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North Carolina House Bill H283

North Carolina 2025-2026 Regular Session

North Carolina House Bill H283 Compare Versions

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11 GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
22 SESSION 2025
3-H 1
4-HOUSE BILL 283
3+H D
4+HOUSE BILL DRH10100-NIf-12
5+
56
67
78 Short Title: Small Business Investment Grant Program. (Public)
8-Sponsors: Representatives Reives, Bell, Ross, and T. Brown (Primary Sponsors).
9-For a complete list of sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly web site.
10-Referred to: Commerce and Economic Development, if favorable, Finance, if favorable, Rules,
11-Calendar, and Operations of the House
12-March 5, 2025
13-*H283 -v-1*
9+Sponsors: Representative Reives.
10+Referred to:
11+
12+*DRH10100 -NIf-12*
1413 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
1514 AN ACT TO RENAME THE ONE NORTH CAROLINA SMALL BUSINESS ACCOUNT 2
1615 THE SMALL BUSINESS RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY ACCOUNT AND TO 3
1716 CREATE A SMALL BUSINESS INVESTMENT GRANT PROGRAM WITHIN THE ONE 4
1817 NORTH CAROLINA FUND. 5
1918 The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 6
2019 SECTION 1.(a) G.S. 143B-437.71 reads as rewritten: 7
2120 "§ 143B-437.71. One North Carolina Fund established as a special revenue fund. 8
2221 (a) Establishment. – The One North Carolina Fund is established as a special revenue 9
2322 fund in the Department of Commerce. 10
2423 (b) Purposes. – Moneys in the One North Carolina Fund may only be allocated pursuant 11
2524 to this subsection. Moneys may be allocated to (i) local governments for use in connection with 12
2625 securing commitments for the recruitment, expansion, or retention of new and existing businesses 13
2726 and to businesses, (ii) the One North Carolina Small Business Account Small Business Research 14
2827 and Technology Account created pursuant to subsection (c) of this section in an amount not to 15
2928 exceed three million dollars ($3,000,000). ($3,000,000), and (iii) the Small Business Investment 16
3029 Grant Account created pursuant to subsection (d) of this section in an amount not to exceed ten 17
3130 million dollars ($10,000,000). Moneys in the One North Carolina Fund allocated to local 18
3231 governments under this subsection shall be used for the following purposes only: 19
3332 (1) Installation or purchase of equipment. 20
3433 (2) Structural repairs, improvements, or renovations to existing buildings to be 21
3534 used for expansion. 22
3635 (3) Construction of or improvements to new or existing water, sewer, gas, or 23
3736 electric utility distribution lines or equipment for existing buildings. 24
3837 (4) Construction of or improvements to new or existing water, sewer, gas, or 25
3938 electric utility distribution lines or equipment for new or proposed buildings 26
4039 to be used for manufacturing and industrial operations. 27
4140 (5) Any other purposes specifically provided by an act of the General Assembly. 28
4241 (b1) Awards. – The amounts committed in Governor's Letters issued in a single fiscal year 29
4342 may not exceed seventeen million dollars ($17,000,000). Of the amount authorized in this 30
4443 subsection, three million dollars ($3,000,000) is reserved for agreements with local governments 31
4544 located in development tier three areas, as defined in G.S. 143B-437.08, with total employment 32
46-of 115,000 or less, using the data specified in G.S. 143B-437.52(c)(3). 33 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
47-Page 2 House Bill 283-First Edition
48-(c) Small Business Research and Technology Account. – There is created in the One 1
49-North Carolina Fund a special account, the One North Carolina Small Business Account, Small 2
50-Business Research and Technology Account, to be used for the North Carolina SBIR/STTR 3
51-Incentive Program and the North Carolina SBIR/STTR Matching Funds Program, as specified in 4
52-Part 2I of Article 10 of Chapter 143B of the General Statutes. 5
53-(d) Small Business Investment Grant Account. – There is created in the One North 6
54-Carolina Fund a special account, the Small Business Investment Grant Account (SBIG), to be 7
55-used to provide competitive grants to eligible small businesses to offset costs associated with 8
56-establishing a new facility or expanding an existing facility in the State, in accordance with this 9
57-subsection. The Department shall administer the program and shall prioritize grants to recipients 10
58-that the Department determines will have the greatest net economic benefit at the regional and 11
59-State levels. Grants to a recipient under this subsection may not exceed (i) five hundred thousand 12
60-dollars ($500,000) in any single calendar year, (ii) two million five hundred thousand dollars 13
61-($2,500,000) total, and (iii) a term of distribution greater than five years. An eligible small 14
62-business is a business that meets all of the following requirements: 15
63-(1) Has 250 or fewer full-time employees, including full-time equivalents or has 16
64-less than five million dollars ($5,000,000) in annual gross revenue. 17
65-(2) Will invest at least ten million dollars ($10,000,000), but not more than thirty 18
66-million dollars ($30,000,000) in private funds, and hire not more than 250 new 19
67-employees, as defined in G.S. 143B-437.51, in this State. 20
68-(3) Pays employees an average weekly wage that is at least equal to one hundred 21
69-ten percent (110%) of the average wage for all insured private employers in 22
70-the county." 23
71-SECTION 1.(b) G.S. 143B-437.80(a) reads as rewritten: 24
72-"(a) Program. – There is established the North Carolina SBIR/STTR Incentive Program 25
73-to be administered by the North Carolina Board of Science, Technology, and Innovation. In order 26
74-to foster job creation and economic development throughout the State, the Board may provide 27
75-grants to eligible businesses to offset costs associated with applying for federal Small Business 28
76-Innovative Research (SBIR) grants or Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) 29
77-grants. The grants shall be paid from the One North Carolina Small Business Account Small 30
78-Business Research and Technology Account established in G.S. 143B-437.71." 31
79-SECTION 1.(c) G.S. 143B-437.83 reads as rewritten: 32
80-"§ 143B-437.83. Reports. 33
81-The Department of Commerce shall publish a report on the use of funds in the One North 34
82-Carolina Small Business Account Small Business Research and Technology Account on 35
83-September 1 of each year until all funds have been expended. The report shall contain information 36
84-on the disbursement and use of funds allocated under the One North Carolina Small Business 37
85-Program. The report must be submitted to the following: 38
86-…." 39
87-SECTION 2. This act is effective when it becomes law. 40
45+of 115,000 or less, using the data specified in G.S. 143B-437.52(c)(3). 33
46+(c) Small Business Research and Technology Account. – There is created in the One 34
47+North Carolina Fund a special account, the One North Carolina Small Business Account, Small 35
48+Business Research and Technology Account, to be used for the North Carolina SBIR/STTR 36
49+H.B. 283
50+Mar 4, 2025
51+HOUSE PRINCIPAL CLERK General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
52+Page 2 DRH10100-NIf-12
53+Incentive Program and the North Carolina SBIR/STTR Matching Funds Program, as specified in 1
54+Part 2I of Article 10 of Chapter 143B of the General Statutes. 2
55+(d) Small Business Investment Grant Account. – There is created in the One North 3
56+Carolina Fund a special account, the Small Business Investment Grant Account (SBIG), to be 4
57+used to provide competitive grants to eligible small businesses to offset costs associated with 5
58+establishing a new facility or expanding an existing facility in the State, in accordance with this 6
59+subsection. The Department shall administer the program and shall prioritize grants to recipients 7
60+that the Department determines will have the greatest net economic benefit at the regional and 8
61+State levels. Grants to a recipient under this subsection may not exceed (i) five hundred thousand 9
62+dollars ($500,000) in any single calendar year, (ii) two million five hundred thousand dollars 10
63+($2,500,000) total, and (iii) a term of distribution greater than five years. An eligible small 11
64+business is a business that meets all of the following requirements: 12
65+(1) Has 250 or fewer full-time employees, including full-time equivalents or has 13
66+less than five million dollars ($5,000,000) in annual gross revenue. 14
67+(2) Will invest at least ten million dollars ($10,000,000), but not more than thirty 15
68+million dollars ($30,000,000) in private funds, and hire not more than 250 new 16
69+employees, as defined in G.S. 143B-437.51, in this State. 17
70+(3) Pays employees an average weekly wage that is at least equal to one hundred 18
71+ten percent (110%) of the average wage for all insured private employers in 19
72+the county." 20
73+SECTION 1.(b) G.S. 143B-437.80(a) reads as rewritten: 21
74+"(a) Program. – There is established the North Carolina SBIR/STTR Incentive Program 22
75+to be administered by the North Carolina Board of Science, Technology, and Innovation. In order 23
76+to foster job creation and economic development throughout the State, the Board may provide 24
77+grants to eligible businesses to offset costs associated with applying for federal Small Business 25
78+Innovative Research (SBIR) grants or Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) 26
79+grants. The grants shall be paid from the One North Carolina Small Business Account Small 27
80+Business Research and Technology Account established in G.S. 143B-437.71." 28
81+SECTION 1.(c) G.S. 143B-437.83 reads as rewritten: 29
82+"§ 143B-437.83. Reports. 30
83+The Department of Commerce shall publish a report on the use of funds in the One North 31
84+Carolina Small Business Account Small Business Research and Technology Account on 32
85+September 1 of each year until all funds have been expended. The report shall contain information 33
86+on the disbursement and use of funds allocated under the One North Carolina Small Business 34
87+Program. The report must be submitted to the following: 35
88+…." 36
89+SECTION 2. This act is effective when it becomes law. 37