2019 US Virgin Islands Code
Title 11 - Commerce, Technology and Trade
Chapter 23 - Small Business Development
Subchapter I - Small Business Development Agency
§ 1253. Small Business Development Agency; director; loan policy board
(a) In order to carry out the policies of this chapter there is created a subsidiary entity under the name of “Virgin Islands Small Business Development Agency” (herein referred to as the Agency) within, and wholly administered and operated by the Economic Development Authority.
(b) The management of the Agency shall be vested in the Chief Executive Officer of the Authority.
(c) The Small Business Development and Loan Fund as provided for in chapter 111 of Title 33 of this Code, shall be available for the Agency's use in financing the functions performed under section 1255 of this chapter. All repayments of loans, payments of interest, and other receipts arising out of transactions financed from the Fund shall be paid into the Fund. Not to exceed an aggregate of $15,000,000 shall be outstanding at any one time for the purposes enumerated in section 1255 of this chapter.
(d) There is created the Loan Policy Board of the Virgin Islands Small Business Development Agency, which shall consist of seven members.
(1) The Commissioners of Tourism and Finance, and the Chief Executive Officer of the Agency, who shall be executive secretary of the Board, shall serve as members of the Board. The remaining four members of the Board shall be appointed by the Governor from the members of the Authority's Board of Directors. The Governor shall select such members who are known to be familiar with and sympathetic to small businesses' needs and problems and who meet the conditions of paragraph (3) of subsection (a) of section 1252 of this chapter.
(2) The appointed members of the Board shall be appointed for a term concurrent to their appointment to the Board of Directors of the Authority.
(3) The appointed members of the Board shall receive the sum of $50 for each day or part thereof spent in the performance of his official duties. Every member of the Board shall be reimbursed for necessary travel, subsistence, and other expenses actually incurred in the discharge of his duties as such member.
(4) As soon as practicable after the first members of the Board have been appointed, the members shall meet and organize by electing from among the membership a Chairman and a Vice-Chairman. The Chairman and Vice-Chairman shall be elected annually for terms of one year, and shall serve until their respective successors are elected and take office. The Chairman shall preside at all meetings and the Vice-Chairman shall preside in the absence or disability of the Chairman. The Board may, in the absence or disability of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman, elect any of its members to act as chairman pro tempore. Four members shall constitute a quorum of the Board for the transaction of business, and the Board may function notwithstanding vacancies provided a quorum is present. The Board shall meet at such times and places as it may fix and determine, but shall hold at least six regularly scheduled meetings a year; and special meetings may be held on call of the Chairman or any three members.
(e)
(1) The Loan Policy Board shall establish general policies and guidelines (particularly with reference to the public interest involved in the granting and denial of applications for financial assistance by the Agency and with reference to the coordination of the functions of the Agency with other activities and policies of the Government), which shall govern the granting and denial of applications for financial or technical assistance by the Agency.
(2) The Loan Policy Board shall administer the Small Business Incubator Program established in subchapter II of this chapter and may promulgate rules and regulations and exercise all powers necessary to carry out the purpose of the Program.
