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1 | AN ACT concerning State government.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Department of Commerce and Economic | |||||||||||||||||||
5 | Opportunity Law of the
Civil Administrative Code of Illinois is | |||||||||||||||||||
6 | amended by changing Section 605-355 as follows:
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7 | (20 ILCS 605/605-355) (was 20 ILCS 605/46.19a in part)
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8 | Sec. 605-355. Grants for research and
and development in | |||||||||||||||||||
9 | high technology and
service sectors. | |||||||||||||||||||
10 | (a) The Department is authorized to establish a program of
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11 | grants to
universities, community
colleges, research | |||||||||||||||||||
12 | institutions, research consortiums, other not-for-profit
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13 | entities, and Illinois businesses for the purpose of fostering | |||||||||||||||||||
14 | research and
development in the high technology and the service | |||||||||||||||||||
15 | sector leading to the
development of new products and services | |||||||||||||||||||
16 | that can be marketed by Illinois
businesses. All grant awards | |||||||||||||||||||
17 | shall include a contract that may
provide for
payment of | |||||||||||||||||||
18 | negotiated royalties to the Department if the product or | |||||||||||||||||||
19 | service
to be developed by the grantee is subsequently licensed | |||||||||||||||||||
20 | for production.
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21 | (b) Grants may be awarded to universities and research
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22 | institutions to
assist them in making their faculties and | |||||||||||||||||||
23 | facilities available to Illinois
businesses. The grants may be |
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1 | used by a university or research
institution
for purposes | ||||||
2 | including but not limited to the following:
(i) to establish
or | ||||||
3 | enhance computerized cataloging of all research labs and | ||||||
4 | university
staff and make those catalogues available to | ||||||
5 | Illinois businesses;
(ii) to
market products developed by the | ||||||
6 | university to Illinois businesses; (iii)
to review | ||||||
7 | publications in order to identify, catalog, and inform Illinois
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8 | businesses of new practices in areas such as robotics and
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9 | biotechnology; (iv)
to build an on-line, information and | ||||||
10 | technology system that relies on other
computerized networks in | ||||||
11 | the United States; and (v) to assist in securing
temporary | ||||||
12 | replacement for faculty who are granted a leave of absence from
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13 | their teaching duties for the purpose of working full-time for | ||||||
14 | an Illinois
business to assist that business with technology | ||||||
15 | transfer.
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16 | (c) Grants may be awarded to universities and research
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17 | institutions,
research consortiums, and other not-for-profit | ||||||
18 | entities for the purpose of
identifying and supporting Illinois | ||||||
19 | businesses engaged in high technology
and service sector | ||||||
20 | enterprises. The Illinois businesses identified
and
funded | ||||||
21 | shall include recipients of Small Business Innovation Research
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22 | Program funds under subsections (e) through (k) of Section 9 of | ||||||
23 | the Small
Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638, subsections (e) through | ||||||
24 | (k)).
Entities receiving grants under this subsection (c) shall
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25 | be known as
commercialization centers and shall engage in one | ||||||
26 | or more of the following
activities:
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1 | (1) Directing research assistance for new venture
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2 | creations.
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3 | (2) General feasibility studies of new venture
ideas.
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4 | (3) Furthering the technical and intellectual skills | ||||||
5 | of the
managers
and owners of Illinois small businesses.
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6 | (4) Commercialization of technology and research.
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7 | (5) Development of prototypes and testing new
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8 | products.
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9 | (6) Identifying and assisting
in securing financing.
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10 | (7) Marketing assistance.
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11 | (8) Assisting Illinois inventors in finding Illinois
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12 | manufacturers to produce and market their inventions.
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13 | A commercialization center may charge a nominal fee or | ||||||
14 | accept royalty
agreements for conducting feasibility studies | ||||||
15 | and other services.
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16 | (d) Grants may be awarded by the Department to Illinois
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17 | businesses to
fund research and consultation arrangements | ||||||
18 | between businesses and
universities, community colleges, | ||||||
19 | research institutions, research
consortiums, and other | ||||||
20 | not-for-profit entities within this State.
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21 | The Department shall give priority to Illinois small | ||||||
22 | businesses in
awarding grants. Each grant awarded under this | ||||||
23 | subsection (d) shall provide
funding for up to 50% of the cost | ||||||
24 | of the research or consultation arrangements,
not to exceed | ||||||
25 | $100,000; provided that the grant recipient utilizes Illinois
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26 | not for profit research and academic institutions to perform |
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1 | the research
and development function for which grant funds | ||||||
2 | were requested.
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3 | (e) Grants may be awarded to research consortiums and other | ||||||
4 | qualified
applicants, in conjunction with private sector or | ||||||
5 | federal funding, for
other creative systems that bridge | ||||||
6 | university resources and business,
technological, production, | ||||||
7 | and development concerns.
| ||||||
8 | (f) For the purposes of this Section:
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9 | "High
technology" means any area of research or development | ||||||
10 | designed to
foster greater knowledge or understanding in fields | ||||||
11 | such as computer science,
electronics, physics, chemistry, or | ||||||
12 | biology for the purpose of producing
designing, developing, or | ||||||
13 | improving prototypes and new processes.
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14 | "Illinois business" means a "small business concern" as | ||||||
15 | defined in 15
U.S.C. 632 that conducts its business primarily | ||||||
16 | in Illinois.
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17 | "Illinois research institutions" refers to not-for-profit | ||||||
18 | entities, which
include federally funded research | ||||||
19 | laboratories, that conduct research and
development activities | ||||||
20 | for the purpose of producing, designing, developing,
or | ||||||
21 | improving prototypes and new processes.
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22 | "Other not-for-profit entities" means nonprofit | ||||||
23 | organizations based in
Illinois that are primarily devoted to | ||||||
24 | new enterprise or product
development.
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25 | "Private sector" has the meaning ascribed to it in
29 | ||||||
26 | U.S.C. 1503.
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1 | "University" means either a degree
granting institution | ||||||
2 | located in Illinois as defined in Section 2 of the
Academic | ||||||
3 | Degree Act, or a State-supported institution of higher learning
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4 | administered by the Board of Trustees of the University of | ||||||
5 | Illinois, the Board
of Trustees of Southern Illinois | ||||||
6 | University, the Board of Trustees of Chicago
State
University, | ||||||
7 | the Board of Trustees of Eastern Illinois University, the Board | ||||||
8 | of
Trustees of Governors State University, the Board of | ||||||
9 | Trustees of Illinois State
University, the Board of Trustees of | ||||||
10 | Northeastern Illinois University, the
Board of Trustees of | ||||||
11 | Northern Illinois University, the Board of Trustees of
Western | ||||||
12 | Illinois University,
or the Illinois Community College Board.
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13 | "Venture" means any Illinois
business engaged in research | ||||||
14 | and development to create new products or
services with high | ||||||
15 | growth potential.
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16 | (g) The Department may establish a program of grant | ||||||
17 | assistance
on a
matching basis to universities, community | ||||||
18 | colleges, small business
development centers, community action | ||||||
19 | agencies and other not-for-profit
economic development | ||||||
20 | agencies to encourage new enterprise development and
new | ||||||
21 | business formation and to encourage enterprises in this State. | ||||||
22 | The
Department may provide grants, which shall be exempt from | ||||||
23 | the provisions of Section 35-360, to universities, community
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24 | colleges, small
business development centers, community action | ||||||
25 | agencies, and other
not-for-profit economic development | ||||||
26 | entities for the purpose of making
loans to small businesses. |
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1 | All grant applications shall contain
information as required by | ||||||
2 | the Department, including the following: a
program operation | ||||||
3 | plan; a certification and assurance that the small
business | ||||||
4 | applicants have received business development training or
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5 | education, have a business and finance plan, and have | ||||||
6 | experience in the
proposed business area; and a description of | ||||||
7 | the support services that the
grant recipient will provide to | ||||||
8 | the small business. No more than 10% of
the grant may be used | ||||||
9 | by the grant recipient for administrative costs
associated with | ||||||
10 | the grant. Grant recipients may use grant funds under this
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11 | program to make loans on terms and conditions favorable to the | ||||||
12 | small
business and shall give priority to those businesses | ||||||
13 | located in high poverty
areas, enterprise zones, or both.
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14 | (Source: P.A. 90-454, eff. 8-16-97;
91-239, eff. 1-1-00.)
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