Iowa Code § 15.411
Innovative and other business development — technical and financial assistance
Redline — January 1, 2012 → current.View current text →
Current — January 1, 2026
As of January 1, 2012
1. As used in this part, unless the context otherwise requires:
a. “Internship” means temporary employment of a student that focuses on providing the student with work experience in the student’s field of study.
b. “Targeted industries” means the industries of advanced manufacturing, biosciences, and information technology.
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:
a. Assistance provided directly to businesses by experienced serial entrepreneurs for all of the following activities:
(1) Business plan development.
(1) Business plan development.
(2) Due diligence.
(2) Due diligence.
(3) Market assessments.
(3) Market assessments.
(4) Technology assessments.
(4) Technology assessments.
(5) Other planning activities.
(5) Other planning activities.
b. Operation and coordination of various available competitive seed and prototype development funds.
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.
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.
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.
e. Support and advice for accessing sources of early stage financing.
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.
4. The authority shall, upon board approval, establish and administer a program to provide financial assistance for projects designed to encourage collaboration between commercial users and developers of information technology in the state for the purpose of commercializing existing software and applications technologies. Financial assistance shall not exceed one hundred thousand dollars per project. In order to receive financial assistance, an applicant must demonstrate the ability to secure two dollars of nonstate moneys for every one dollar received from the authority. Financial assistance shall be awarded to projects that will result in technologies being developed as commercial products for sale by Iowa companies rather than as custom applications for proprietary use by a participating firm.
5. The authority shall, upon board approval, establish and administer a program to provide financial assistance to businesses or departments of businesses engaged in the delivery of information technology services in the state for the purpose of upgrading the high-level technical skills of existing employees. The amount of financial assistance shall not exceed twenty-five thousand dollars for any business site. In order to receive financial assistance, an applicant must demonstrate the ability to secure two dollars of nonstate moneys for every one dollar received from the authority.
6. The authority shall, upon board approval, establish and administer a targeted industries internship program for Iowa students. 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. The purpose of the program is to link Iowa students to small and medium sized Iowa firms in the targeted industries through internship opportunities. An Iowa employer may receive financial assistance in an amount of one dollar for every two dollars paid by the employer to an intern. 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 subsection, the employer must have five hundred or fewer employees and must be engaged in a targeted industry. 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 targeted industries internship program.
7. The economic development authority shall work with the department of workforce development to create a statewide supplier capacity and product database to assist the economic development authority in linking suppliers to Iowa-based companies. The economic development authority may procure technical assistance for the creation of the database from a third party through a request for proposals process.
8. The technology commercialization committee created pursuant to section 15.116 shall review all applications for financial assistance and requests for proposals pursuant to this section and make recommendations to the board.
9. In each fiscal year, the authority may transfer additional moneys that become available to the authority from sources such as loan repayments or recaptures of awards from federal economic stimulus funds to the innovation and commercialization development fund created in section 15.412, provided the authority spends those moneys for the implementation of the recommendations included in the separate consultant reports on bioscience, advanced manufacturing, information technology, and entrepreneurship submitted to the department* in calendar years 2004, 2005, and 2006.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. The board shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A necessary for the administration of this section.
Referred to in
*“Department of economic development” probably intended; corrective legislation is pending
Code editor directive applied
Official source: Iowa Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain Iowa statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.