Minnesota Session Laws - 1993, Regular Session

  
    Laws of Minnesota 1993 

                        CHAPTER 363-H.F.No. 1658 
           An act relating to economic development; abolishing 
          Minnesota Project Outreach Corporation and 
          transferring its funds, property, records, and duties 
          to Minnesota Technology, Inc.; providing for federal 
          defense conversion activities; amending Minnesota 
          Statutes 1992, sections 116L.03, subdivisions 1 and 2; 
          116L.05, by adding a subdivision; 116O.091; and 
          116O.15; repealing Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 
          116O.092. 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 116L.03, 
subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
    Subdivision 1.  [MEMBERS.] The partnership shall be 
governed by a board of 11 12 directors.  
    Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 116L.03, 
subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 2.  [APPOINTMENT.] The Minnesota job skills 
partnership board consists of:  eight members appointed by the 
governor, the commissioner of trade and economic development, 
the commissioner of jobs and training, and the chancellor of the 
technical college system, and the chancellor of the higher 
education board. 
    Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 116L.05, is 
amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
    Subd. 3.  [USE OF FUNDS.] The job skills partnership board 
may use up to six percent of any funds it receives, regardless 
of the source, for activities authorized under section 116L.04, 
subdivision 2. 
    Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 116O.091, is 
amended to read: 
    116O.091 [MINNESOTA PROJECT OUTREACH CORPORATION.] 
    Subdivision 1.  [ESTABLISHMENT; PURPOSE.] The Minnesota 
Project outreach Corporation is established as a nonprofit 
public corporation under chapter 317A and is subject to the 
provisions of that chapter.  The corporation is not a state 
agency.  The purpose of the corporation project is to (i) 
facilitate the transfer of technology and scientific advice from 
the University of Minnesota and other institutions to businesses 
in the state that may make economic use of the information; and 
(ii) to assist small and medium-sized businesses in finding 
technical and financial assistance providers that meet their 
needs. 
    Subd. 2.  [BOARD OF DIRECTORS; EMPLOYEES.] The Minnesota 
Project Outreach Corporation shall be governed by a nine-member 
board of directors consisting of the president of the University 
of Minnesota or the president's designee, the commissioner of 
trade and economic development or the commissioner's designee, 
the chair of the Minnesota Technology, Inc. board of directors 
or the chair's designee, the president of the Minnesota Project 
Outreach Corporation, a member of the state senate appointed by 
the subcommittee on committees of the senate rules and 
administration committee, a member of the house of 
representatives appointed by the speaker, a person who has 
experience with small manufacturing firms located outside the 
metropolitan area, a person who has experience with medium-sized 
manufacturing firms located in the metropolitan area, one of 
which must be actively engaged in manufacturing, and a private 
sector person representing the general public.  The governor 
shall appoint the representatives of the manufacturing firms and 
the general public.  Vacancies on the board for the members who 
are appointed by the governor shall be filled by the board until 
the respective term expires.  The president of the Minnesota 
Project Outreach Corporation shall be appointed by at least a 
two-thirds majority of the other members of the board. 
    The terms of the directors appointed by the governor shall 
be three years.  The directors appointed by the governor shall 
serve until their successors are appointed and qualify.  The 
board may elect a chair and form committees of the board.  The 
officers and any employees of the corporation are not state 
employees. 
    Subd. 3.  [ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION.] The articles of 
incorporation of the Minnesota Project Outreach Corporation must 
be filed with the secretary of state under chapter 317A and must 
be consistent with the duties of the corporation under 
subdivision 4 and the other provisions of this section. 
    Subd. 4.  [DUTIES.] The Minnesota Project Outreach 
corporation shall: 
    (1) establish a technology assistance system to assist 
business, specifically new and other small and medium-sized 
businesses across the state, in gaining access to technical 
information, including but not limited to technologies developed 
by the University of Minnesota and other higher education 
systems and their personnel; and in gaining access to 
technology-related federal programs; 
     (2) establish and maintain a data base or data bases that 
provide information for the technology assistance system under 
clause (1) that may include information on (i) science and 
technology experts, (ii) technical research projects underway at 
public higher education institutions in the state, (iii) 
licensable technology available at public higher education 
institutions in the state, (iv) access to federal technology and 
technical information, and (v) access to technical and business 
education; 
     (3) provide literature search and document retrieval 
services through the technology assistance system under clause 
(1); 
     (4) establish and continually update a business assistance 
referral system which includes a data base of economic 
development related technical assistance and financial 
assistance providers or programs sponsored by federal agencies, 
state agencies, educational institutions, chambers of commerce, 
civic organizations, community development groups, local 
governments, private industry associations, and other 
organizations and individuals that provide assistance; 
     (5) establish and maintain or contract for the 
establishment of a toll-free telephone number operated by 
trained staff familiar with the business assistance referral 
system and data base; 
    (6) maintain a marketing and outreach program informing 
persons interested in starting, operating, or expanding small 
business and assistance providers of the technology assistance 
system and the business assistance referral system; 
    (7) establish, where possible, regional bases and referral 
systems for the business assistance referral system, and a 
system to reference experts in the state university system; and 
    (8) make available the data base of the business assistance 
referral system to the legislature, the department of trade and 
economic development, and other state agencies for evaluating 
the effectiveness and efficiency of the provision of economic 
development-related technical and financial assistance in the 
state. 
    Subd. 5.  [STATE AGENCY COOPERATION.] The Minnesota Project 
Outreach corporation shall consult with the department of trade 
and economic development in the development and marketing of the 
business assistance referral system.  The corporation shall 
assist the department of trade and economic development in 
establishing an evaluation mechanism for the business assistance 
referral system which at least includes a process for 
determining the effectiveness of the economic development 
related technical or financial assistance provider's service in 
meeting the needs of the client referred to the provider. 
    Subd. 6.  [CHARGES TO CLIENTS.] (a) The Minnesota Project 
Outreach corporation may charge reasonable fees to a client for 
the technology assistance system.  The corporation shall 
establish a fee structure for the technology assistance system 
and may base the fee structure on the type of service provided, 
the size of the client based on number of employees or amount of 
annual revenues, the length of time the client has been in 
operation, and other criteria. 
    (b) The corporation shall provide the business assistance 
referral system at no cost to the client and may not charge the 
client a fee or any other compensation for the referral to a 
provider.  This subdivision does not prohibit the technical or 
financial assistance provider from charging a fee or other 
compensation to a client that has been referred to the provider 
by the business assistance referral system. 
    Subd. 7.  [ADVISORY COMMITTEES.] The board of directors of 
the Minnesota Project Outreach Corporation may appoint An 
advisory committees committee is created to assist in selecting 
vendors and evaluating the corporation's project outreach 
activities.  The advisory committee shall include the president 
of the University of Minnesota or the president's designee, the 
commissioner of trade and economic development or the 
commissioner's designee, the chair of the Minnesota Technology, 
Inc., board of directors or the chair's designee, a member of 
the state senate appointed by the subcommittee on committees of 
the senate rules and administration committee, a member of the 
house of representatives appointed by the speaker, and at least 
five users of project outreach services appointed by the named 
members. 
    Subd. 8.  [ANNUAL REPORT.] The Minnesota Project Outreach 
corporation shall submit an annual report by January 15 of each 
year to the appropriations, finance, and economic development 
committees of the legislature, the governor, Minnesota 
Technology, Inc., and the University of Minnesota.  The report 
must include a description of the corporation's activities for 
the past year, a listing of the contracts entered into by the 
corporation, and a summary of the corporation's expenditures. 
    Subd. 9.  [AUDIT.] The Minnesota Project Outreach 
Corporation shall contract with a certified public accounting 
firm to perform a financial and compliance audit of the 
corporation and any subsidiary annually in accordance with 
generally accepted accounting standards. 
    Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 116O.15, is 
amended to read: 
    116O.15 [ANNUAL REPORT.] 
    The board shall submit a report to the chairs of the senate 
economic development and housing and the house economic 
development committees of the legislature and the governor on 
the activities of the corporation by February 1 of each year.  A 
copy of the report shall also be provided to the president of 
the University of Minnesota.  The report must include at least 
the following: 
    (1) a description of each of the programs that the 
corporation has provided or undertaken at some time during the 
previous year.  The description of each program must describe 
(i) the statement of purpose for the program, (ii) the 
administration of the program including the activities the 
corporation was responsible for and the responsibilities that 
other organizations had in administering the program, (iii) the 
results of the program including how the results were measured, 
(iv) the expenses of the program paid by the corporation, and 
(v) the source of corporate and noncorporate funding for the 
program; 
    (2) an identification of the sources of funding in the 
previous year for the corporation and its programs including 
federal, state and local government, foundations, gifts, 
donations, fees, and all other sources; 
    (3) a description of the distribution of all money spent by 
the corporation in the previous year including an identification 
of the total expenditures, other than corporate administrative 
expenditures, by sector of the economy; 
    (4) a description of the administrative expenses of the 
corporation during the previous year; 
    (5) a listing of the assets and liabilities of the 
corporation at the end of the previous fiscal year; 
    (6) a list and description of each grant awarded by the 
corporation during the previous year; 
    (7) a description of any changes made to the operational 
plan during the previous year; and 
    (8) a description of any newly adopted or significant 
changes to bylaws, programmatic or administrative guidelines, 
policies, rules, or eligibility criteria for programs created or 
administered by the corporation during the previous year. 
    Reports must be made to the legislature as required by 
section 3.195. 
    Sec. 6.  [FEDERAL DEFENSE CONVERSION ACTIVITIES.] 
    The Minnesota Project Outreach Corporation shall assist the 
department of trade and economic development, the sponsoring 
agency, to prepare a response to the Technology Reinvestment 
Project solicitation required by the Defense Conversion, 
Reinvestment and Transition Assistance Act of 1992, Public Law 
Numbers 102-484 and 102-190, and related federal law.  The 
response shall address technology development, deployment, and 
manufacturing education and training activities that comply with 
the act, that result from a collaborative working effort that 
involves a team of eligible participants which may include 
nonprofit and other eligible firms as mandated by United States 
Code, title 10, section 2491, state government agencies, local 
government agencies, institutions of higher education, 
manufacturing and other extension programs, and other eligible 
proposers under the act.  
    The department of trade and economic development shall 
create an advisory task force made up of business, labor 
community, and local government representatives to assist in 
developing a state plan for job retention and job creation in 
industries and communities in Minnesota affected by defense 
contract cuts.  The task force shall advise the Minnesota 
Project Outreach Corporation, Minnesota Technology, Inc., the 
department of trade and economic development, and other 
appropriate state agencies in accessing federal funding 
available from the Office of Economic Adjustment and the 
Economic Development Administration in order (1) to improve 
Minnesota's competitiveness in seeking federal community 
adjustment planning funds available through the new federal 
defense conversion programs, and (2) to provide for public 
involvement and accountability in the conversion programs.  The 
task force shall serve without compensation and reimbursement 
for expenses. 
    Sec. 7.  [MINNESOTA PROJECT OUTREACH CORPORATION.] 
    Minnesota Project Outreach Corporation is abolished.  
Minnesota Technology, Inc. is the legal successor in all 
respects to Minnesota Project Outreach Corporation established 
under Minnesota Statutes, section 116O.091.  All assets and 
liabilities of Minnesota Project Outreach Corporation are 
transferred to Minnesota Technology, Inc. 
    Sec. 8.  [REPEALER.] 
    Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 116O.092, is repealed. 
    Sec. 9.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
    Sections 1 to 3 are effective July 1, 1993.  Section 6 is 
effective the day following final enactment.  Sections 4, 5, 7, 
and 8 are effective July 1, 1994. 
    Presented to the governor May 20, 1993 
    Signed by the governor May 24, 1993, 5:53 p.m.