Bill Text: FL S1012 | 2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Economic Gardening Technical Assistance Program
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2013-05-03 - Died in Appropriations [S1012 Detail]
Download: Florida-2013-S1012-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2013 SB 1012 By Senator Hays 11-00992A-13 20131012__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to the Economic Gardening Technical 3 Assistance Program; amending s. 288.1082, F.S.; 4 expanding the Economic Gardening Technical Assistance 5 Pilot Program into a statewide program; requiring the 6 Department of Economic Opportunity to contract with 7 the Florida Economic Gardening Institute at the 8 University of Central Florida to administer the 9 program; revising and providing eligibility 10 requirements for the program; providing definitions; 11 amending s. 288.1081, F.S.; conforming a reference to 12 the Economic Gardening Technical Assistance Pilot 13 Program to changes made by the act; providing an 14 appropriation; providing an effective date. 15 16 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 17 18 Section 1. Section 288.1082, Florida Statutes, is amended 19 to read: 20 288.1082 Economic Gardening Technical AssistancePilot21 Program.— 22 (1) There is created within the department the Economic 23 Gardening Technical AssistancePilotProgram. The purpose of the 24pilotprogram is to stimulate investment in Florida’s economy by 25 providing technical assistance for expanding businesses in the 26 state. 27 (2) The department shall contract with the Florida Economic 28 Gardening Institute at the University of Central Floridaone or29more entitiesto administer thepilotprogram under this 30 section.The department shall award each contract in accordance31with the competitive bidding requirements in s.287.057to an32entity that demonstrates the ability to implement the pilot33program on a statewide basis, has an outreach plan, and has the34ability to provide counseling services, access to technology and35information, marketing services and advice, business management36support, and other similar services. In selecting these37entities, the department also must consider whether the entities38will qualify for matching funds to provide the technical39assistance.40 (3) The Florida Economic Gardening InstituteA contracted41entity administering the pilot programshall provide technical 42 assistance for eligible businesses which includes, but is not 43 limited to: 44 (a) Access to free or affordable information services and 45 consulting services, including information on markets, 46 customers, and competitors, such as business databases, 47 geographic information systems, and search engine marketing. 48 (b) Development of business connections, including 49 interaction and exchange among business owners and resource 50 providers, such as trade associations, think tanks, academic 51 institutions, business roundtables, peer-to-peer learning 52 sessions, and mentoring programs. 53 (4)(a) To be eligible for assistance under thepilot54 program, a business must: 55 1. Be a for-profit, privately held, investment-grade 56 business.that57 2. Have employedemploysat least 10 persons but not more 58 than 9950persons at the end of the preceding fiscal year., has59maintained its principal place of business in the state for at60least the previous 2 years,61 3. Have generatedgeneratesat least $1 million but not 62 more than $50$25million in annual revenue during the preceding 63 fiscal year., qualifies for the tax refund program for qualified64target industry businesses under s.288.106, and,65 4. During 23of the previous 65years, havehasincreased 66 eitherbothits number of full-time equivalent employees in this 67 state orandits gross revenues. 68 5. Generate a minimum of 51 percent of its revenue outside 69 the state, be located in a “rural community” as defined in s. 70 288.0656, or be classified within a qualifying NAICS code. 71 (b) As used in this section, the term: 72 1. “NAICS” means those classifications contained in the 73 North American Industry Classification System, as published in 74 2012 by the Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of 75 the President. 76 2. “Qualifying NAICS code” means any NAICS code within any 77 of the following NAICS sectors: 31-33, Manufacturing; 42, 78 Wholesale Trade; 51, Information; 52, Finance and Insurance; 54, 79 Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services; 55, Management 80 of Companies and Enterprises; or 56, Administrative and Support 81 and Waste Management and Remediation Services. 82 (c)(b)The Florida Economic Gardening InstituteA83contracted entity administering the pilot program, in selecting 84 the eligible businesses to receive assistance, shall choose 85 businesses in more than one industry cluster and, to the maximum 86 extent practicable, shall choose businesses that are 87 geographically distributed throughout Florida or are in 88 partnership with businesses that are geographically distributed 89 throughout Florida. 90 (5)(a) A business receiving assistance under thepilot91 program must enter into an agreement with the Florida Economic 92 Gardening Institutecontracted entity administering the program93 to establish the business’s commitment to participate 94participationin thepilotprogram. The agreement must require, 95 at a minimum, that the business: 96 1. Attend a minimum number of meetings between the business 97 and the Florida Economic Gardening Institutecontracted entity98administering the pilot program. 99 2. Report job creation data in the manner prescribed by the 100 Florida Economic Gardening Institutecontracted entity101administering the pilot program. 102 3. Provide financial data in the manner prescribed by the 103 Florida Economic Gardening Institutecontracted entity104administering the program. 105 (b) The Florida Economic Gardening Institutedepartment or106the contracted entity administering the pilot programmay 107 prescribe in the agreement additional reporting requirements 108 that are necessary to track the progress of the business and 109 monitor the business’s implementation of the assistance. The 110 institutecontracted entityshall report the information to the 111 department on a quarterly basis. 112 (6) The Florida Economic Gardening InstituteA contracted113entity administering the pilot programis authorized to promote 114 the general business interests or industrial interests of the 115 state. 116 (7) The department shall review the progress of the Florida 117 Economic Gardening Institutecontracted entity administering the118pilot programat least once each 6 months and shall determine 119 whether the institutecontracted entityis meeting its 120 contractual obligations for administering thepilotprogram. The 121 department may terminate and rebid a contract if the institute 122contracted entitydoes not meet its contractual obligations. 123 (8) On December 31 of each year, the department shall 124 submit a report to the Governor, the President of the Senate, 125 and the Speaker of the House of Representatives which describes 126 in detail the progress of thepilotprogram. The report must 127 include, at a minimum, the number of businesses receiving 128 assistance, the number of full-time equivalent jobs created as a 129 result of the assistance, if any, the amount of wages paid to 130 employees in the newly created jobs, and the locations and types 131 of economic activity undertaken by the businesses. 132 (9) The department may adopt rulesunder ss.120.536(1) and133120.54to administer this section. 134 Section 2. Paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (3) of 135 section 288.1081, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 136 288.1081 Economic Gardening Business Loan Pilot Program.— 137 (3)(a) To be eligible for a loan under the pilot program, 138 an applicant must be a business eligible for assistance under 139 the Economic Gardening Technical AssistancePilotProgram as 140 provided in s. 288.1082(4)(a). 141 (b) A loan applicant must submit a written application to 142 the loan administrator in the format prescribed by the loan 143 administrator. The application must include: 144 1. The applicant’s federal employer identification number, 145 reemployment assistance account number, and sales or other tax 146 registration number. 147 2. The street address of the applicant’s principal place of 148 business in this state. 149 3. A description of the type of economic activity, product, 150 or research and development undertaken by the applicant, 151 including the six-digit North American Industry Classification 152 System code for each type of economic activity conducted by the 153 applicant. 154 4. The applicant’s annual revenue, number of employees, 155 number of full-time equivalent employees, and other information 156 necessary to verify the applicant’s eligibility for thepilot157 program under s. 288.1082(4)(a). 158 5. The projected investment in the business, if any, which 159 the applicant proposes in conjunction with the loan. 160 6. The total investment in the business from all sources, 161 if any, which the applicant proposes in conjunction with the 162 loan. 163 7. The number of net new full-time equivalent jobs that, as 164 a result of the loan, the applicant proposes to create in this 165 state as of December 31 of each year and the average annual wage 166 of the proposed jobs. 167 8. The total number of full-time equivalent employees the 168 applicant currently employs in this state. 169 9. The date that the applicant anticipates it needs the 170 loan. 171 10. A detailed explanation of why the loan is needed to 172 assist the applicant in expanding jobs in the state. 173 11. A statement that all of the applicant’s available 174 corporate assets are pledged as collateral for the amount of the 175 loan. 176 12. A statement that the applicant, upon receiving the 177 loan, agrees not to seek additional long-term debt without prior 178 approval of the loan administrator. 179 13. A statement that the loan is a joint obligation of the 180 business and of each person who owns at least 20 percent of the 181 business. 182 14. Any additional information requested by the department 183 or the loan administrator. 184 Section 3. The sum of $2 million in recurring funds is 185 appropriated from the General Revenue Fund to the University of 186 Central Florida to fund the Economic Gardening Technical 187 Assistance Program and to implement this act during the 2013 188 2014 fiscal year. 189 Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2013.