SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTERS.

SEC. 8006. SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTERS. (a) Authorization of Appropriation.—Section 20 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 note) is amended by adding the following at the end of subsection (z): “There are hereby authorized to be appropriated to the Administration for each of the fiscal years 1988 and 1989, $5,000,000 to carry out the provisions of section 21(a)(6).”. (b) SBDC Information Dissemination and Service Delivery.—Section 21 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 648) is amended— (1) in subsection (a)(1), by inserting after “enterprises;” the following: “management and technical assistance regarding small business participation in international markets, export promotion and technology transfer;”; (2) in subsection (a), by redesignating paragraphs (2) through (4) as paragraphs (3) through (5), respectively, and by inserting the following after paragraph (1): “(2) The Small Business Development Centers shall work in close cooperation with the Administration’s regional and local offices, the Department of Commerce, appropriate Federal, State and local agencies and the small business community to serve as an active information dissemination and service delivery mechanism for existing trade promotion, trade finance, trade adjustment, trade remedy and trade data collection programs of particular utility for small businesses.”; (3) by adding at the end of subsection (a) the following new paragraph: “(6) Any applicant which is funded by the Administration as a Small Business Development Center may apply for an additional grant to be used solely to assist— “(A) with the development and enhancement of exports by small business concerns; and “(B) in technology transfer, as provided under subparagraphs (B) through (G) of subsection (c)(3). Applicants for such additional grants shall comply with all of the provisions of this section, including providing matching funds, except that funding under this paragraph shall be 102 STAT. 1558effective for any fiscal year to the extent provided in advance in appropriations Acts and shall be in addition to the dollar program limitations specified in paragraphs (4) and (5). No recipient of funds under this paragraph shall receive a grant which would exceed its pro rata share of a $15,000,000 program based upon the populations to be served by the Small Business Development Center as compared to the total population of the United States. The minimum amount of eligibility for any State shall be $100,000.”; (4) in subsection (c)(3), by striking subparagraph (B) and by inserting the following new subparagraph (B): “(B) assisting in technology transfer, research and development, including applied research, and coupling from existing sources to small businesses, including— “(i) working to increase the access of small businesses to the capabilities of automated flexible manufacturing systems; “(ii) working through existing networks and developing new networks for technology transfer that encourage partnership between the small business and academic communities to help commercialize university-based research and development and introduce university-based engineers and scientists to their counterparts in small technology-based firms; and “(iii) exploring the viability of developing shared production facilities, under appropriate circumstances;”; (5) in subsection (c)(3), by redesignating subparagraphs (C) through (H) as subparagraphs (H) through (M), respectively, and by inserting the following new subparagraphs after subparagraph (B): “(C) in cooperation with the Department of Commerce and other relevant Federal agencies, actively assisting small businesses in exporting by identifying and developing potential export markets, facilitating export transactions, developing linkages between United States small business firms and prescreened foreign buyers, assisting small businesses to participate in international trade shows, assisting small businesses in obtaining export financing, and facilitating the development or reorientation of marketing and production strategies; where appropriate, the Small Business Development Center may work in cooperation with the State to establish a State international trade center for these purposes; “(D) assisting small businesses in developing and implementing marketing and production strategies that will enable them to better compete within the domestic market; “(E) developing a program in conjunction with the Export-Import Bank and local and regional Administration offices that will enable Small Business Development Centers to serve as an information network and to assist small business applicants for Export-Import Bank financing programs, and otherwise identify and help to make available export financing programs to small businesses; “(F) working closely with the small business community, small business consultants, State agencies, universities and other appropriate groups to make translation services more 102 STAT. 1559readily available to small business firms doing business, or attempting to develop business, in foreign markets; “(G) in providing assistance under this subsection, applicants shall cooperate with the Department of Commerce and other relevant Federal agencies to increase access to available export market information systems, including the CIMS system;”; (6) in subsection (c), by adding the following new paragraphs: “(5) In any State (A) in which the Administration has not made a grant pursuant to paragraph (1) of subsection (a), or (B) in which no application for a grant has been made by a Small Business Development Center pursuant to paragraph (6) of such subsection within 60 days after the effective date of any grant under paragraph (a)(1) to such center, the Administration may make grants to a non-profit entity in that State to carry out the activities specified in paragraph (6) of subsection (a). Any such applicants shall comply with the matching funds requirement of paragraph (4) of subsection (a). Such grants shall be effective for any fiscal year only to the extent provided in advance in appropriations Acts, and each State shall be limited to the pro rata share provisions of paragraph (6) of subsection (a). “(6) In performing the services identified in paragraph (3), the Small Business Development Centers shall work in close cooperation with the Administration’s regional and local offices, the local small business community, and appropriate State and local agencies. “(7) The Deputy Associate Administrator of the Small Business Development Center program, in consultation with the Small Business Development Centers, shall develop and implement an information sharing system which will— “(A) allow Small Business Development Centers participating in the program to exchange information about their programs; and “(B) provide information central to technology transfer.”; and (7) by redesignating subsections (d) through (k) as subsections (e) through (1), respectively, and inserting the following new subsection after subsection (c): “(d) Where appropriate, the Small Business Development Centers shall work in conjunction with the relevant State agency and the Department of Commerce to develop a comprehensive plan for enhancing the export potential of small businesses located within the State. This plan may involve the cofunding and staffing of a State Office of International Trade within the State Small Business Development Center, using joint State and Federal funding, and any other appropriate measures directed at improving the export performance of small businesses within the State.”.