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An Act To Attract Entrepreneurs to the State
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  5 MRSA §13056-G  is enacted to read:
§ 13056-G. Maine Coworking Development Fund
The Maine Coworking Development Fund is established within the department to strengthen opportunities for entrepreneurship, stimulate innovation in the State by increasing the availability of collaborative workspace environments and address a regional market demand for affordable work environments that support communication, information sharing and networking opportunities. The fund is established to match public and private funds to further the purposes of this section.
 
1.  Definitions.     As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms have the following meanings.
 
A.  "Business" means a corporation, partnership, limited liability corporation, professional corporation or other legal business entity recognized under the laws of the State engaging or proposing to engage in economic activity within the State.
 
B.  "Collaborative workspace" means coworking, shared working environments that promote collaboration, interaction, socialization and coordination among tenants through the clustering of multiple businesses or individuals within the shared work environment.
 
C.  "Fund" means the Maine Coworking Development Fund established in this section.
 
D.  "Transformative development" means redevelopment on a scale and of a character capable of catalyzing significant follow-on private investment, leading over time to transformation of an entire downtown or urban neighborhood and consistent with local plans. Transformative development may involve major investment in new construction, rehabilitation and adaptive reuse or multiple smaller investments on a sustained basis.
 
2.  Organization.     The department has all the powers and authority not explicitly prohibited by law necessary or convenient to carry out and effectuate the functions, duties and responsibilities of the fund, including, but not limited to:
 
A.  Promoting transformative development by taking actions in partnership with private enterprise and the Federal Government to:
 
(1) Make equity investments and provide technical assistance to revitalize and support residential, commercial, industrial and institutional development, or any mix of such uses, in order to promote collaborative workspaces;
 
(2) Promote the creation of collaborative workspaces by providing financial assistance for capital investments in underutilized buildings;
 
(3) Foster collaboration and connections among innovative and creative enterprises by providing central locations for such businesses or individuals to work in an environment designed to promote sharing of resources, experience and expertise;
 
(4) Support partnerships between municipalities, property owners and businesses to establish such collaborative workspaces; and
 
(5) Require such collaborative workspaces to provide shared space that promotes the interaction, socialization and coordination among tenants through the clustering of multiple businesses or individuals within the collaborative workspace;
 
B.  Soliciting, borrowing, accepting and receiving money from a public or private source to augment state contributions to the fund;
 
C.  Approving an annual budget for the fund and investing and expending money from the fund;
 
D.  Contracting with public entities as necessary to further the purposes of this section;
 
E.  Carrying forward any unexpended state appropriations and allocations into succeeding fiscal years;
 
F.  Receiving and accepting allocations, appropriations, grants or contributions of money to be held, used or applied to carry out this subchapter, subject to the conditions upon which the grants and contributions may be made, including, but not limited to, appropriations, allocations, grants or gifts from any federal agency or governmental subdivision or the State and its agencies. The amounts of the revenues generated by the investment of money contained in the fund may be used to pay the department's operating expenses associated with the operation of the fund;
 
G.  Engaging in matching grants activities, including, but not limited to, federal, private and foundation awards that require state funding matches and are considered consistent with the purposes of the fund; and
 
H.  Awarding collaborative workspace grants in an amount not to exceed $25,000 per collaborative workspace. All awards must be tied to specific and demonstrated financial need to achieve the goals set forth under this section.
 
3.  Guidelines.     The department shall establish guidelines for the fund in accordance with this section.
 
A.  Loans or grants made from the fund may be made to collaborative workspace businesses for building improvements used by the collaborative workspace participants as long as the use of the fund results in corresponding private investment that matches or exceeds the loans or grants from the fund. In the case of a grant, any participating collaborative workspace business shall at least match the investment of the fund. In the case of a loan, the department shall reasonably anticipate that its loan will leverage additional private investment in the property.
 
B.  The department shall solicit applications for grants or loans from the fund through a request for proposals, which must include, at a minimum, the following criteria for the submission of applications:
 
(1) A description of the parties involved in the project, including the professional expertise and qualifications of the principals;
 
(2) A description of the scope of work that will be undertaken by each party involved in the project;
 
(3) The proposed budget, including verification of funding from other sources;
 
(4) A statement of the project objective, including specific information on how the project will promote the use of the space as a collaborative workspace;
 
(5) A statement that sets forth the implementation plan, the facilities and resources available or needed for the project and the proposed commencement and termination dates of the project;
 
(6) A description of the expected significance of the project, including a description of the market demand for the type of collaborative workspace proposed in the region in which the space will be located and the number of businesses or individuals that will be served as a result of the project; and
 
(7) Guidelines for the review and approval of applications that include preferences for applications that propose to redevelop existing properties located in the downtown area of a municipality, dedicate at least 25% of accessible space to collaborative use and support a cluster of at least 5 separate occupants.
 
C.  The department shall enter into an agreement with each collaborative workspace business that receives a grant or loan under this section. The agreement must include performance measures and indicators to evaluate the performance of the collaborative workspace business in carrying out the activities described in its application and any other indicators determined to be necessary to evaluate the performance of the business. A collaborative workspace business shall submit an annual report for the department's review for the duration of the collaborative workspace project.
 
4.  Report.     Beginning February 1, 2016, the department shall submit an annual report to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over economic development matters. The report must include a current assessment of the progress of each project funded through the fund and the progress of the participants in the project.
Sec. 2. Appropriations and allocations. The following appropriations and allocations are made.
 
ECONOMIC AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, DEPARTMENT OF
 
Maine Coworking Development Fund
 
Initiative: Provides funds for the Maine Coworking Development Fund to support collaborative workspace businesses.

GENERAL FUND	2015-16	2016-17	
All Other	$250,000	$250,000	
			
GENERAL FUND TOTAL	$250,000	$250,000	

SUMMARY
This bill establishes the Maine Coworking Development Fund within the Department of Economic and Community Development. The fund is established to strengthen opportunities for entrepreneurship, stimulate innovation in the State by increasing the availability of collaborative workspace environments and address a regional market demand for affordable work environments that support communication, information sharing and networking opportunities. The fund will match public and private funds to create collaborative workspaces in order to foster innovative communities and spur creative business growth and economic activity. The bill includes an appropriations and allocations section that provides for a $250,000 General Fund appropriation to the fund for fiscal year 2015-16 and fiscal year 2016-17.