1. The authority may contract with service providers on a case-by-case basis for services related to statewide commercialization development of innovative businesses. Services provided shall include all of the following:

 a. Assistance provided directly to businesses by experienced serial entrepreneurs for all of the following activities:

 (1) Business plan development.
 (2) Due diligence.
 (3) Market assessments.
 (4) Technology assessments.
 (5) Other planning activities.
 b. Operation and coordination of various available competitive seed and prototype development funds.
 c. Connecting businesses to private angel investors and the venture capital community.
 d. Assistance in obtaining access to an experienced pool of managers and operations talent that can staff, mentor, or advise start-up enterprises.
 e. Support and advice for accessing sources of early stage financing.
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Terms Used In Iowa Code 15.411

  • Applicant: means a person authorized to regularly lend moneys to be secured by a mortgage on real property in this state, a licensed real estate broker, a licensed attorney, a participating abstractor, or a licensed closing agent. See Iowa Code 16.92
  • Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
  • Authority: means the economic development authority created in section 15. See Iowa Code 15.102
  • Board: means the members of the authority appointed by the governor and in whom the powers of the authority are vested pursuant to section 15. See Iowa Code 15.102
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Corporation: means a bioscience development corporation created pursuant to section 15. See Iowa Code 15.102
  • Financial assistance: means assistance provided only from the funds, rights, and assets legally available to the authority and includes but is not limited to assistance in the form of grants, loans, forgivable loans, and royalty payments. See Iowa Code 15.102
  • following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
  • Small business: means any enterprise which is located in this state, which is operated for profit and under a single management, and which has either fewer than twenty employees or an annual gross income of less than four million dollars computed as the average of the three preceding fiscal years. See Iowa Code 15.102
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" may include the said district and territories. See Iowa Code 4.1
 2. The authority shall establish and administer a program to provide financial and technical assistance to encourage prototype and concept development activities by innovative businesses that have a clear potential to lead to commercially viable products or services within a reasonable period of time. Financial assistance shall be awarded on a per project basis upon board approval. In order to receive financial assistance, an applicant must demonstrate the ability to secure one dollar of nonstate moneys for every two dollars received from the authority. For purposes of this section, “financial assistance” means assistance provided only from the funds, rights, and assets legally available to the authority pursuant to this chapter and includes but is not limited to assistance in the form of grants, loans, forgivable loans, and royalty payments.
 3. a. The authority shall establish and administer an internship program with two components for Iowa students. To the extent permitted by this subsection, the authority shall administer the two components in as similar a manner as possible. For purposes of this subsection, “Iowa student” means a student of an Iowa community college, private college, or institution of higher learning under the control of the state board of regents, or a student who graduated from high school in Iowa but now attends an institution of higher learning outside the state of Iowa.

 b. The purpose of the first component of the program is to link Iowa students to small and medium sized Iowa firms through internship opportunities. An Iowa employer may receive financial assistance on a matching basis for a portion of the wages paid to an intern. If providing financial assistance, the authority shall provide the assistance on a reimbursement basis such that for every two dollars of wages earned by the student, one dollar paid by the employer is matched by one dollar from the authority. The amount of financial assistance shall not exceed three thousand one hundred dollars for any single internship, or nine thousand three hundred dollars for any single employer. In order to be eligible to receive financial assistance under this paragraph, the employer must have five hundred or fewer employees and must be an innovative business. The authority shall encourage youth who reside in economically distressed areas, youth adjudicated to have committed a delinquent act, and youth transitioning out of foster care to participate in the first component of the internship program.
 c. (1) The purpose of the second component of the program is to assist in placing Iowa students studying in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics into internships that lead to permanent positions with Iowa employers. The authority shall collaborate with eligible employers, including but not limited to innovative businesses, to ensure that the interns hired are studying in such fields. An Iowa employer may receive financial assistance on a matching basis for a portion of the wages paid to an intern. If providing financial assistance, the authority shall provide the assistance on a reimbursement basis such that for every two dollars of wages earned by the student, one dollar paid by the employer is matched by one dollar from the authority. The amount of financial assistance shall not exceed five thousand dollars per internship. The authority may adopt rules to administer this component. In adopting rules to administer this component, the authority shall adopt rules as similar as possible to those adopted pursuant to paragraph “b”.

 (2) The requirement to administer this component of the internship program is contingent upon the provision of funding for such purposes by the general assembly.
 4. a. (1) The authority shall establish and administer an outreach program for purposes of assisting businesses with applications to the federal small business innovation research and small business technology transfer programs.

 (2) The goals of this assistance are to increase the number of successful grant and contract proposals in the state, increase the amount of such grant and contract funds awarded in the state, stimulate subsequent investment by industry, venture capital, and other sources, and encourage businesses to commercialize promising technologies.
 b. (1) In administering the program, the authority may provide technical and financial assistance to businesses. Financial assistance provided pursuant to this subsection may be awarded to a business in an amount not to exceed one hundred thousand dollars for any individual federal award under this subsection.

 (2) The authority may require successful applicants to repay the amount of financial assistance received, but shall not require unsuccessful applicants to repay such assistance. Any moneys repaid pursuant to this subsection may be used to provide financial assistance to other applicants.
 c. The authority may also provide financial assistance for purposes of helping businesses meet the requirements of the federal small business innovation research and small business technology transfer programs.
 d. The authority may contract with outside service providers for assistance with the programs described in this subsection or may delegate the functions to be performed under this subsection to the corporation pursuant to section 15.106B.
 5. a. The authority shall establish and administer a program to accelerate the generation and development of innovative ideas and businesses. The program shall include assistance for the expansion of the proof of commercial relevance concept, the expansion of investment in applied research, and support for a manufacturing extension partnership program.

 b. The authority may contract with outside service providers for assistance with the program described in this subsection or may delegate the functions to be performed under this subsection to the corporation pursuant to section 15.106B.
 6. The board shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A necessary for the administration of this section.
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