# Sec. 10-336. Prince George's County Small Business Capital and Growth Stimulus Program Established

Codified through Bill No. CB-018-2026, adopted May 12, 2026, effective July 24, 2026. Source: Municode, Supplement 2026 Update 2. Editorial notes and legislative history omitted.

## Sec. 10-336. Prince George's County Small Business Capital and Growth Stimulus Program Established

Prince George's County, Md., Code § 10-336 (2026)

There is a Prince George's County Small Business Capital and Growth Stimulus Program consisting of the Prince George's County Small Business Capital and Growth Stimulus Fund and the programs set forth under this Section. All funding set forth under this Section is limited to monies appropriated in the County Budget. Total assistance from the Prince George's County Small Business Capital and Growth Stimulus Fund in any fiscal year for a business shall not exceed $250,000 and any award is a non-renewable award.

(a) Definitions.

  (1) Locally-Owned and Operated Business, in this Division, shall have the same meaning as defined in Section 10A-101(a)(24.1) of this Code.

  (2) Local Start-Up Business in this Subtitle means a business based in Prince George's County and in operation for 36 months or less.

(b) Prince George's County Business Expansion and Start-Up Grant Program.

  (1) The Prince George's County Business Expansion and Start-Up Grant Program is hereby established as a program in which the County shall annually award grants to Locally Owned and Operated Businesses for the purposes of the following activities occurring in Prince George's County:

    (A) Business expansion, business capacity-building, and business retention,

    (B) Job creation and job retention, and

    (C) Business start-ups and early-stage business growth.

  (2) Allocation of the annual awards.

    (A) Awards from the Prince George's County Business Expansion and Start-Up Grant Program shall be distributed annually as follows:

      (i) 30% reserved for Local Start-Up Businesses; and

      (ii) 20% for businesses that are located within the beltway as described in subsection (4)(A) below; and

      (iii) 50% for all other applications subject to subsection (4).

    (B) Should a business qualify for an award under multiple categories among i-iii above, then the award allocated shall only be counted under one (1) category for purposes of calculating distribution percentages of annual award allocation.

  (3) The maximum annual grant award from this program shall be $250,000;

  (4) Priority Industry Sectors. The County Council, by resolution, with the concurrence of the County Executive, may establish priority industry sectors for awards from this grant program, including the proportion of the annual awards that shall be reserved for such priority industry sectors. At a minimum, the priority sectors will include businesses:

    (A) located within the beltway (the area in the County between the border with the District of Columbia and the Capital Beltway); or

    (B) within one-quarter mile of a transit station; or

    (C) within one of the primary or secondary growth sectors outlined in the Approved Economic Development Strategic Action Plan for Prince George's County.

  (5) Any recipient of an award under this Subsection shall:

    (A) be a registered business in good standing with the State of Maryland and County at the time of award; and

    (B) Remain a County-based business for at least the next sixty (60) months of the business's existence after receipt of the award, as a written condition of acceptance of the award.

  (6) Annual Report.

    (A) The County Council and County Executive may request an annual report to be provided with analysis on the Prince George's County Business Expansion and Start-Up Grant Program to include at a minimum the following information categorized by race and gender of each applicant:

      (i) The name of applicant; and

      (ii) Names of applicants awarded grants; and

      (iii) Names of those applicants denied grants; and

      (iv) Amount of fund awarded per grant.

    (B) If requested, then the report shall be submitted within 90 days.

(c) Prince George's County Business Expansion and Start-Up Loan Program.

  (1) The Prince George's County Business Expansion and Start-Up Loan Program is hereby established as a program in which the County shall annually award no-interest loans to Locally-Owned and Operated Businesses for the purposes of the following activities occurring in Prince George's County:

    (A) Business expansion, business capacity-building, and business retention;

    (B) Job creation and job retention; and

    (C) Business start-ups and early-stage business growth.

  (2) Allocation of the annual awards.

    (A) Awards from the Prince George's County Business Expansion and Start-Up Loan Program shall be distributed annually as follows:

      (i) 30% reserved for Local Start-Up Businesses; and

      (ii) 20% for businesses that are located within the beltway as described in subsection (6)(A) below; and

      (iii) 50% for all other applications subject to subsection (6).

    (B) Should a business qualify for an award under multiple categories among i-iii above, then the award allocated shall only be counted under one (1) category for purposes of calculating distribution percentages of annual award allocation.

  (3) The maximum annual loan award from this program shall be $250,000.

  (4) Loan repayment shall include zero percent (0%) interest and a twelve (12) month deferment between the remittance of the loan funds to the business and the date of the first repayment.

  (5) Any recipient of a loan award under this Subsection shall:

    (A) be a registered business in good standing with the State of Maryland and the County; and

    (B) Remain a County-based business for at least the next sixty (60) months of the business's existence after receipt of the loan, as a written condition of accepting the loan.

  (6) Priority Industry Sectors. The County Council, by resolution, with the concurrence of the County Executive, may establish priority industry sectors for awards from this Program, including the proportion of the annual awards that shall be reserved for such priority industry sectors. At a minimum, the priority sectors will include businesses:

    (A) located within the beltway (the area in the County between the border with the District of Columbia and the Capital Beltway); or

    (B) within one-quarter mile of a transit station; or

    (C) within one of the primary or secondary growth sectors outlined in the Approved Economic Development Strategic Action Plan for Prince George's County.

  (7) Annual Report.

    (A) The County Council and County Executive may request an annual report to be provided with analysis on the Prince George's County Business Expansion and Start-Up Loan Program to include at a minimum the following information categorized by race and gender of each applicant:

      (i) The name of applicant; and

      (ii) Names of applicant's loans; and

      (iii) Names of those applicants denied loans; and

      (iv) Amount of funds awarded per loan.

    (B) If requested, then the report shall be submitted within 90 days.

(d) Prince George's County Technology Incentive Program

  (1) There is a Prince George's County Technology Incentive Program, which includes a Prince George's County Biosciences Supplemental Incentive Program and Prince George's County New Technologies Incentive Program.

  (2) The Prince George's County Biosciences Supplemental Incentive Program is hereby established as a program in which the County shall annually provide matching grant funds to County-based businesses that receive the Maryland Biotechnology Investment Tax Credit for investment made in Prince George's County up to $250,000 per year for an eligible firm, provided that, as a written condition of award acceptance, the firm remains a County-based business for at least the next sixty (60) months of the business's existence after the receipt of an award from the Prince George's County Biosciences Supplemental Incentive Program.

  (3) The Prince George's County New Technologies Incentive Program. The Prince George's County New Technologies Incentive Program is hereby established as a program in which the County shall annually award grants to businesses located in Prince George's County in the sectors of quantum computing, bioscience, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity for the purposes of the following activities occurring in Prince George's County:

    (A) Business expansion, business capacity-building, and business retention;

    (B) Job creation and job retention; and

    (C) Business start-ups and early-stage business growth.

  (4) The maximum annual grant award from this program shall be $250,000.

  (5) A recipient business shall remain located in Prince George's County for at least five (5) years (60 months) of the business's existence after receipt of an award from the Prince George's County New Technologies Incentive Fund, as a written condition of award acceptance.

  (6) The County Council, by resolution, with the concurrence of the County Executive, may modify the eligible industry sectors to this program.

(e) Prince George's County Small Business Accelerator Program.

  (1) The Prince George's County Small Business Accelerator Program is hereby established as a program in which the County shall make grant awards to foster the expansion or establishment of small and minority business capacity accelerator programs located in the County (hereinafter "Accelerator Grants").

  (2) Only entities based in Prince George's County shall be eligible to receive Accelerator Grants.

  (3) Only County-based Small Businesses, County-based Minority Business Enterprises, and Locally-Owned and Operated Businesses are eligible to participate in acceleration activities or services funded by Accelerator Grants.

(f) Prince George's County Small Business Capital and Growth Stimulus Fund is hereby established as a non-lapsing fund from which the County shall provide funding for the programs authorized under this section. The Fund shall be administered in accordance with Subsection (g), below.

(g) Fund Management of the Prince George's County Small Business Capital and Growth Stimulus Program.

  (1) FSC FIRST, in conjunction with one or more entities, if designated by the County Executive, shall administer the Prince George's County Small Business Capital and Growth Stimulus Program and the Prince George's County Small Business Capital and Growth Stimulus Fund, established under this section, provided that:

    (A) The entities are governmental or quasi-governmental entities, County-based small businesses or, if nonprofits, nonprofits based in Prince George's County,

    (B) The entities administering the Prince George's County Small Business Capital and Growth Stimulus Fund are authorized to create and amend rules and regulations for the administration of the funds ("Fund Rules and Regulations"), subject to the approval of the County MBE Compliance Manager,

    (C) The total annual administrative costs of administering the Prince George's County Small Business Capital and Growth Stimulus Fund and allocated from the fund shall not exceed 5% of the total combined dollars annually allocated to the Prince George's County Small Business Capital and Growth Stimulus Fund, and

    (D) At least twenty percent (20%) of any fee paid to an entity administering the Prince George's County Small Business Capital and Growth Stimulus Fund shall be structured as an incentive payment based on the success in fully distributing the funds to eligible firms annually.

  (2) Prince George's County Small Business Capital and Growth Stimulus Fund shall be structured by the County such that it may be used as leverage to receive funds from other public or private entities.

  (3) Prince George's County Small Business Capital and Growth Stimulus Fund shall only be awarded in the form of the following:

    (A) grants; or

    (B) conditional loans; or

    (C) direct loans, provided that direct loans do not comprise more than 50% of annual Prince George's County Small Business Capital and Growth Stimulus Fund awards.

  (4) Any award from the Prince George's County Small Business Capital and Growth Stimulus Fund shall be approved in advance by the County MBE Compliance Manager. Written notification of awards from a fund established under this Section shall be sent to the Office of the County Executive and the Clerk of the County Council (for dissemination to the members of the County Council and the County Auditor), within 14 days after remittance of the award funds to the recipient.

  (5) Information about the Prince George's County Small Business Capital and Growth Stimulus Fund, including information about fund recipients, shall be considered to be public information for the purposes of the Maryland Public Information Act, excluding proprietary business information.

  (6) No determination of award from the Prince George's County Small Business Capital and Growth Stimulus Fund shall utilize a minimum FICO credit score of higher than 570 in evaluating potential recipients.

  (7) Each award from the Prince George's County Small Business Capital and Growth Stimulus Fund shall include a clawback provision as a written condition of the award if a recipient fails to meet the requirements of this Section.

  (8) Public reporting. Any entity administering the Prince George's County Small Business Capital and Growth Stimulus Fund shall submit a written quarterly report to the Office of the County Executive, the Clerk of the County Council (for dissemination to the members of the County Council and the County Auditor), and the County MBE Compliance Manager on the funds' activities in a structure and format approved by the County MBE Compliance Manager. The report shall, at a minimum, detail the fund awards and recipients for the previous quarter, year-to-date, and program-to-date for the fund and be made publicly available on a website designated by the County MBE Compliance Manager.