“To amend the Small Business Act to establish an Office of Territorial Affairs, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section establishes an Office of Territorial Affairs within the Small Business Administration to target programs relating to entrepreneurial development, contracting, disaster assistance, and capital access for small business concerns in the United States territories. The Office is headed by an Assistant Administrator in the competitive service who must possess knowledge of territorial governmental affairs, socioeconomic conditions, and political relationships, as well as experience providing tailored small business development assistance. The Assistant Administrator is required to formulate and promote relevant policies, serve as a liaison with resource partners and agencies, review program adequacy and access, and host webinars and outreach events in the territories. The section also requires the Assistant Administrator to submit a report within 180 days of enactment and annually thereafter to the House Committee on Small Business and the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship detailing operational activities, small businesses assisted (disaggregated by assistance type and territory), new businesses established, and recommendations for improvement. It defines resource partners to include small business development centers, women’s business centers, SCORE chapters, and Veteran Business Outreach Centers, and defines territories as Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The section further redesignates the existing section 49 of the Small Business Act as section 50.