EXEMPT
(Reprinted with amendments adopted on April 14, 2025)
FIRST REPRINT S.B. 119
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SENATE BILL NO. 119–SENATOR NEAL
PREFILED JANUARY 27, 2025
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Referred to Committee on Revenue and
Economic Development
SUMMARY—Revises provisions relating to the NV Grow
Program. (BDR S-81)
FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: No.
Effect on the State: Contains Appropriation not included
in Executive Budget.
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EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted.
AN ACT relating to economic development; requiring certain
reporting relating to the NV Grow Program; requiring the
Division of Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Development of the College of Southern Nevada to
develop, create and oversee the Program; revising certain
qualifications for a business to participate in the Program;
making an appropriation; and providing other matters
properly relating thereto.
Legislative Counsel’s Digest:
Existing law directs the Division of Workforce and Economic Development of 1
the College of Southern Nevada to develop, create, oversee and manage the NV 2
Grow Program to provide certain informational and technical assistance to existing 3
small businesses in this State that are expanding or ready to expand. (Section 2 of 4
chapter 459, Statutes of Nevada 2015, as last amended by chapter 440, Statutes of 5
Nevada 2023, at page 2707) Existing law also requires all institutions of the 6
Nevada System of Higher Education to track the business decisions and growth of 7
each business that participates in the Program over the entire period of the Program 8
and report that data to the Division at least once every 6 months. (Section 3 of 9
chapter 459, Statutes of Nevada 2015, as last amended by chapter 570, Statutes of 10
Nevada 2019, at page 3668) Section 2 of this bill revises the name of the Division 11
to the Division of Small Business and Entrepreneurship Development. Section 1 of 12
this bill requires the Division to prepare an annual report for the previous calendar 13
year which must include, without limitation, an explanation of: (1) the assistance 14
provided by the Program to the businesses participating in the Program; and (2) the 15
business decisions and growth of each business participating in the Program. 16
Section 1 further requires the Division to post the annual report on the Internet 17
website of the Program. 18
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Existing law establishes certain qualifications for a business to participate in the 19
Program, including that the business must generate at least $50,000 but not more 20
than $700,000 in revenue. (Section 2 of chapter 459, Statutes of Nevada 2015, as 21
last amended by chapter 440, Statutes of Nevada 2023, at page 2707) Section 2.5 of 22
this bill instead requires a business to generate at least $35,000 but not more than 23
$700,000 in revenue to qualify to participate. 24
Section 3 of this bill appropriates $1,900,000 to the College of Southern 25
Nevada for certain allocations and to assist and carry out the Program. 26
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN
SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. The NV Grow Act, being chapter 459, Statutes of 1
Nevada 2015, as amended by chapter 430, Statutes of Nevada 2017, 2
at page 2880, is hereby amended by adding thereto a new section to 3
be designated as section 3.5, immediately following section 3, to 4
read as follows: 5
Sec. 3.5. 1. On or before February 1 of each year, 6
the Division shall prepare an annual report for the previous 7
calendar year, which must include, without limitation, an 8
explanation of: 9
(a) The assistance provided by the program to each 10
business participating in the program; and 11
(b) The business decisions and growth of each business 12
participating in the program tracked pursuant to subsection 13
4 of section 3 of this act. 14
2. The Division shall post the annual report prepared 15
pursuant to subsection 1 on the Internet website of the 16
program. 17
Sec. 2. Section 1.7 of the NV Grow Act, being chapter 570, 18
Statutes of Nevada 2019, at page 3666, is hereby amended to read as 19
follows: 20
Sec. 1.7. As used in this act, unless the context 21
otherwise requires, “Division” means the Division of 22
[Workforce and Economic] Small Business and 23
Entrepreneurship Development of the College of Southern 24
Nevada. 25
Sec. 2.5. Section 2 of the NV Grow Act, being chapter 459, 26
Statutes of Nevada 2015, as last amended by chapter 440, Statutes 27
of Nevada 2023, at page 2707, is hereby amended to read as 28
follows: 29
Sec. 2. 1. The Division, in consultation with the 30
stakeholders group, shall develop, create and oversee the NV 31
Grow Program to stimulate Nevada’s economy with a view 32
toward providing assistance to businesses that are already 33
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located and operating in this State rather than recruiting 1
businesses from other states to relocate in Nevada. 2
2. Under the auspices of the program: 3
(a) Institutions of the Nevada System of Higher Education 4
located in Clark County shall, in cooperation with the 5
geographic information system specialist employed at the 6
College of Southern Nevada, mentor and track businesses 7
participating in the program in Clark County. The Clark 8
County Department of Business License will coordinate with 9
the College to provide such data as may be necessary for the 10
operation of the program in Clark County. 11
(b) The Nevada Small Business Development Centers 12
located in Clark County and Washoe County shall each 13
cooperate with the geographic information system specialist 14
employed to assist businesses in Clark County that are 15
participating in the program with marketing and other efforts. 16
3. The Division shall select the lead counselor and 17
manage the NV Grow Program, which must include, without 18
limitation: 19
(a) The employment and supervision of the lead counselor 20
at the College of Southern Nevada who, in addition to his or 21
her other duties, serves as the coordinator of the program. The 22
Division shall, to the extent practicable, ensure that the work 23
of the lead counselor of the program is supervised by at least 24
two employees of the Division or an advisory team appointed 25
by the Division. 26
(b) The employment and training of a geographic 27
information specialist at the College of Southern Nevada who 28
provides data to clients of the stakeholders group. To the 29
extent practicable, the geographic information specialist must 30
receive training in geographic information systems at the 31
Nevada Small Business Development Center located in 32
Washoe County. 33
(c) The appointment of the College of Southern Nevada 34
as administrator of the geographic information system and 35
fiscal agent for the program. 36
(d) An analysis and identification by the Division of 37
businesses and business sectors in this State that are ready to 38
expand and a determination of which of these businesses and 39
business sectors will participate in the program. 40
(e) Identification by the Nevada Small Business 41
Development Center located in Clark County and the 42
Division of the skilled labor that exists in this State and its 43
potential for growth. 44
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(f) Targeting by the Centers and the Division of business 1
sectors and occupations in this State that have demonstrated 2
the ability to grow and stimulate the economy of the State. 3
(g) A focus by the Nevada Small Business Development 4
Center located in Clark County and the Division on the 5
utilization of existing resources. 6
(h) The harnessing of the academic expertise of the 7
College of Southern Nevada and the Centers to provide 8
economic and market data to contribute to the diversification 9
and growth of the economy of this State. 10
(i) The use of geographic information systems by the 11
College of Southern Nevada and the Centers to map areas of 12
this State to determine locations in which retail sales and 13
other commerce are flourishing and locations in which retail 14
sales and commerce demonstrate the capacity for further 15
growth. 16
(j) The elements described in subsection 2. 17
(k) The provision of informational and other assistance by 18
the College of Southern Nevada to businesses and business 19
sectors in this State, including, without limitation, 20
business training, nontraditional marketing techniques and 21
business mentoring. 22
(l) Such other components as the Division, in consultation 23
with the stakeholders group, determines are likely to be 24
necessary, advisable or advantageous for the growth and 25
development of businesses located in this State. 26
4. The program shall, insofar as is possible, use the 27
resources and expertise of the Centers and make available 28
those resources and that expertise to businesses in this State 29
for the purposes of: 30
(a) Developing business connections and business 31
mentorships within the program; 32
(b) Exchanging data and other information with and 33
between businesses and trade associations; 34
(c) Creating and facilitating peer-to-peer mentoring 35
sessions for participants in the NV Grow Program; 36
(d) Providing to businesses and business sectors data and 37
other information that is calculated or otherwise generated 38
through the use of geographic information systems; and 39
(e) Providing to participants in the NV Grow Program 40
classes and resources on business development and business 41
financing. 42
5. To the extent possible, the program must be 43
conducted with the goal of selecting at least 30 businesses in 44
Clark County to participate in the program every year. 45
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6. To qualify to participate in the program, a business 1
must: 2
(a) Have its principal place of business within the State of 3
Nevada and have had its principal place of business in this 4
State for at least 2 years; 5
(b) Generate at least [$50,000] $35,000 but not more than 6
$700,000 in revenue; and 7
(c) Have a business plan. 8
7. As used in this section: 9
(a) “Business plan” means a written statement of a set of 10
business goals, the reasons those goals are believed to be 11
attainable and the plan for reaching those goals. 12
(b) “Centers” means all institutions of the Nevada System 13
of Higher Education, including, without limitation, the 14
College of Southern Nevada and the University of Nevada, 15
Reno. 16
(c) “Geographic information system” means a 17
computerized database management system for the capture, 18
storage, retrieval, analysis and display of spatial or 19
locationally defined data. 20
(d) “Stakeholders group” means a group of persons 21
interested in economic development in this State selected by 22
the Division, including, without limitation, a representative of 23
the College of Southern Nevada, the University of Nevada, 24
Las Vegas, the Urban Chamber of Commerce of Las Vegas, 25
the Las Vegas Latin Chamber of Commerce, the African 26
Chamber of Commerce and Tourism, the Vegas Chamber, the 27
Henderson Chamber of Commerce, the Asian Community 28
Development Council, the Valley Center Opportunity Zone, 29
the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension in Clark 30
County, Clark County and incorporated cities in Clark 31
County and various entities affiliated with the Small Business 32
Administration. 33
Sec. 3. 1. There is hereby appropriated from the State 34
General Fund to the College of Southern Nevada the sum of 35
$1,900,000 to, except as otherwise provided in subsection 2, allow 36
the College of Southern Nevada to: 37
(a) Provide or obtain such services as may be necessary to assist 38
and carry out the Program; 39
(b) Provide training to the geographic information system 40
specialist employed pursuant to paragraph (b) of subsection 3 of 41
section 2 of the NV Grow Act to assist small businesses who 42
participate in the Program, including, without limitation, travel 43
expenses to receive training from a geographic information system 44
specialist at the Nevada Small Business Development Center in 45
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Washoe County at least once every 3 months for not less than 1 1
year; 2
(c) Provide stipends for the counselors and members of the 3
faculty of the Nevada System of Higher Education who provide 4
services in connection with the Program; and 5
(d) Make direct program expenditures to assist and carry out the 6
Program, including, without limitation, expenditures for the data 7
software, marketing tools, interns, field trips and grants to members 8
of the stakeholders group, as defined in subsection 7 of section 2 of 9
the NV Grow Act, to assist and carry out the Program. 10
2. Of the sums appropriated by subsection 1: 11
(a) An allocation of $100,000 must be disbursed each fiscal year 12
to the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension in Clark County 13
to provide counseling, training in geographic information systems 14
and data scrubbing services for the Program. 15
(b) An allocation of $30,000 must be disbursed each fiscal year 16
to the following partners of the NV Grow Program, the Urban 17
Chamber of Commerce of Las Vegas, the Las Vegas Latin Chamber 18
of Commerce, the Henderson Chamber of Commerce, the African 19
Chamber of Commerce and Tourism and the NV AAPI Chamber of 20
Commerce, to employ or contract with a marketing professional on 21
a part-time basis to provide marketing services for the Program. 22
3. Any remaining balance of the appropriation made by 23
subsection 1 must not be committed for expenditure after June 30, 24
2027, by the entity to which the appropriation is made or any entity 25
to which money from the appropriation is granted or otherwise 26
transferred in any manner, and any portion of the appropriated 27
money remaining must not be spent for any purpose after 28
September 17, 2027, by either the entity to which the money was 29
appropriated or the entity to which the money was subsequently 30
granted or transferred, and must be reverted to the State General 31
Fund on or before September 17, 2027. 32
4. As used in this section, “Program” means the NV Grow 33
Program created pursuant to section 2 of the NV Grow Act, chapter 34
459, Statutes of Nevada 2015, as last amended by chapter 440, 35
Statutes of Nevada 2023, at page 2707. 36
Sec. 4. Any remaining balance of the money received by the 37
Division of Small Business and Entrepreneurship Development of 38
the College of Southern Nevada from any gifts, grants or donations 39
accepted by the Division pursuant to section 4.5 of the NV Grow 40
Act, chapter 459, Statutes of Nevada 2015, as last amended by 41
chapter 570, Statutes of Nevada 2019, at page 3669, that has not 42
been committed for expenditure before July 1, 2025, must be 43
transferred to an account in the State General Fund, administered by 44
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the College of Southern Nevada for the purposes of carrying out the 1
provisions of the NV Grow Act. 2
Sec. 5. Upon acceptance of the money appropriated by section 3
3 of this act, the College of Southern Nevada agrees to: 4
1. Prepare and transmit a report to the Interim Finance 5
Committee on or before December 18, 2026, that describes each 6
expenditure made from the money appropriated by section 3 of this 7
act, other than the money allocated pursuant to subsection 2 of 8
section 3 of this act, from the date on which the money was received 9
by the College of Southern Nevada through December 1, 2026; 10
2. Prepare and transmit a final report to the Interim Finance 11
Committee on or before September 17, 2027, that describes each 12
expenditure made from the money appropriated by section 3 of this 13
act, other than the money allocated pursuant to subsection 2 of 14
section 3 of this act, from the date on which the money was received 15
by the College of Southern Nevada through June 30, 2027; and 16
3. Upon request of the Legislative Commission, make available 17
to the Legislative Auditor any of the books, accounts, claims, 18
reports, vouchers or other records of information, confidential or 19
otherwise, of the College of Southern Nevada, regardless of their 20
form or location, that the Legislative Auditor deems necessary to 21
conduct an audit of the use of the money appropriated pursuant to 22
section 3 of this act. 23
Sec. 6. This act becomes effective on July 1, 2025. 24
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