107–50, § 8(a), added cl. (vi). Subsec. (c)(4). Pub. L. 107–50, § 8(b), inserted at end ‘‘The Administrator shall promulgate regulations es- tablishing standards for the consideration of proposals under paragraph (2), including standards regarding each of the considerations identified in paragraph (2)(B).’’ Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries CHANGE OF NAME Committee on Small Business of Senate changed to Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of Senate. See Senate Resolution No. 123, One Hundred Seventh Congress, June 29, 2001. Committee on Science of House of Representatives changed to Committee on Science and Technology of House of Representatives by House Resolution No. 6, One Hundred Tenth Congress, Jan. 5, 2007. Committee on Science and Technology of House of Representatives changed to Committee on Science, Space, and Tech- nology of House of Representatives by House Resolu- tion No. 5, One Hundred Twelfth Congress, Jan. 5, 2011. FINDINGS Pub. L. 106–554, § 1(a)(9) [title I, § 111(a)], Dec. 21, 2000, 114 Stat. 2763, 2763A–674, provided that: ‘‘Congress finds that— ‘‘(1) programs to foster economic development among small high-technology firms vary widely among the States; ‘‘(2) States that do not aggressively support the de- velopment of small high-technology firms, including participation by small business concerns in the SBIR program, are at a competitive disadvantage in estab- lishing a business climate that is conducive to tech- nology development; and ‘‘(3) building stronger national, State, and local support for science and technology research in these disadvantaged States will expand economic opportu- nities in the United States, create jobs, and increase the competitiveness of the United States in the world market.’’ § 657e. Mentoring Networks (a) Findings Congress finds that— (1) the SBIR and STTR programs create jobs, increase capacity for technological innova- tion, and boost international competitiveness; (2) increasing the quantity of applications from all States to the SBIR and STTR pro- grams would enhance competition for such awards and the quality of the completed projects; and (3) mentoring is a natural complement to the FAST program of reaching out to new companies regarding the SBIR and STTR pro- grams as an effective and low-cost way to im- prove the likelihood that such companies will succeed in such programs in developing and commercializing their research. (b) Authorization for Mentoring Networks The recipient of an award or participant in a cooperative agreement under section 657d of this title may use a reasonable amount of such as- sistance for the establishment of a Mentoring Network under this section. (c) Criteria for Mentoring Networks A Mentoring Network established using assist- ance under section 657d of this title shall— (1) provide business advice and counseling to high technology small business concerns lo- cated in the State or region served by the Mentoring Network and identified under sec- tion 657d(c)(1)(E)(ii) of this title as potential candidates for the SBIR or STTR programs; (2) identify volunteer mentors who— (A) are persons associated with a small business concern that has successfully com- pleted one or more SBIR or STTR funding agreements; and (B) have agreed to guide small business concerns through all stages of the SBIR or STTR program process, including providing assistance relating to— (i) proposal writing; (ii) marketing; (iii) Government accounting; (iv) Government audits; (v) project facilities and equipment; (vi) human resources; (vii) third phase partners; (viii) commercialization; (ix) venture capital networking; and (x) other matters relevant to the SBIR and STTR programs; (3) have experience working with small busi- ness concerns participating in the SBIR and STTR programs; Page 1064 TITLE 15—COMMERCE AND TRADE § 657f (4) contribute information to the national database referred to in subsection (d); and (5) agree to reimburse volunteer mentors for out-of-pocket expenses related to service as a mentor under this section. (d) Mentoring database The Administrator shall— (1) include in the database required by sec- tion 638(k)(1) of this title, in cooperation with the SBIR, STTR, and FAST programs, infor- mation on Mentoring Networks and mentors participating under this section, including a description of their areas of expertise; (2) work cooperatively with Mentoring Net- works to maintain and update the database; (3) take such action as may be necessary to aggressively promote Mentoring Networks under this section; and (4) fulfill the requirements of this subsection either directly or by contract. (Pub. L. 85–536, § 2[35], as added Pub. L. 106–554, § 1(a)(9) [title I, § 112], Dec. 21, 2000, 114 Stat. 2763, 2763A–680.) § 657f. Procurement program for small business concerns owned and controlled by service- disabled veterans (a) Contracting officer defined For purposes of this section, the term ‘‘con- tracting officer’’ has the meaning given such term in section 2101 of title 41. (b) Certification of small business concerns owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans With respect to a procurement program or preference established under this chapter that applies to prime contractors, the Administrator shall— (1) certify the status of a concern as a small business concern owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans; and (2) require the periodic recertification of such status. (c) Sole source contracts In accordance with this section, a contracting officer may award a sole source contract to any small business concern owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans if— (1) such concern is determined to be a re- sponsible contractor with respect to perform- ance of such contract opportunity and the con- tracting officer does not have a reasonable ex- pectation that 2 or more small business con- cerns owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans will submit offers for the contracting opportunity; (2) the anticipated award price of the con- tract (including options) will not exceed— (A) $7,000,000, in the case of a contract op- portunity assigned a standard industrial classification code for manufacturing; or (B) $3,000,000, in the case of any other con- tract opportunity; and (3) in the estimation of the contracting offi- cer, the contract award can be made at a fair and reasonable price. (d) Restricted competition In accordance with this section, a contracting officer may award contracts on the basis of com- petition restricted to small business concerns owned and controlled by service-disabled vet- erans certified under subsection (b) if the con- tracting officer has a reasonable expectation that not less than 2 small business concerns owned and controlled by service-disabled vet- erans will submit offers and that the award can be made at a fair market price. (e) Relationship to other contracting preferences A procurement may not be made from a source on the basis of a preference provided under sub- section (a) or (b) if the procurement would oth- erwise be made from a different source under section 4124 or 4125 of title 18 or chapter 85 of title 41. (f) Database of veteran-owned businesses (1) Subject to paragraphs (2) through (6), the Administrator shall maintain a database of small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans, small business concerns owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans, and the veteran owners of such business concerns. (2)(A) To be eligible for inclusion in the data- base, such a veteran shall submit to the Admin- istrator such information as the Administrator may require with respect to the small business concern or the veteran. Application for inclu- sion in the database shall constitute permission under section 552a of title 5 (commonly referred to as the Privacy Act) for the Administrator to obtain from the Secretary of Veterans Affairs such personal information maintained by the Secretary as may be necessary to verify the in- formation contained in the application. (B) For purposes of this subsection— (i) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall— (I) verify an individual’s status as a vet- eran or a service-disabled veteran; and (II) establish a system to permit the Ad- ministrator to access, but not alter, the verification of such status; and (ii) the Administrator shall verify— (I) the status of a business concern as a small business concern; and (II) the ownership and control of such busi- ness concern. (C) The Administrator may not certify a con- cern under subsection (b) or section 657f–1 of this title if the Secretary of Veterans Affairs cannot provide the verification described under sub- paragraph (B)(i)(I). (3) Information maintained in the database shall be submitted on a voluntary basis by a vet- eran described in paragraph (1). (4) The Administrator shall make the database available to all Federal departments and agen- cies and shall notify each such department and agency of the availability of the database. (5) If the Administrator determines that the public dissemination of certain types of infor- mation maintained in the database is inappro- priate, the Administrator shall take such steps as are necessary to maintain such types of infor- mation in a secure and confidential manner. (6)(A) If a small business concern is not in- cluded in the database because the Adminis- trator does not certify the status of the concern as a small business concern owned and con- trolled by veterans (under section 657f–1 of this