The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) Small businesses form the core of the California economy and that it is in the interest of the state to increase opportunities and improve access to business and technical resources for entrepreneurs, the self-employed, and microbusiness and small business owners, particularly underserved business groups, including women, minority, and veteran-owned businesses, and businesses in low-wealth, rural, and disaster-impacted communities.

(b) The federal government funds and operates a range of technical assistance programs through contracts with nonprofit organizations that commit to serve and support small businesses in California, including the California Small Business Development Center Program, the Women’s Business Center Program, the Veteran Business Outreach Center Program, the Procurement Technical Assistance Center Program, the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, and the Minority Business Development Agency Center Program, and other similar programs. All of these programs provide free or low-cost services to California small businesses to enable their launch and sustained growth. It is in the interest of the state to collaborate with these programs to provide an economic environment in which small businesses can be successful, including participation in a seamless network of federal, state, and nonprofit programs, services, and activities that benefit small businesses.

(c) (1) The California Small Business Development Center Program, a component of the federal Small Business Development Center Program, plays a significant role in expanding and supporting California small businesses. There are more than 1,000 small business development centers in the United States and its territories, over 40 of which are located throughout California.

(2) The primary role of the California Small Business Development Center Program is to provide technical assistance to the state’s small businesses, including tracking assistance and outcomes that result in a meaningful contribution to the California economy. This program is administered through the federal Small Business Administration.

(d) (1) The Women’s Business Center Program plays a significant role in expanding and supporting women-owned small businesses in California. The Women’s Business Center Program was established to provide in-depth, substantive, outcome-oriented business services to women entrepreneurs, both nascent and established businesses, including a representative number of which are socially and economically disadvantaged.

(2) The Women’s Business Center Program meets its mission through the award of financial assistance to tax-exempt, private nonprofit organizations to enable them to effect a substantial economic impact in their communities, as measured by successful business startups, job creation and retention, and increased company revenues. This program is administered through the federal Small Business Administration.

(e) The Veteran Business Outreach Center Program in California plays an important role in meeting the unique needs of veterans in starting and operating businesses. The program is funded by the federal Small Business Administration’s veterans unit. The Veteran Business Outreach Center Program provides statewide small business consulting and workshops for veteran owners of small businesses, and veterans wishing to start a small business.

(f) (1) The Procurement Technical Assistance Center Program plays an important role in helping small businesses access public contract opportunities. Congress authorized the Procurement Technical Assistance Center Program in 1985 in an effort to expand the number of businesses capable of participating in the government marketplace.

(2) The Procurement Technical Assistance Center Program is administered by the federal Department of Defense. The program provides matching funds through cooperative agreements with state and local governments and nonprofit organizations for the establishment of procurement technical assistance centers to provide procurement assistance.

(3) Procurement technical assistance centers are staffed with counselors experienced in government contracting and provide a wide range of services including classes and seminars, individual counseling, and easy access to bid opportunities, contract specifications, procurement histories, and other information necessary to successfully compete for government contracts.

(g) The Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership was established in the 1980s as United States manufacturing faced increased competition from other countries. The United States faced key competitive challenges in consumer electronics, steel, and other industries. United States goods production processes were deemed comparatively outdated and innovation stagnated. The program is administered by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, within the Department of Commerce.

(h) The Minority Business Development Center Program is administered by the federal Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency. The program provides a range of services to minority-owned businesses seeking to expand to new markets, both foreign and domestic, as well as a wide range of technical assistance and business services, including business consulting, private equity and venture capital opportunities, facilitating joint ventures, and strategic partnerships.

(i) Nonprofit, community-based 501(c)(3) organizations, often funded by financial institutions, corporations, universities and colleges, corporate social responsibility programs, and philanthropy, have emerged to fill gaps in entrepreneurial education and training for microbusinesses and small businesses and entrepreneurs in underserved business groups, and play a critical role in the local small business ecosystems.

(j) It is the intent of the Legislature to allow persons who are undocumented to receive consulting and training services and microgrants pursuant to this article. The Legislature finds and declares that this article is a state law that provides payments or assistance for persons who are undocumented within the meaning of Section 1621(d) of Title 8 of the United States Code.

(Amended by Stats. 2021, Ch. 74, Sec. 10. (SB 151) Effective July 12, 2021.)