9-12-105. Economic development services.

(a) It shall be the duty of the council to encourage, stimulate and support the development and expansion of the economy of the state. The council is charged with the following duties and responsibilities:

(i) To see that there are prepared and carried out effective economic development and diversification marketing and promotional programs;

(ii) To make available, in conjunction and cooperation with localities, chambers of commerce, industrial authorities and other public and private groups, to prospective new businesses basic information and pertinent factors of interest and concern to such businesses;

(iii) To formulate, promulgate and advance programs throughout the state for encouraging the location of new businesses in the state and the retention and growth of existing businesses;

(iv) To encourage and solicit private sector involvement, support and funding for economic development in the state;

(v) To encourage the coordination of the economic development and diversification efforts of public institutions, regions, communities and private industry and collect and maintain data on the development and utilization of economic development and diversification capabilities;

(vi) To establish such offices within and without the state that are necessary to the expansion and development of industries and trade. The council shall establish economic development and diversification regions and offices within the state based upon socioeconomic and geographic similarities;

(vii) To encourage the export of products and services from the state to national and international markets. In addition to conducting international and other market research as authorized in W.S. 9-12-106(b), the council shall employ or contract with persons for purposes of developing new markets and expanding foreign trade efforts, including expanding international markets for Wyoming services, Wyoming agricultural and other products and commodities, and targeted consumer advertising;

(viii) To advise the University of Wyoming and the Wyoming community college commission in designating technical training and other educational programs in Wyoming's community colleges and the University of Wyoming beneficial to economic development and diversification activities in this state;

(ix) To adopt a state broadband enhancement plan.

(b) The council, in consultation with the coordinator of economic diversification, shall implement the "startup:Wyoming" program in priority economic sectors identified in the approved twenty (20) year comprehensive economic diversification strategy under W.S. 9-12-1402(a)(iv). The program shall:

(i) Foster connectivity between entrepreneurs, investors and mentors, aligning local entities through coordinated points of contact in participating Wyoming communities. The efforts shall include methods of communication designed to allow interaction between stakeholders on a regular and consistent basis;

(ii) Provide entrepreneurs with advanced resources to help their business succeed, including mentoring, marketing, legal and other business coaching services;

(iii) In conjunction with the University of Wyoming, community colleges, localities, chambers of commerce, industrial authorities and other public and private groups, develop incubators, accelerators, co-working spaces, makerspaces and other unique work spaces and equipment to foster entrepreneurialism.

(c) The council shall administer a "kickstart:Wyoming" program to provide funding to early stage ventures of Wyoming based entrepreneurs. Funding under this subsection shall be provided upon approval of the council. The council shall adopt rules for funding under this subsection in consultation with the coordinator of economic diversification. Funding shall be in amounts ranging from five thousand dollars ($5,000.00) to fifty thousand dollars ($50,000.00) and be provided under the following conditions:

(i) To individuals who reside in Wyoming and to business entities which are, or agree in writing to be, headquartered in Wyoming and organized under the laws of the state of Wyoming and which:

(A) Have committed to maintaining a meaningful nexus to the state of Wyoming, including after commercialization of a service, product, concept, design or any other marketable asset developed with the assistance of the funds;

(B) Proposes a service, product, concept, design or any other marketable asset which has a probability of providing an economic return to the state of Wyoming through creation of jobs, expanded tax base and diversification of the state's economy;

(C) Agree to provide a report to the council on the progress to commercialize the service, product, concept, design or any other marketable asset developed with the assistance of the funds.

(ii) The recipient of funding meets other requirements established by rule of the council to ensure adequate consideration for the amount of the funding provided. In establishing provisions for adequate consideration to the state, the council may include, but is not limited to, requiring a recipient to seek additional nonstate investment funding and specifying requirements for maintaining a nexus to the state.

(d) The council shall administer a small business innovation research matching program in accordance with this subsection. The program shall match federal funds approved for Wyoming based companies as provided in this subsection. The program shall be administered by the council in consultation with the University of Wyoming research office. The following shall apply to the program under this subsection:

(i) To be eligible to receive funding, an entity shall:

(A) Be headquartered in Wyoming and organized under the laws of the state of Wyoming;

(B) Maintain a meaningful nexus to the state of Wyoming, including for not less than three (3) years after commercialization of a service, product, concept, design or any other marketable asset developed with the assistance of funds from the program;

(C) Have received funding under the federal small business innovation research and small business technology transfer programs;

(D) Propose a service, product, concept, design or any other marketable asset which has a probability of providing an economic return to the state of Wyoming through creation of jobs, expanded tax base and diversification of the state's economy;

(E) Agree to provide a report to the council on or before July 1 of each year in the following manner:

(I) Prior to commercialization, the entity shall report on the progress of the entity to commercialize the service, product, concept, design or any other marketable asset developed with the assistance of funds from this program;

(II) If the entity commercializes a service, product, concept, design or any other marketable asset, and continues to market the product, concept or design or asset, the entity shall report for three (3) years on:

(1) The number of jobs the entity has created;

(2) A salary range per job;

(3) The taxable assets of the entity;

(4) All revenues from sales of the service, product, concept, design or any other marketable asset of the entity.

(F) Comply with the requirements of rules adopted pursuant to this subsection.

(ii) Matching funds shall be awarded to recipients as determined by the council in an amount not to exceed:

(A) For a recipient of a phase I award, a match up to one hundred percent (100%) of the award, not to exceed one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.00);

(B) For a recipient of a phase II award, a match up to one hundred percent (100%) of the award, not to exceed two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000.00).

(iii) Matching funds under this subsection shall be awarded to the recipient as soon as practicable after approval of the matching fund application;

(iv) An entity shall repay all matching funds provided under this subsection plus interest at the rate of four percent (4%) per annum compounded annually from the date the matching funds were granted if:

(A) The entity commercializes a service, product, concept, design or any other marketable asset developed with the assistance of funds from this program; and

(B) The entity fails to maintain a significant nexus with the state of Wyoming within three (3) years of commercializing a service, product, concept, design or any other marketable asset developed with the assistance of funds from this program and continues to market the service, product, concept, design or asset.

(v) The council shall adopt rules for the program in consultation with the coordinator of economic diversification. The rules shall include but not be limited to:

(A) Application procedures;

(B) The number of awards and amount of funds available for award in any fiscal year;

(C) Timing of issuance of funds awarded under the program;

(D) Eligibility requirements;

(E) Provision for repayment of matching funds plus interest as provided in this subsection;

(F) Provision for service, product, concept, design or asset review and requirements under the program consistent with this subsection;

(G) Provisions to ensure adequate consideration for the amount of the funding provided. The council may include, but is not limited to, assessment of those items specified in W.S. 9-12-1405(b)(i) through (iv), specifying the allowable use of funds, requiring a recipient to seek additional nonstate investment funding and requiring the recipient to conduct its research in Wyoming to the extent practical.

(e) Not later than October 15, 2018 and every October 15 thereafter, the council shall report to the joint minerals, business and economic development interim committee concerning the programs under subsections (c) and (d) of this section. The report shall include:

(i) A yearly and total summary of the number and amounts of matching funds awarded under each program;

(ii) A description of an entity and a service, product, concept, design or any other marketable asset developed which was commercialized with the assistance of funds from these programs within the prior three (3) years;

(iii) The realized economic impact of each program on the state, including jobs created, salary range per job created and potential impact to the local community.

(f) As used in this section, "commercialization" means the creation by an entity of commercial processes, products and services derived in whole or in part from research undertaken with matching funds awarded under subsection (c) or (d) of this section, which results in realized revenues to the entity of at least three (3) times the matching funds awarded under this section.