Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 116 Part 1.djvu/446

 116 STAT. 420 PUBLIC LAW 107-171—MAY 13, 2002 "(B) the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development or its designee; "(C) the Southern Rural Development Center; and "(D) the Western Rural Development Center or its designee. "(2) EXTENSION PROGRAM. —The term 'extension program' means the rural electronic commerce extension program established under subsection (b). " (3) MiCROENTERPRlSE.— The term 'microenterprise' means a commercial enterprise that has 5 or fewer employees, 1 or more of whom own the enterprise. "(4) SECRETARY.— The term 'Secretary' means the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Administrator of the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service. "(5) SMALL BUSINESS. —The term 'small business' has the meaning given the term 'small-business concern' by section 3(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(a)). "(b) ESTABLISHMENT. — The Secretary shall establish a rural electronic commerce extension program to expand and enhance electronic commerce practices and technology to be used by small businesses and microenterprises in rural areas. " (c) GRANTS.— "(1) IN GENERAL. —The Secretary shall carry out the program established under subsection (b) by making— "(A) grants to each of the development centers; and "(B) competitive grants to land-grant colleges and universities (or consortia of land-grant colleges and universities) and to colleges and universities (including community colleges) with agricultural or rural development programs— "(i) to develop and facilitate innovative rural electronic commerce business strategies; and "(ii) to assist small businesses and microenterprises in identifying, adapting, implementing, and using electronic commerce business practices and technologies. "(2) ELIGIBILITY.— The selection criteria established for grants awarded under paragraph (1)(B) shall include— "(A) the ability of an applicant to provide training and education on best practices, technology transfer, adoption, and use of electronic commerce in rural communities by small businesses and microenterprises; "(B) the extent and geographic diversity of the area served by the proposed project or activity under the extension program; "(C) in the case of a land-grant college or university, the extent of participation of the land-grant college or university in the extension program (including any economic benefits that would result from that participation); "(D) the percentage of funding and in-kind commitments from non-Federal sources that would be needed by and available for a proposed project or activity under the extension program; and "(E) the extent of participation of low-income and minority businesses or microenterprises in a proposed project or activity under the extension program. "(3) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—

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