Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
Act 440 of the Regular Session
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State of Arkansas 1
95th General Assembly A Bill 2
Regular Session, 2025 SENATE BILL 218 3
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By: Senator Irvin 5
By: Representative Steimel 6
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For An Act To Be Entitled 8
AN ACT TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS SMALL BUSINESS 9
INNOVATION RESEARCH MATCHING GRANT PROGRAM; AND FOR 10
OTHER PURPOSES. 11
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Subtitle 14
TO AMEND THE ARKANSAS SMALL BUSINESS 15
INNOVATION RESEARCH MATCHING GRANT 16
PROGRAM. 17
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 19
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SECTION 1. Arkansas Code § 15-3-703(2), concerning the definitions to 21
be used in relation to the Arkansas Small Business Innovation Research 22
Matching Grant Program, is amended to read as follows: 23
(2) “Matching grant” means a discretionary grant of up to fifty 24
percent (50%) of the amount of a federal Small Business Innovation Research 25
grant or Small Business Technology Transfer grant for each approved matching 26
grant application; 27
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SECTION 2. Arkansas Code § 15 -3-703(4), concerning the definitions to 29
be used in relation to the Arkansas Small Business Innovation Research 30
Matching Grant Program, is amended to read as follows: 31
(4) “Small Business Innovation Research Program” means the 32
federal program administered by the United States Small Business 33
Administration according to regulations adopted pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 638, 34
as it existed on October 1, 2016, which provides funds for Phase I and Phase 35
II Small Business Innovation Research grants and Small Business Technology 36 SB218
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Transfer grants through participating federal agencies. 1
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SECTION 3. Arkansas Code §§ 15 -3-704 — 15-3-707 are amended to read as 3
follows: 4
15-3-704. Administration. 5
(a)(1) The Arkansas Small Business Innovation Research Matching Grant 6
Program is created. 7
(2) The Division of Science and Technology of the Arkansas 8
Economic Development Commission shall administer the program. 9
(b) The division commission shall: 10
(1) Create application forms to be submitted by eligible 11
businesses seeking a matching grant from the program; 12
(2) Devise an application process that: 13
(A) Defines the eligibility criteria for a matching grant; 14
and 15
(B) Establishes application submittal and review 16
processes; 17
(3) Define a process by which matching grants may be awarded; 18
and 19
(4) Execute standard legal grant agreements and other 20
documentation governing the disbursement and use of matching grants. 21
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15-3-705. Eligibility. 23
(a) To be eligible for a matching grant under this subchapter, an 24
applicant shall: 25
(1) Be an eligible business; and 26
(2) Certify that: 27
(A) The eligible business: 28
(i) For Phase I applications, has received a Small 29
Business Innovation Research grant or a Small Business Technology Transfer 30
grant from a sponsoring agency in response to a specific federal 31
solicitation; or 32
(ii) For Phase II applications, has: 33
(a) Submitted a final Phase I report to the 34
sponsoring agency; 35
(b) Demonstrated that the sponsoring agency 36 SB218
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has interest in the Phase II proposal; and 1
(c) Submitted a Phase II proposal to the 2
sponsoring agency; and 3
(B) All cognizant federal Small Business Innovation 4
Research grant requirements will be met. 5
(b) An eligible business awarded a matching grant under this 6
subchapter shall: 7
(1) Remain in Arkansas for the duration of the matching grant 8
project award period; 9
(2) Designate an Arkansas resident or employee as the principal 10
investigator/project manager during the duration of the matching grant award 11
period; and 12
(3) Be principally engaged in one (1) or more of the following 13
targeted business activities: 14
(A) Advanced materials and manufacturing systems; 15
(B) Agriculture, food, and environmental sciences; 16
(C) Biotechnology, bioengineering, and life sciences; 17
(D) Information technology; 18
(E) Transportation logistics; and 19
(F) Bio-based products. 20
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15-3-706. Application requirements. 22
(a) To request a matching grant under this subchapter, an applicant 23
shall complete and submit the application forms prescribed by the Division of 24
Science and Technology of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission under 25
§ 15-3-704. 26
(b) An applicant shall submit an application for each federal Phase I 27
and federal Phase II grant proposal for which the applicant is requesting a 28
matching grant. 29
(c) The division commission shall: 30
(1) Review applications: 31
(A) In order of receipt, as determined by the date and 32
time stamp of receipt; and 33
(B) In accordance with rules promulgated by the division 34
commission under § 15-3-709; and 35
(2) Not consider an incomplete or noncompliant application and 36 SB218
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shall return an incomplete or a noncompliant application without further 1
review; 2
(3) Review each application with the advice and recommendation 3
of the Commercialization Committee of the Board of Directors of the Division 4
of Science and Technology of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission; 5
and 6
(4) Provide advice to the Director of the Arkansas Economic 7
Development Commission concerning the applications for matching grants 8
reviewed by the division . 9
(d)(1) Applications submitted to the division commission are subject 10
to the Freedom of Information Act of 1967, § 25 -19-101 et seq. 11
(2) To the extent an applicant believes that information in an 12
application is confidential or otherwise exempt under the Freedom of 13
Information Act of 1967, § 25 -19-101 et seq., the applicant shall 14
specifically designate in writing the information the applicant believes to 15
be confidential or exempt and the basis for the confidentiality or exemption 16
on that portion of the application in which the information appears. 17
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15-3-707. Matching grant awards. 19
(a) A matching grant awarded under this subchapter: 20
(1) Shall not: 21
(A) Be awarded under this subchapter unless offered in 22
writing by the Director of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission; and 23
(B) Exceed fifty percent (50%) of the federal Small 24
Business Innovation Research award or the Small Business Technology Transfer 25
award, up to: 26
(i) Fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) for a matching 27
grant awarded to match a federal Phase I award; and 28
(ii) One hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) for a 29
matching grant awarded to match a federal Phase II award; and 30
(2) Subject to funding and the discretion of the director, may 31
be offered to an eligible applicant that successfully completes the 32
application process. 33
(b) The matching grant agreement between the Division of Science and 34
Technology of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission and the eligible 35
applicant shall delineate all requirements of the matching grant. 36 SB218
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(c) At least fifty-one percent (51%) of the amount awarded for the 1
matching grant shall be spent in Arkansas. 2
(d) Disbursements for matching grants shall be made on a reimbursable 3
basis, payable when invoices and financial reports are submitted to and 4
approved by the division commission. 5
(e) An eligible business shall not receive more than three (3) 6
matching grants under this subchapter. 7
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SECTION 4. Arkansas Code § 15 -3-709 is amended to read as follows: 9
15-3-709. Rules. 10
The Division of Science and Technology of the Arkansas Economic 11
Development Commission shall promulgate rules to carry out the purposes of 12
this subchapter. 13
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APPROVED: 4/3/25 16
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