§ 3102-d. Technology development organization program. 1. Definitions. As used in this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:(a) "Technology development organizations" shall mean any not-for-profit corporation or other nonprofit organization, association, or agency which is organized for the purpose of the promotion, attraction, stimulation, development and expansion of science and technology-oriented economic activity in a particular region of the state or in one or more counties or cities. For the purposes of this section, a technology development organization shall include not-for-profit corporations or other nonprofit organizations, associations, or agencies which are organized for the stated purpose either prior to or following the effective date of this section, including such organization which had begun operations prior to said date.
(b) "In-kind services" shall mean the donation of quantifiable goods and services including but not limited to professional services and time, equipment, material and office space for use by a technology development organization in furtherance of its stated purposes or provided on behalf of the technology development organization to others for such purposes and for which there is no monetary remuneration. Any such in-kind services must have prior approval by the foundation to satisfy the matching requirement of the technology development organization program. 2. The foundation is hereby authorized to award grants on a competitive basis, from such funds as may be appropriated for this purpose by the legislature, to match funds expended by technology development organizations for the purposes set forth in this section and in accordance with rules and regulations promulgated by the foundation pursuant to this section. 3. Matching funds shall be provided only for purposes which are related to the realization of the technological development potential of a particular region of the state in accordance with the findings of the foundation pursuant to subdivision five of section thirty-one hundred two of this chapter. Among the activities for which matching funds may be provided are the following:
(a) Sponsoring and conducting regional conferences and studies, collecting and disseminating information and issuing periodic reports relating to scientific and technological research, development and education in the region;
(b) Preparing and periodically issuing a register of scientific and technological research facilities in the region;
(c) Assisting small and emerging science and technology-oriented businesses within the region in applying for federal or state research grants or procurement contracts and disseminating information on the availability of such grants and contracts;
(d) Collecting and disseminating information on financial, technical, marketing, management and other services available to small and emerging science and technology-oriented businesses within the region and arranging access to such services on a free or for-hire basis from universities, private for-profit businesses and nonprofit organizations;
(e) Providing technical assistance including management, marketing and financial packaging assistance to, and collecting and disseminating information regarding inventions for the benefit of, inventors interested in having their ideas developed and commercialized and entrepreneurs interested in the commercialization of new products and processes;
(f) Supporting university-industry collaboration in applied research, the promotion of incubator facilities and the generation of brokering of venture capital to support regional new enterprise development;
(g) Establishing or updating a technology development strategy for the region;
(h) Establishing regional data base services, linked through the foundation into a statewide data base, which identify resources available from colleges, universities and technical service providers and which provide information, including venture capital sources and labor market statistics, of interest to and for use by entrepreneurs and technology-oriented businesses;
(i) Sponsoring or working with regional industrial extension services to provide technological information to industry and to communicate industrial needs to universities and others, brokering joint university-industry investigations to aid industry, and assisting in the provision of productivity improvements to mature industries;
(j) Projecting the need for the technical and professional workforce within the region and assisting others in planning for projected dislocations and retraining; and
(k) Assisting the foundation and the department of economic development in identifying and contacting eligible applicants, as defined in paragraph (a) of subdivision one of section two hundred twenty-four of the economic development law, and sponsoring, in conjunction with the foundation and the department of economic development, conferences, seminars, counseling sessions and other outreach efforts aimed at improving the competitive position of applicants in international markets by promoting exporting.
(l) Conducting such other appropriate activities as may be established by the foundation for the purpose of realizing the technological development potential of the region served by the applicant. 4. Notwithstanding any other law, grants made by the foundation pursuant to this section shall be equally matched by the technology development organization except that up to fifty percent of the match made by the technology development organization may be of in-kind services as approved by the foundation. 5. The foundation may establish such requirements as it deems appropriate for the format and content of applications for matching grants pursuant to this section and shall set reasonable deadlines for the submission of applications for such support. 6. The foundation may select from competing applications, those which it judges to be of greatest benefit to the welfare of the people of the state and may approve or reject any or all of the competing applications. The foundation shall notify all applicants of the approval or rejection of their applications in a timely fashion. 7. The foundation shall require periodic but at least semi-annual reports and other such documents and information as it deems necessary to monitor and review the performance of each technology development organization awarded a grant and shall conduct an annual evaluation of the program which shall include the quality of the activities performed and conformity thereof to the grant provisions and the purposes and provisions set forth in this section. 8. The foundation shall submit a report by May first, nineteen hundred eighty-eight, and each December thirty-first thereafter, to the governor, the temporary president of the senate and the speaker of the assembly, detailing the activities that each technology development organization has undertaken during the reporting year. Such reports shall include but not be limited to, the composition of the organization, the amount of the grant awarded and the match provided, the duties and obligations required by the foundation, a description of the organization's activities and accomplishments, the number of jobs created or retained, the number and types of companies assisted and any other information pertinent in evaluating the program.
