Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Encouraging Small Business Innovators”.
Encouraging Small Business Innovators
AN ACT
To encourage R&D small business set-asides, to encourage SBIR and STTR participants to serve as mentors under the Small Business Administration’s mentor-protege program, to promote the use of interagency contracts, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Including testing and evaluation in the definition of R&D
Section 9(e)(5) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638(e)(5)) is amended—
by redesignating subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) as clauses (i), (ii), and (iii), respectively;
by striking “means any activity” and inserting the following:
“(A) any activity”
by adding at the end the following:
“(B) any testing or evaluation in connection with such an activity;”
Sec. 3 Encouraging participation in the mentor-protege program
Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(tt) Encouraging participation in the mentor-Protege program—The Administrator shall provide an increase to the past performance rating of any small business concern that has participated in the SBIR or STTR program that serves as a mentor under section 45 to a small business concern that seeks to participate in the SBIR or STTR program.”
Sec. 4 Promoting the use of Government-wide and other interagency contracts
Promoting interagency acquisitions— Section 865 of the Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009 (Public Law 110–417) is amended—
in subsection (b)(1)—
by striking “all interagency acquisitions”;
in subparagraph (A)—
by adding “all interagency assisted acquisitions” before “include”; and
by adding “and” at the end;
by striking subparagraph (B);
by redesignating subparagraph (C) as subparagraph (B);
in subparagraph (B), as so redesignated, by adding “all interagency assisted acquisitions” before “include”; and
in subsection (d), by adding at the end the following:
“(5) The term “assisted acquisition” means a type of interagency acquisition where a servicing agency performs acquisition activities on a requesting agency’s behalf, such as awarding and administering a contract, task order, or delivery order.”
GSA assistance with certain small business contract awards— Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638), as amended by section 4, is further amended by adding at the end the following:
“(uu) GSA assistance with certain small business contract awards—The Administrator of the General Services Administration may assist another agency with the process of awarding a contract to a small business concern under the SBIR or STTR program or under a small business set-aside.”