AN ACT relating to veteran entrepreneurs.

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AN ACT relating to veteran entrepreneurs. 1
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2
SECTION 1. A NEW SECTION OF SUBCHAPTER 12 OF KRS CHAPTER 3
154 IS CREATED TO READ AS FOLLOWS: 4
(1) As used in this section: 5
(a) "Office" means the Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation; 6
(b) "Secretary" means the secretary of the Cabinet for Economic Development; 7
(c) "Veteran" means any person who: 8
1. Served in the United States Armed Forces, Reserves, or National 9
Guard and was separated or released therefrom with an honorable 10
discharge, discharge under honorable conditions, or general 11
discharge under honorable conditions; or 12
2. Currently serves in the United States Armed Forces, Reserves, or 13
National Guard; and 14
(d) "Veteran entrepreneurs" means veterans who start or own one (1) or more 15
small businesses. 16
(2) The Veteran Entrepreneur Program is established within the Office of 17
Entrepreneurship and Innovat ion to provide assistance to veteran entrepreneurs 18
in the Commonwealth. 19
(3) The Veteran Entrepreneur Program shall provide assistance to veteran 20
entrepreneurs by: 21
(a) Performing outreach functions to improve veteran entrepreneurs' 22
awareness of available federal and state benefits and services; 23
(b) Assessing the need for benefits and services among veteran entrepreneurs; 24
(c) Reviewing and researching programs, projects, and initiatives designed to 25
address the needs of veteran entrepreneurs and collaborating with federal, 26
state, and private agencies that provide services to veteran entrepreneurs to 27
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allow veterans to make use of those services; 1
(d) Evaluating semiannually the effectiveness of the office's efforts to assist 2
veteran entrepreneurs and making appro priate recommendations to the 3
executive director of the office to improve services and assistance provided 4
to those veterans; and 5
(e) Providing information about opportunities for veteran entrepreneurs in the 6
office's collaborative network of businesses and organizations. 7
(4) The secretary shall appoint a program coordinator to administer the program and 8
provide facilities as appropriate in support of the program to the extent funding is 9
available for that purpose. 10
(5) The office may promulgate administrati ve regulations in accordance with KRS 11
Chapter 13A to effectuate this section. 12
(6) The program shall consult with the United States Department of Veterans Affairs 13
and the United States Small Business Administration in developing procedures 14
under this sectio n to ensure the services provided by this program do not 15
duplicate services provided through the United States Department of Veterans 16
Affairs or the United States Small Business Administration. 17
(7) The office shall establish any additional qualifications necessary for applicants of 18
the program. 19
Section 2. KRS 154.12-277 is amended to read as follows: 20
(1) There is created in the Cabinet for Economic Development the Office of 21
Entrepreneurship and Innovation. The office shal l be headed by an executive 22
director appointed by the secretary pursuant to KRS 154.10-050. The office shall be 23
responsible for various forms of entrepreneurship and innovation assistance, 24
including but not limited to providing customer service and project management 25
services to [with] small, [and ] minority, and veteran entrepreneur -owned 26
businesses, assisting export development, administering the innovation assistance 27
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set forth in KRS 154.12 -278, introducing entrepreneurs to individual investors and 1
to inve stment capital firms interested in start -up and early -stage financing, and 2
collecting, summarizing, and disseminating information helpful to businesses, 3
including information on market research, federal, state, and local minority business 4
programs, governm ent procurement opportunities, and the availability of 5
managerial assistance. 6
(2) The office shall include the Commission on Small Business Innovation and 7
Advocacy established in KRS 11.200. 8
Section 3. KRS 154.12-278 is amended to read as follows: 9
(1) As used in this section, "cluster" and "knowledge -based"[ shall] have the same 10
meaning as in KRS 164.6011. 11
(2) The Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation shall: 12
(a) Implement the Kentucky Innovation and Commercialization Center Program 13
as set forth in KRS 154.12-300 to 154.12-310; 14
(b) Implement and support the Veteran Entrepreneur Program as set forth in 15
Section 1 of this Act; 16
(c) Monitor the return on investments and effectiveness of the Kentucky 17
Innovation Act initiative s as set forth in the Strategic Plan for the New 18
Economy and prepare an annual report by November 1 of each year. The 19
report shall be available on the Cabinet for Economic Development web page 20
as required by KRS 154.12-2035; 21
(d)[(c)] Oversee the modernization initiative in KRS 154.12-274; 22
(e)[(d)] Assist the cabinet in the recruitment of research and development 23
companies; 24
(f)[(e)] Assist the cabinet in the attraction of high -technology research and 25
development centers; 26
(g)[(f)] Support growth and creation of knowledge -based, innovative 27
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companies; 1
(h)[(g)] Build the infrastructure for innovative businesses and promote networks 2
of technology-driven clusters and research intensive industries; 3
(i)[(h)] Administer the high-tech construction pool and the high-tech investment 4
pool; 5
(j)[(i)] Recommend projects to the Kentucky Economic Development Finance 6
Authority for funding through the hig h-tech construction pool and high -tech 7
investment pool; and 8
(k)[(j)] Review and approve the annual plan which details the annual allocation 9
of funds from the Science and Technology Funding Program. As used in this 10
paragraph, the Science and Technology Fund ing Program means the 11
Kentucky enterprise fund, the Rural Innovation Program, the Kentucky 12
Commercialization Program, The Regional Technology 13
Corporations/Innovation and Commercialization Center Satellites, the 14
Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research/Kentucky Science 15
and Engineering Foundation, Small Business Innovation Research and Small 16
Business Technology Transfer grants, and other government grant programs 17
and funding programs as determined by the executive director of the Office of 18
Entrepreneurship and Innovation. 19
(3) The high-tech construction pool shall be used for projects with a special emphasis 20
on the creation of high -technology jobs and knowledge -based companies. The 21
executive director, in administering the high -tech construction po ol, shall 22
recommend distribution of funds and projects to the Kentucky Economic 23
Development Finance Authority for its approval. The executive director shall 24
recommend any designated amount of pool funds to be set aside for any match 25
requirements. Any funds used for matching purposes may include public and 26
private funds. 27
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(4) The high -tech investment pool shall be used to build and promote technology -1
driven industries and research-intensive industries, as well as their related suppliers, 2
with the goal of crea ting clusters of innovation -driven industries in Kentucky. The 3
executive director, in administering the high -tech investment pool, shall be 4
authorized to recommend funds to be used to support loans and grants, or to secure 5
an equity or related position. 6
(5) The Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority shall ensure in their 7
approval of funding of projects that the highest priority is given to knowledge-based 8
companies in fulfillment of the purposes and intentions of the purposes of this 9
section. 10
Section 4. KRS 154.12-330 is amended to read as follows: 11
(1) The Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority is hereby authorized to 12
develop and fund a small business loan program to assist new or existing small 13
businesses operating in the Commonwealth. The authority may lend up to one 14
hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) to any eligible small business for acquisition, 15
construction, expansion, working capital, or any other business expense the 16
authority deems reasonable to approve. 17
(2) The authority shall determine the terms, conditions, and requirements for loans 18
issued under this section and Section 1 of this Act , including collateral 19
requirements when deemed reasonable and appropriate. Recognizing that small 20
businesses, w hile essential for the economic vitality of the Commonwealth, may 21
have difficulty obtaining conventional loans, the authority may provide terms that 22
are more lenient, high -risk, less secure, or otherwise less stringent than industry 23
standards. 24
(3) To be el igible for a loan under this section, a small business shall be engaged in 25
manufacturing, agribusiness, or service or technology, shall not be engaged 26
primarily in retail, and shall commit to creating and maintaining at least one (1) 27
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new full-time job above the number existing on the date of application. 1
(4) The authority shall make reasonable efforts to direct at least seven percent (7%) 2
of the small business loan program funds each year to Kentucky -based, veteran 3
entrepreneurs provided that the authority receives qualified applications 4
requesting at least seven percent (7%) of the small business loan program funds. 5
The authority shall develop the criteria to evaluate the applications giving a 6
preference to Kentucky-based companies as defined in KRS 164.6011 that: 7
(a) Were started by one (1) or more veteran entrepreneurs; 8
(b) Are veteran-owned businesses as defined in KRS 14A.1-070; or 9
(c) Employ veterans at a rate of no less than twenty -five percent (25%) of their 10
total employees. 11