Section 41.5. Responsibilities of local sponsor

A local sponsor shall comply with the following:

(1) The local sponsor may operate the small business incubator or it may delegate this responsibility to an operator. Funds awarded to the local sponsor may be provided to the operator by the local sponsor but the local sponsor shall remain ultimately responsible for compliance with the terms and conditions of loan agreement, including loan repayment, and a grant agreement, and for all aspects of the operation of the small business incubator.

(2) The local sponsor shall either own or lease the building housing the incubator. If leased, the local sponsor shall obtain an option to purchase the building and shall exercise the option within 3 years of loan application.

(3) Management of the physical development of the incubator is the responsibility of the local sponsor. Physical development includes common conference rooms or meeting space, furniture and equipment and business services as specified in § 41.6 (relating to business development services).

(4) The local sponsor shall develop a plan to market the incubator to eligible tenants and shall actively execute the plan. As part of the plan, the local sponsor shall address how tenant competition will affect existing private firms in the area.

(5) The local sponsor shall establish and maintain contact with the ATC that serves the area in which the incubator is located.

(6) The local sponsor is responsible for establishing a local advisory committee. Advisory committee members may not be affiliated financially with the local sponsor or a tenant of the incubator, and shall represent fields that can contribute to the operation of the facility, such as accounting, financial, legal, academic and small business. The number of members to serve on the committee is at the discretion of the local sponsor.

(7) The local sponsor, in conjunction with the local advisory committee shall:

(i) Develop policies for admission of a firm as an incubator tenant. The entry policies shall specify types of eligible firms, procedures for reviewing admission applications, criteria for evaluating applicants and permissible tenant activities. A substantial change in entry procedures shall be submitted to the Board for approval.

(ii) Establish policies governing the operation and administration of the incubator.

(iii) Develop policies for the departure of tenants from the incubator. Departure policies shall establish standards against which a tenant’s growth will be measured to determine if a tenant can successfully operate outside of the incubator. A substantial change in departure procedures shall be submitted to the Board for approval.