81_FR_96405 81 FR 96155 - Announcement of the Aspire Challenge-An Agency Prize Competition

81 FR 96155 - Announcement of the Aspire Challenge-An Agency Prize Competition

SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 250 (December 29, 2016)

Page Range96155-96157
FR Document2016-31455

The Aspire Challenge is a prize competition conducted under the America Competes Act. The objective of the prizes is to spur the development and provision of innovative entrepreneurial development and access to capital resources for formerly incarcerated individuals or those who are non-violent ex-offenders

Federal Register, Volume 81 Issue 250 (Thursday, December 29, 2016)
[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 250 (Thursday, December 29, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 96155-96157]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-31455]


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SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION


Announcement of the Aspire Challenge--An Agency Prize Competition

AGENCY: U.S. Small Business Administration.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Aspire Challenge is a prize competition conducted under 
the America Competes Act. The objective of the prizes is to spur the 
development and provision of innovative entrepreneurial development and 
access to capital resources for formerly incarcerated individuals or 
those who are non-violent ex-offenders

DATES: The submission period for entries will begin on December 29, 
2016 and close on February 13, 2017. SBA anticipates that winners will 
be announced no later than March 14, 2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Matthew Stevens, Strategic Initiatives 
Manager, Office of Entrepreneurial Development, U.S. Small Business 
Administration, 409 Third Street SW., 6th Floor, Washington, DC 20416, 
(202) 205-7699, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), officially 
established in 1953, maintains and strengthens the nation's economy by 
aiding, counseling, assisting, and protecting the interests of small 
businesses, and by helping families and businesses to recover from 
national disasters. The SBA's mission includes assisting small 
businesses to start, grow, and compete in markets by providing quality 
training, counseling, and access to resources.
    The Aspire Challenge is a prize competition designed to spur the 
development and provision of innovative entrepreneurial development and 
access to capital resources for formerly incarcerated individuals or 
those who are non-violent ex-offenders. Of the 600,000 individuals 
released on average each year from federal prisons, an estimated 60 
percent remain unemployed one year after their release, raising the 
risk of recidivism and resulting in lost lifetime earnings. In fact, 
two-thirds of these individuals historically are rearrested within 
three years of their release.
    This challenge competition is separate but builds on the momentum 
of the Aspire Entrepreneurship Initiative, a public-private partnership 
announced in August 2016 between the SBA, W.K. Kellogg Foundation and 
JUSTINE Petersen. The three-year initiative is a pilot to test 
entrepreneurship education programming and microloan assistance through 
SBA Microloan Intermediaries to formerly incarcerated individuals in 
St. Louis, MO, Chicago, IL, Louisville, KY and Detroit, MI. The goal of 
the Aspire Challenge is to source additional

[[Page 96156]]

innovative solutions in other areas in the United States beyond these 
four metropolitan areas. This challenge also aligns with other actions 
identified by the Federal Interagency Reentry Council, a cabinet-level 
working group to support the federal government's efforts to promote 
public safety and economic opportunity through purposeful cross-agency 
coordination and collaboration.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/11/02/fact-sheet-president-obama-announces-new-actions-promote-rehabilitation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Through the design and delivery of intensive entrepreneurial 
education and increased access to micro-loans, the Aspire Challenge 
will serve as a catalyst to leverage business formation as a tool for 
economic mobility and self-employment for the formerly incarcerated. 
This competition is designed to award prizes to entrepreneurial support 
organizations that propose innovative and sustainable solutions to 
equipping the formerly incarcerated with the education and technical 
assistance they need to start and grow a business.

Competition Details

    (1) Subject of Challenge Competition: The SBA is working to create 
pathways towards entrepreneurship and access to capital resources to 
individuals who have been formerly incarcerated. The SBA is looking for 
contestants who offer solutions that are innovative and relevant based 
on the needs of this target market. Solutions should incorporate the 
following two components:
    (i) Delivery of Intensive Entrepreneurial Education to individuals 
who have been formerly incarcerated, by providing innovative and 
comprehensive entrepreneurial education with a focus on the following:
    (A) Develop and deliver comprehensive entrepreneurship training, 
for which individuals who have been incarcerated will earn a 
certificate upon completion;
    (B) Provide individualized business mentoring to support 
participants' growth as prospective entrepreneurs;
    (C) Build participants' ties to the larger business community; and
    (D) Connect participants to opportunities for life skills 
development and financial literacy.
    (ii) Access to Capital:
    When appropriate, link participants with participating microlenders 
including SBA Microloan Intermediaries, to fund new businesses and 
provide capital to existing ventures.
    (iii) Aspire Challenge contestants shall provide a data-driven 
assessment of the proposed community's entrepreneurial ecosystem as it 
exists today and identify training, education and support gaps for 
individuals who have been formerly incarcerated. Contestants shall 
propose an intensive entrepreneurship education and program plan that 
provides targeted support to participating entrepreneurs in an effort 
to increase their ability to start and grow businesses, while at the 
same time, enhancing their personal and professional skills to improve 
their employment outlook. Contestants shall demonstrate an ability and 
cultural competency to reach formerly incarcerated individuals or those 
who are non-violent ex-offenders.
    (2) Eligibility Rules for Participating in the Competition: To be 
eligible to win a prize under this competition, a contestant:
    (i) Shall have registered to participate in the competition under 
the rules promulgated by SBA;
    (ii) Shall have complied with all the requirements under this 
Notice;
    (iii) In the case of a private entity, shall be incorporated in and 
maintain a primary place of business in the United States, and
    (iv) May not be a Federal entity or Federal employee acting within 
the scope of their employment;
    (v) Shall not be an SBA employee working on their applications 
during assigned duty hours.
    (3) Registration Process for Contestants: Contestants will submit 
their application through challenge.gov. Winners will be required to 
have an account in System for Award Management (SAM) https://www.sam.gov to receive the award.
    (4) Amount of Prize: Through the Aspire Challenge, the SBA will 
award up to sixteen awards of up to $75,000 each for a total of up to 
$1.2 million in prizes.
    (5) Payment of Prize: The cash prize portion of the award will be 
disbursed in a series of three of payments. The first payment, equal to 
40 percent of a winner's total prize amount, will be disbursed upon 
award once all initial requirements in the Official Rules available at 
https://www.challenge.gov (see Rules tab under the Aspire 
Entrepreneurship Challenge subpage) have been met and the contestant 
has provided documentary evidence satisfactory to SBA. The second 
payment, equal to 30 percent of a winner's total prize amount, will be 
disbursed after a winner has delivered a kickoff event and the first 
50% of the proposed training program has been delivered to the intended 
audience and the contestant has provided documentary evidence 
satisfactory to SBA. The kickoff and first 50% of the program must be 
executed within six months of the date of the award unless otherwise 
specified by the SBA. The remaining 30 percent of the total prize 
amount will be disbursed after a winner submits a written assessment 
that includes, but is not limited to, the outcomes and outputs of the 
pilot implementation of the training program as measured by the metrics 
outlined in its challenge application, a summary of any lessons learned 
and best practices, and suggestions for any improvements to the design 
or implementation of similar competitions in the future. The written 
assessment must be submitted to SBA no later than eighteen months after 
a winner receives its first prize payment and the documentation must be 
satisfactory to SBA.
    (6) Selection of Winners:
    (i) Competition entries will be evaluated by a review committee 
that may be comprised of SBA officials, employees of other Federal 
agencies, and/or private sector experts. Winners will be selected based 
on the quality, clarity, completeness, and feasibility of their 
proposals in addressing the issues outlined in the criteria below. In 
addition, in order to achieve nationwide distribution of prizes for the 
purpose of assisting business startups across the entire United States, 
SBA may take into account contestants' geographic locations and areas 
of service when selecting winners. For the announcement of winners, any 
travel or related expenses to attend an event will be the 
responsibility of the winner and may not be paid with prize funds.
    (ii) Each Aspire Challenge solution plan shall include innovative 
solutions under the following criteria:
    (A) Entrepreneurial Education
    (1) Recruitment: Key to testing entrepreneurship training/access to 
microloans as a tool to reduce recidivism is the outreach to and 
recruitment of formerly incarcerated individuals. The applicant shall 
demonstrate how they intend to identify the participants who will 
receive the services described in this challenge.
    (2) Classroom Instruction: A proven, existing intensive 
entrepreneurship education curriculum designed for starting and growing 
businesses. Contests shall include how contestants will:
    (i) Organize participants to meet in-person for classroom 
instructions that progressively develops over several weeks;
    (ii) Provide online resources and other components/activities that 
supplement the in-person curriculum;

[[Page 96157]]

    (iii) Guide participants to explore their personal entrepreneurial 
interests and visions;
    (iv) Address topics such as process, strategy, financing, 
marketing, human resources, leadership, contracting and market/product 
development;
    (v) Guide all participants, by the end of the training, to refine 
and draft a complete business plan.
    (3) Mentoring:
    (i) Provide individualized support on developing entrepreneurial 
skills and strategies.
    (4) Community Connections:
    (i) Opportunities to connect with the local business community and 
social service providers to increase participants' financial literacy.
    (B) Access to Capital
    (1) Access to micro-lending and other capital/funding 
opportunities: \2\ (i) Link participants with participating 
microlenders, including SBA Microloan Intermediaries, when appropriate, 
to fund and grow new businesses;
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ In 2015, the SBA published a final rule for its Microloan 
Program allowing microloans to be made by SBA Microloan 
Intermediaries to small businesses owners currently on probation or 
parole. 13 CFR 120.707(a). The SBA's Microloan Program is focused on 
new businesses and other underserved markets and provides loans up 
to $50,000.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    (ii) Provide Assistance to prepare to meet with capital providers, 
preparing proper documentation, matchmaking events with local lenders 
and funders, or business pitch events to angel investors, for example.
    (7) Applicable Law: This Competition is being conducted by SBA 
pursuant to the America Competes Act (15 U.S.C. 3719) and is subject to 
all applicable federal laws and regulations. By participating in this 
competition, each contestant gives its full and unconditional agreement 
to the Official Rules, located on www.challenge.gov and the related 
administrative decisions described in this notice, which are final and 
binding in all matters related to the competition. A contestant's 
eligibility for a prize award is contingent upon its fulfilling all 
requirements identified in this notice and in the Official Rules. 
Publication of this notice is not an obligation of funds on the part of 
SBA. SBA reserves the right to modify or cancel this competition, in 
whole or in part, at any time prior to the award of prizes.
    (8) Conflicts of Interest: No individual acting as a judge at any 
stage of this competition may have personal or financial interests in, 
or be an employee, officer, director, or agent of any contestant or 
have a familial or financial relationship with a contestant.
    (9) Intellectual Property Rights:
    (i) All entries submitted in response to this competition will 
remain the sole intellectual property of the individuals or 
organizations that developed them. By registering and entering a 
submission, each contestant represents and warrants that it is the sole 
author and copyright owner of the submission, and that the submission 
is an original work of the contestant, or if the submission is a work 
based on an existing application, that the contestant has acquired 
sufficient rights to use and to authorize others to use the submission, 
and that the submission does not infringe upon any copyright or upon 
any other third party rights of which the contestant is aware.
    (ii) The winning contestant will, in consideration of the prize to 
be awarded, grant to SBA an irrevocable, royalty-free, exclusive 
worldwide license to reproduce, distribute, copy, display, create 
derivative works, and publicly post, link to, and share the solutions 
or parts thereof that are to be developed as a result of winning this 
competition or for any official SBA purpose.
    (10) Publicity Rights: By registering and entering a submission, 
each contestant consents to SBA's and its agents' use, in perpetuity, 
of its name, likeness, photograph, voice, opinions, and/or hometown and 
state information for promotional or informational purposes through any 
form of media, worldwide, without further payment or consideration.
    (11) Liability and Insurance Requirements: By registering and 
entering a submission, each contestant agrees to assume any and all 
risks and waive claims against the Federal Government and its related 
entities, except in the case of willful misconduct, for any injury, 
death, damage, or loss of property, revenue, or profits, whether 
direct, indirect, or consequential, arising from their participation in 
this competition, whether the injury, death, damage, or loss arises 
through negligence or otherwise. By registering and entering a 
submission, each contestant further represents and warrants that it 
possesses sufficient liability insurance or financial resources to 
cover claims by a third party for death, bodily injury, or property 
damage or loss resulting from any activity it carries out in connection 
with its participation in this competition, or claims by the Federal 
Government for damage or loss to government property resulting from 
such an activity. Competition winners shall be prepared to demonstrate 
proof of insurance or financial responsibility in the event SBA deems 
it necessary.
    (12) Record Retention and Disclosure: All submissions and related 
materials provided to SBA in the course of this competition 
automatically become SBA records and cannot be returned. Contestants 
shall identify any confidential commercial information contained in 
their entries at the time of their submission.
    Award Approving Official: Lori Gillen, Deputy Associate 
Administrator, Office of Entrepreneurial Development, U.S. Small 
Business Administration, 409 Third Street SW., Washington, DC 20416.

    Authority: America Competes Reauthorization Act of 2010, 15 
U.S.C. 3719.

Maria Contreras-Sweet,
Administrator, U.S. Small Business Administration.
[FR Doc. 2016-31455 Filed 12-28-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 8025-01-P



                                                                                  Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 250 / Thursday, December 29, 2016 / Notices                                           96155

                                                    the BX administrative fees, and would                        • Send an email to rule-comments@                    SUMMARY:   The Aspire Challenge is a
                                                    constrain the Exchange in its pricing                      sec.gov. Please include File Number SR–                prize competition conducted under the
                                                    decisions.                                                 BX–2016–071 on the subject line.                       America Competes Act. The objective of
                                                                                                                                                                      the prizes is to spur the development
                                                    Competition Among Distributors                             Paper Comments
                                                                                                                                                                      and provision of innovative
                                                       Distributors provide another form of                       • Send paper comments in triplicate                 entrepreneurial development and access
                                                    price discipline for market data                           to Secretary, Securities and Exchange                  to capital resources for formerly
                                                    products. Distributors are in                              Commission, 100 F Street NE.,                          incarcerated individuals or those who
                                                    competition for users, and can curtail                     Washington, DC 20549–1090.                             are non-violent ex-offenders
                                                    their purchases of market data if the                      All submissions should refer to File                   DATES: The submission period for
                                                    total price of market data, including                      Number SR–BX–2016–071. This file                       entries will begin on December 29, 2016
                                                    administrative fees, were set above                        number should be included on the                       and close on February 13, 2017. SBA
                                                    competitive levels.                                        subject line if email is used. To help the             anticipates that winners will be
                                                       In summary, market forces constrain                     Commission process and review your                     announced no later than March 14,
                                                    the level of administrative fees through                   comments more efficiently, please use                  2017.
                                                    competition for order flow, competition                    only one method. The Commission will
                                                                                                                                                                      FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
                                                    from other sources of proprietary data,                    post all comments on the Commission’s
                                                    and in the competition among                               Internet Web site (http://www.sec.gov/                 Matthew Stevens, Strategic Initiatives
                                                    distributors for customers. For these                      rules/sro.shtml). Copies of the                        Manager, Office of Entrepreneurial
                                                    reasons, the Exchange has provided a                       submission, all subsequent                             Development, U.S. Small Business
                                                    substantial basis demonstrating that the                   amendments, all written statements                     Administration, 409 Third Street SW.,
                                                    fee is equitable, fair, reasonable, and not                with respect to the proposed rule                      6th Floor, Washington, DC 20416, (202)
                                                    unreasonably discriminatory, and                           change that are filed with the                         205–7699, SI@sba.gov.
                                                    therefore consistent with and in                           Commission, and all written                            SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
                                                    furtherance of the purposes of the                         communications relating to the                         Background
                                                    Exchange Act.                                              proposed rule change between the
                                                                                                                                                                         The U.S. Small Business
                                                                                                               Commission and any person, other than
                                                    C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s                                                                                 Administration (SBA), officially
                                                                                                               those that may be withheld from the
                                                    Statement on Comments on the                                                                                      established in 1953, maintains and
                                                                                                               public in accordance with the
                                                    Proposed Rule Change Received From                                                                                strengthens the nation’s economy by
                                                                                                               provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be
                                                    Members, Participants, or Others                                                                                  aiding, counseling, assisting, and
                                                                                                               available for Web site viewing and
                                                      No written comments were either                                                                                 protecting the interests of small
                                                                                                               printing in the Commission’s Public
                                                    solicited or received.                                                                                            businesses, and by helping families and
                                                                                                               Reference Room, 100 F Street NE.,
                                                                                                                                                                      businesses to recover from national
                                                    III. Date of Effectiveness of the                          Washington, DC 20549 on official
                                                                                                                                                                      disasters. The SBA’s mission includes
                                                    Proposed Rule Change and Timing for                        business days between the hours of
                                                                                                                                                                      assisting small businesses to start, grow,
                                                    Commission Action                                          10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Copies of such
                                                                                                                                                                      and compete in markets by providing
                                                                                                               filing also will be available for
                                                       The foregoing rule change has become                                                                           quality training, counseling, and access
                                                                                                               inspection and copying at the principal
                                                    effective pursuant to Section                                                                                     to resources.
                                                                                                               office of the Exchange. All comments                      The Aspire Challenge is a prize
                                                    19(b)(3)(A)(ii) of the Act.11                              received will be posted without change;
                                                       At any time within 60 days of the                                                                              competition designed to spur the
                                                                                                               the Commission does not edit personal                  development and provision of
                                                    filing of the proposed rule change, the                    identifying information from
                                                    Commission summarily may                                                                                          innovative entrepreneurial development
                                                                                                               submissions. You should submit only                    and access to capital resources for
                                                    temporarily suspend such rule change if                    information that you wish to make
                                                    it appears to the Commission that such                                                                            formerly incarcerated individuals or
                                                                                                               available publicly. All submissions                    those who are non-violent ex-offenders.
                                                    action is: (i) Necessary or appropriate in                 should refer to File Number SR–BX–
                                                    the public interest; (ii) for the protection                                                                      Of the 600,000 individuals released on
                                                                                                               2016–071, and should be submitted on                   average each year from federal prisons,
                                                    of investors; or (iii) otherwise in                        or before January 19, 2017.
                                                    furtherance of the purposes of the Act.                                                                           an estimated 60 percent remain
                                                    If the Commission takes such action, the                     For the Commission, by the Division of               unemployed one year after their release,
                                                                                                               Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated             raising the risk of recidivism and
                                                    Commission shall institute proceedings                     authority.12
                                                    to determine whether the proposed rule                                                                            resulting in lost lifetime earnings. In
                                                                                                               Eduardo A. Aleman,                                     fact, two-thirds of these individuals
                                                    should be approved or disapproved.
                                                                                                               Assistant Secretary.                                   historically are rearrested within three
                                                    IV. Solicitation of Comments                               [FR Doc. 2016–31482 Filed 12–28–16; 8:45 am]           years of their release.
                                                      Interested persons are invited to                        BILLING CODE 8011–01–P                                    This challenge competition is separate
                                                    submit written data, views, and                                                                                   but builds on the momentum of the
                                                    arguments concerning the foregoing,                                                                               Aspire Entrepreneurship Initiative, a
                                                    including whether the proposed rule                        SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION                          public-private partnership announced
                                                    change is consistent with the Act.                                                                                in August 2016 between the SBA, W.K.
                                                                                                               Announcement of the Aspire                             Kellogg Foundation and JUSTINE
asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES




                                                    Comments may be submitted by any of
                                                    the following methods:                                     Challenge—An Agency Prize                              Petersen. The three-year initiative is a
                                                                                                               Competition                                            pilot to test entrepreneurship education
                                                    Electronic Comments                                                                                               programming and microloan assistance
                                                                                                               AGENCY: U.S. Small Business
                                                      • Use the Commission’s Internet                          Administration.                                        through SBA Microloan Intermediaries
                                                    comment form (http://www.sec.gov/                                                                                 to formerly incarcerated individuals in
                                                                                                               ACTION: Notice.
                                                    rules/sro.shtml); or                                                                                              St. Louis, MO, Chicago, IL, Louisville,
                                                                                                                                                                      KY and Detroit, MI. The goal of the
                                                      11 15   U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(ii).                           12 17   CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).                         Aspire Challenge is to source additional


                                               VerDate Sep<11>2014      18:41 Dec 28, 2016   Jkt 241001   PO 00000   Frm 00200    Fmt 4703   Sfmt 4703   E:\FR\FM\29DEN1.SGM   29DEN1


                                                    96156                     Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 250 / Thursday, December 29, 2016 / Notices

                                                    innovative solutions in other areas in                  of the proposed community’s                           documentary evidence satisfactory to
                                                    the United States beyond these four                     entrepreneurial ecosystem as it exists                SBA. The kickoff and first 50% of the
                                                    metropolitan areas. This challenge also                 today and identify training, education                program must be executed within six
                                                    aligns with other actions identified by                 and support gaps for individuals who                  months of the date of the award unless
                                                    the Federal Interagency Reentry                         have been formerly incarcerated.                      otherwise specified by the SBA. The
                                                    Council, a cabinet-level working group                  Contestants shall propose an intensive                remaining 30 percent of the total prize
                                                    to support the federal government’s                     entrepreneurship education and                        amount will be disbursed after a winner
                                                    efforts to promote public safety and                    program plan that provides targeted                   submits a written assessment that
                                                    economic opportunity through                            support to participating entrepreneurs                includes, but is not limited to, the
                                                    purposeful cross-agency coordination                    in an effort to increase their ability to             outcomes and outputs of the pilot
                                                    and collaboration.1                                     start and grow businesses, while at the               implementation of the training program
                                                       Through the design and delivery of                   same time, enhancing their personal and               as measured by the metrics outlined in
                                                    intensive entrepreneurial education and                 professional skills to improve their                  its challenge application, a summary of
                                                    increased access to micro-loans, the                    employment outlook. Contestants shall                 any lessons learned and best practices,
                                                    Aspire Challenge will serve as a catalyst               demonstrate an ability and cultural                   and suggestions for any improvements
                                                    to leverage business formation as a tool                competency to reach formerly                          to the design or implementation of
                                                    for economic mobility and self-                         incarcerated individuals or those who                 similar competitions in the future. The
                                                    employment for the formerly                             are non-violent ex-offenders.                         written assessment must be submitted to
                                                    incarcerated. This competition is                          (2) Eligibility Rules for Participating            SBA no later than eighteen months after
                                                    designed to award prizes to                             in the Competition: To be eligible to win             a winner receives its first prize payment
                                                    entrepreneurial support organizations                   a prize under this competition, a                     and the documentation must be
                                                    that propose innovative and sustainable                 contestant:                                           satisfactory to SBA.
                                                    solutions to equipping the formerly                        (i) Shall have registered to participate              (6) Selection of Winners:
                                                    incarcerated with the education and                     in the competition under the rules                       (i) Competition entries will be
                                                    technical assistance they need to start                 promulgated by SBA;                                   evaluated by a review committee that
                                                    and grow a business.                                       (ii) Shall have complied with all the              may be comprised of SBA officials,
                                                                                                            requirements under this Notice;                       employees of other Federal agencies,
                                                    Competition Details                                        (iii) In the case of a private entity,             and/or private sector experts. Winners
                                                       (1) Subject of Challenge Competition:                shall be incorporated in and maintain a               will be selected based on the quality,
                                                    The SBA is working to create pathways                   primary place of business in the United               clarity, completeness, and feasibility of
                                                    towards entrepreneurship and access to                  States, and                                           their proposals in addressing the issues
                                                    capital resources to individuals who                       (iv) May not be a Federal entity or                outlined in the criteria below. In
                                                    have been formerly incarcerated. The                    Federal employee acting within the                    addition, in order to achieve nationwide
                                                    SBA is looking for contestants who offer                scope of their employment;                            distribution of prizes for the purpose of
                                                    solutions that are innovative and                          (v) Shall not be an SBA employee                   assisting business startups across the
                                                    relevant based on the needs of this                     working on their applications during                  entire United States, SBA may take into
                                                    target market. Solutions should                         assigned duty hours.                                  account contestants’ geographic
                                                    incorporate the following two                              (3) Registration Process for                       locations and areas of service when
                                                    components:                                             Contestants: Contestants will submit                  selecting winners. For the
                                                       (i) Delivery of Intensive                            their application through challenge.gov.              announcement of winners, any travel or
                                                    Entrepreneurial Education to                            Winners will be required to have an                   related expenses to attend an event will
                                                    individuals who have been formerly                      account in System for Award                           be the responsibility of the winner and
                                                    incarcerated, by providing innovative                   Management (SAM) https://                             may not be paid with prize funds.
                                                    and comprehensive entrepreneurial                       www.sam.gov to receive the award.                        (ii) Each Aspire Challenge solution
                                                    education with a focus on the following:                   (4) Amount of Prize: Through the                   plan shall include innovative solutions
                                                       (A) Develop and deliver                              Aspire Challenge, the SBA will award                  under the following criteria:
                                                    comprehensive entrepreneurship                          up to sixteen awards of up to $75,000                    (A) Entrepreneurial Education
                                                    training, for which individuals who                     each for a total of up to $1.2 million in                (1) Recruitment: Key to testing
                                                    have been incarcerated will earn a                      prizes.                                               entrepreneurship training/access to
                                                    certificate upon completion;                               (5) Payment of Prize: The cash prize               microloans as a tool to reduce
                                                       (B) Provide individualized business                  portion of the award will be disbursed                recidivism is the outreach to and
                                                    mentoring to support participants’                      in a series of three of payments. The                 recruitment of formerly incarcerated
                                                    growth as prospective entrepreneurs;                    first payment, equal to 40 percent of a               individuals. The applicant shall
                                                       (C) Build participants’ ties to the                  winner’s total prize amount, will be                  demonstrate how they intend to identify
                                                    larger business community; and                          disbursed upon award once all initial                 the participants who will receive the
                                                       (D) Connect participants to                          requirements in the Official Rules                    services described in this challenge.
                                                    opportunities for life skills development               available at https://www.challenge.gov                   (2) Classroom Instruction: A proven,
                                                    and financial literacy.                                 (see Rules tab under the Aspire                       existing intensive entrepreneurship
                                                       (ii) Access to Capital:                              Entrepreneurship Challenge subpage)
                                                       When appropriate, link participants                                                                        education curriculum designed for
                                                                                                            have been met and the contestant has                  starting and growing businesses.
                                                    with participating microlenders
                                                                                                            provided documentary evidence
asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES




                                                    including SBA Microloan                                                                                       Contests shall include how contestants
                                                                                                            satisfactory to SBA. The second                       will:
                                                    Intermediaries, to fund new businesses
                                                                                                            payment, equal to 30 percent of a                        (i) Organize participants to meet in-
                                                    and provide capital to existing ventures.
                                                                                                            winner’s total prize amount, will be                  person for classroom instructions that
                                                       (iii) Aspire Challenge contestants
                                                                                                            disbursed after a winner has delivered                progressively develops over several
                                                    shall provide a data-driven assessment
                                                                                                            a kickoff event and the first 50% of the              weeks;
                                                      1 https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/        proposed training program has been                       (ii) Provide online resources and other
                                                    2015/11/02/fact-sheet-president-obama-announces-        delivered to the intended audience and                components/activities that supplement
                                                    new-actions-promote-rehabilitation.                     the contestant has provided                           the in-person curriculum;


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                                                                              Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 250 / Thursday, December 29, 2016 / Notices                                                96157

                                                       (iii) Guide participants to explore                     (9) Intellectual Property Rights:                  financial responsibility in the event
                                                    their personal entrepreneurial interests                   (i) All entries submitted in response              SBA deems it necessary.
                                                    and visions;                                            to this competition will remain the sole                 (12) Record Retention and Disclosure:
                                                       (iv) Address topics such as process,                 intellectual property of the individuals              All submissions and related materials
                                                    strategy, financing, marketing, human                   or organizations that developed them.                 provided to SBA in the course of this
                                                    resources, leadership, contracting and                  By registering and entering a                         competition automatically become SBA
                                                    market/product development;                             submission, each contestant represents                records and cannot be returned.
                                                       (v) Guide all participants, by the end               and warrants that it is the sole author               Contestants shall identify any
                                                    of the training, to refine and draft a                  and copyright owner of the submission,                confidential commercial information
                                                    complete business plan.                                 and that the submission is an original                contained in their entries at the time of
                                                       (3) Mentoring:                                       work of the contestant, or if the                     their submission.
                                                       (i) Provide individualized support on                submission is a work based on an                         Award Approving Official: Lori
                                                    developing entrepreneurial skills and                   existing application, that the contestant             Gillen, Deputy Associate Administrator,
                                                    strategies.                                             has acquired sufficient rights to use and             Office of Entrepreneurial Development,
                                                       (4) Community Connections:                           to authorize others to use the                        U.S. Small Business Administration,
                                                       (i) Opportunities to connect with the                submission, and that the submission                   409 Third Street SW., Washington, DC
                                                    local business community and social                     does not infringe upon any copyright or               20416.
                                                    service providers to increase                           upon any other third party rights of
                                                    participants’ financial literacy.                                                                               Authority: America Competes
                                                                                                            which the contestant is aware.                        Reauthorization Act of 2010, 15 U.S.C. 3719.
                                                       (B) Access to Capital                                   (ii) The winning contestant will, in
                                                       (1) Access to micro-lending and other                consideration of the prize to be                      Maria Contreras-Sweet,
                                                    capital/funding opportunities: 2 (i) Link               awarded, grant to SBA an irrevocable,                 Administrator, U.S. Small Business
                                                    participants with participating                         royalty-free, exclusive worldwide                     Administration.
                                                    microlenders, including SBA Microloan                   license to reproduce, distribute, copy,               [FR Doc. 2016–31455 Filed 12–28–16; 8:45 am]
                                                    Intermediaries, when appropriate, to                    display, create derivative works, and                 BILLING CODE 8025–01–P
                                                    fund and grow new businesses;                           publicly post, link to, and share the
                                                       (ii) Provide Assistance to prepare to                solutions or parts thereof that are to be
                                                    meet with capital providers, preparing                  developed as a result of winning this                 SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
                                                    proper documentation, matchmaking                       competition or for any official SBA
                                                    events with local lenders and funders,                  purpose.                                              Announcement of InnovateHER:
                                                    or business pitch events to angel                          (10) Publicity Rights: By registering              Innovating for Women Business
                                                    investors, for example.                                 and entering a submission, each                       Challenge 2017
                                                       (7) Applicable Law: This Competition
                                                                                                            contestant consents to SBA’s and its                  AGENCY: U.S. Small Business
                                                    is being conducted by SBA pursuant to
                                                                                                            agents’ use, in perpetuity, of its name,              Administration.
                                                    the America Competes Act (15 U.S.C.
                                                                                                            likeness, photograph, voice, opinions,
                                                    3719) and is subject to all applicable                                                                        ACTION: Notice.
                                                                                                            and/or hometown and state information
                                                    federal laws and regulations. By
                                                                                                            for promotional or informational
                                                    participating in this competition, each                                                                       SUMMARY:   The U.S. Small Business
                                                                                                            purposes through any form of media,
                                                    contestant gives its full and                                                                                 Administration (SBA) is conducting the
                                                                                                            worldwide, without further payment or
                                                    unconditional agreement to the Official                                                                       third year of the InnovateHER:
                                                                                                            consideration.
                                                    Rules, located on www.challenge.gov                                                                           Innovating for Women Challenge (the
                                                                                                               (11) Liability and Insurance                       Challenge), pursuant to the America
                                                    and the related administrative decisions
                                                                                                            Requirements: By registering and                      Competes Act, for entrepreneurs to
                                                    described in this notice, which are final
                                                                                                            entering a submission, each contestant                create a product or service that has a
                                                    and binding in all matters related to the
                                                                                                            agrees to assume any and all risks and                measurable impact on the lives of
                                                    competition. A contestant’s eligibility
                                                                                                            waive claims against the Federal                      women and families, the potential for
                                                    for a prize award is contingent upon its
                                                                                                            Government and its related entities,                  commercialization, and fills a need in
                                                    fulfilling all requirements identified in
                                                                                                            except in the case of willful misconduct,             the marketplace.
                                                    this notice and in the Official Rules.
                                                                                                            for any injury, death, damage, or loss of
                                                    Publication of this notice is not an                                                                          DATES: The Challenge launches on
                                                                                                            property, revenue, or profits, whether
                                                    obligation of funds on the part of SBA.                                                                       December 29, 2016. The initial round of
                                                                                                            direct, indirect, or consequential, arising
                                                    SBA reserves the right to modify or                                                                           the Challenge will take the form of local
                                                                                                            from their participation in this
                                                    cancel this competition, in whole or in                                                                       competitions that will be run across the
                                                                                                            competition, whether the injury, death,
                                                    part, at any time prior to the award of                                                                       country beginning December 29, 2016,
                                                                                                            damage, or loss arises through
                                                    prizes.                                                                                                       and ending no later than April 29, 2017.
                                                                                                            negligence or otherwise. By registering
                                                       (8) Conflicts of Interest: No individual                                                                   The host organizations running the local
                                                                                                            and entering a submission, each
                                                    acting as a judge at any stage of this                                                                        competitions must select and submit
                                                                                                            contestant further represents and
                                                    competition may have personal or                                                                              one winner from each local competition
                                                                                                            warrants that it possesses sufficient
                                                    financial interests in, or be an employee,                                                                    to SBA, along with a nomination
                                                                                                            liability insurance or financial resources
                                                    officer, director, or agent of any                                                                            package, no later than May 12, 2017.
                                                                                                            to cover claims by a third party for
                                                    contestant or have a familial or financial                                                                    SBA will then select up to ten finalists.
                                                                                                            death, bodily injury, or property damage
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                                                    relationship with a contestant.                                                                               The top three winners will be
                                                                                                            or loss resulting from any activity it
                                                                                                            carries out in connection with its                    announced no later than July 27, 2017,
                                                       2 In 2015, the SBA published a final rule for its
                                                                                                            participation in this competition, or                 following a live pitch competition.
                                                    Microloan Program allowing microloans to be made
                                                    by SBA Microloan Intermediaries to small                claims by the Federal Government for                  FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
                                                    businesses owners currently on probation or parole.     damage or loss to government property                 Simona Duffin, Office of
                                                    13 CFR 120.707(a). The SBA’s Microloan Program
                                                    is focused on new businesses and other
                                                                                                            resulting from such an activity.                      Entrepreneurial Development, U.S.
                                                    underserved markets and provides loans up to            Competition winners shall be prepared                 Small Business Administration, 409
                                                    $50,000.                                                to demonstrate proof of insurance or                  Third Street SW., 6th Floor,


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Document Created: 2016-12-29 01:58:54
Document Modified: 2016-12-29 01:58:54
CategoryRegulatory Information
CollectionFederal Register
sudoc ClassAE 2.7:
GS 4.107:
AE 2.106:
PublisherOffice of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration
SectionNotices
ActionNotice.
DatesThe submission period for entries will begin on December 29, 2016 and close on February 13, 2017. SBA anticipates that winners will be announced no later than March 14, 2017.
ContactMatthew Stevens, Strategic Initiatives Manager, Office of Entrepreneurial Development, U.S. Small Business Administration, 409 Third Street SW., 6th Floor, Washington, DC 20416, (202) 205-7699, [email protected]
FR Citation81 FR 96155 

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