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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 1179
January Session, 2025
AN ACT ESTABLISHING THE CONNECTICUT COMMUNITY
MAKERSPACE INITIATIVE PROGRAM.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2025) (a) For the purposes of this 1
section: 2
(1) "Financial assistance" means any and all forms of grants, loans or 3
other forms of financing. 4
(2) "Makerspace" means a community space that (A) provides access 5
to tools, technology or educational materials for entrepreneurs, (B) 6
results in the prototyping, creation, production or assembly of tangible 7
personal property, and (C) supports the development of educational 8
opportunities for personal growth, workforce training and early-stage 9
business ventures. 10
(b) Not later than January 1, 2026, the Commissioner of Economic and 11
Community Development shall establish and administer a pilot 12
program to provide financial assistance to eligible entities for the 13
establishment or expansion of makerspaces in the state. The 14
commissioner shall (1) establish eligibility criteria and an application 15
process for the program, and (2) explore means of funding such 16
program, including, but not limited to, public-private partnerships, 17 Substitute Bill No. 1179
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grant programs and federal funds or state funds. 18
(c) Applications for participation in such pilot program shall be 19
submitted in a form and manner prescribed by the commissioner. Each 20
application shall include, but need not be limited to: (1) A description of 21
the makerspace the applicant is seeking to establish or expand; (2) the 22
amount of financial assistance requested by the applicant; and (3) any 23
other information the commissioner deems necessary. 24
(d) The total amount of financial assistance provided pursuant to the 25
program shall not exceed five million dollars. The total amount of 26
financial assistance provided to an eligible entity shall not exceed two 27
hundred fifty thousand dollars per fiscal year. 28
(e) The commissioner shall require each entity that receives financial 29
assistance pursuant to the program to submit a report to the 30
commissioner containing information regarding (1) the progress of the 31
establishment or expansion of the makerspace proposed in such entity's 32
application, and (2) any other information the commissioner deems 33
necessary. Each such entity shall submit such report not later than two 34
years after such entity receives financial assistance pursuant to the 35
provisions of this section. 36
(f) Not later than January 1, 2027, and annually thereafter, the 37
commissioner shall submit a report, in accordance with the provisions 38
of section 11-4a of the general statutes, containing an evaluation of the 39
operation and effectiveness of the program to the joint standing 40
committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 41
relating to commerce. 42
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2025) Notwithstanding the provisions 43
of section 32-7o of the general statutes, the Manufacturing Innovation 44
Advisory Board shall make available, to the Commissioner of Economic 45
and Community Development , one million dollars from the 46
Connecticut Manufacturing Innovation Fund established pursuant to 47
section 32-7o of the general statutes, for the purpose of providing 48
financial assistance in accordance with section 1 of this act. 49 Substitute Bill No. 1179
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This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2025 New section
Sec. 2 July 1, 2025 New section
CE Joint Favorable Subst.