Bill Text: CT SB00003 | 2014 | General Assembly | Comm Sub

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Bill Title: An Act Establishing An Employee Ownership Program To Promote Business Retention And Growth.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-1)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2014-04-25 - House Calendar Number 478 [SB00003 Detail]

Download: Connecticut-2014-SB00003-Comm_Sub.html

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General Assembly		Committee Bill No. 3
February Session, 2014		LCO No. 2284
		*_____SB00003CE____032014____*
Referred to Committee on COMMERCE
Introduced by:
(CE)

AN ACT ESTABLISHING AN EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP PROGRAM TO PROMOTE BUSINESS RETENTION AND GROWTH.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2014) (a) Not later than January 1, 2015, the Commissioner of Economic and Community Development, in consultation with the Labor Commissioner, shall prepare and issue a request for proposals for a community development corporation, regional economic development corporation or other nonprofit organization to establish and administer a program to encourage employee stock ownership plans and other forms of employee ownership in existing and start-up businesses. The Commissioner of Economic and Community Development shall provide a grant not to exceed five hundred thousand dollars for such program. Such program shall:

(1) Provide education and outreach to inform employees, employers and entrepreneurs about the possibility and benefit of employee ownership, business ownership succession planning and employee participation in business decision-making, including providing information about financial education, employee teams, open-book management principles that provide employees with financial information regarding business performance and other tools that enable employees to share ideas and information about how their businesses can succeed;

(2) Provide technical assistance to assist efforts to form and transition to employee-owned businesses, to enable employers and employees to explore and assess the feasibility of transferring full or partial ownership to employees and to encourage employees and employers to start new employee-owned businesses;

(3) Train employees and employers with respect to methods of employee participation in such open-book management, work teams, committees and other approaches for seeking greater employee input; and

(4) Develop partnerships with The University of Connecticut, the Connecticut State University System and a business and industry trade association in order to host educational events to promote awareness and understanding of employee ownership of businesses.

(b) On or before April 1, 2015, the Commissioner of Economic and Community Development, in consultation with the Labor Commissioner, shall evaluate such proposals received pursuant to subsection (a) of this section and may approve one such proposal. In evaluating such proposals, said commissioners shall give a preference to programs that (1) provide preliminary feasibility assessments for employee ownership or assist in the funding of third-party feasibility assessments and preliminary business valuations, (2) establish a data bank to help employees find legal, financial and technical advice in connection with business ownership, or (3) establish a fee structure for technical assistance such that the program can be self-sustaining and not require long-term state operating subsidies.

(c) On or before October 1, 2016, the commissioner shall report, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes, to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to commerce on the request for proposal issued and the program established pursuant to this section.

Sec. 2. Subsection (b) of section 32-235 of the 2014 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2014):

(b) The proceeds of the sale of said bonds, to the extent of the amount stated in subsection (a) of this section, shall be used by the Department of Economic and Community Development (1) for the purposes of sections 32-220 to 32-234, inclusive, including economic cluster-related programs and activities, and for the Connecticut job training finance demonstration program pursuant to sections 32-23uu and 32-23vv, provided (A) three million dollars shall be used by said department solely for the purposes of section 32-23uu and not more than five million two hundred fifty thousand dollars of the amount stated in said subsection (a) may be used by said department for the purposes of section 31-3u, (B) not less than one million dollars shall be used for an educational technology grant to the deployment center program and the nonprofit business consortium deployment center approved pursuant to section 32-41l, (C) not less than two million dollars shall be used by said department for the establishment of a pilot program to make grants to businesses in designated areas of the state for construction, renovation or improvement of small manufacturing facilities, provided such grants are matched by the business, a municipality or another financing entity. The Commissioner of Economic and Community Development shall designate areas of the state where manufacturing is a substantial part of the local economy and shall make grants under such pilot program which are likely to produce a significant economic development benefit for the designated area, (D) five million dollars may be used by said department for the manufacturing competitiveness grants program, (E) one million dollars shall be used by said department for the purpose of a grant to the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology, for the purposes of subdivision (5) of subsection (a) of section 32-7f, (F) fifty million dollars shall be used by said department for the purpose of grants to the United States Department of the Navy, the United States Department of Defense or eligible applicants for projects related to the enhancement of infrastructure for long-term, on-going naval operations at the United States Naval Submarine Base-New London, located in Groton, which will increase the military value of said base. Such projects shall not be subject to the provisions of sections 4a-60 and 4a-60a, (G) two million dollars shall be used by said department for the purpose of a grant to the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology, Inc., for manufacturing initiatives, including aerospace and defense, and (H) four million dollars shall be used by said department for the purpose of a grant to companies adversely impacted by the construction at the Quinnipiac Bridge, where such grant may be used to offset the increase in costs of commercial overland transportation of goods or materials brought to the port of New Haven by ship or vessel, (2) for the purposes of the small business assistance program established pursuant to section 32-9yy, provided fifteen million dollars shall be deposited in the small business assistance account established pursuant to said section 32-9yy, [and] (3) to deposit twenty million dollars in the small business express assistance account established pursuant to section 32-7h, and (4) for the purposes of section 1 of this act, provided not more than five hundred thousand dollars shall be used for such purposes.

This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1	October 1, 2014	New section
Sec. 2	October 1, 2014	32-235(b)

CE

Joint Favorable