Prison to Proprietorship Act

This bill establishes a program under the Small Business Act to offer re-entry entrepreneurship counseling and training services to incarcerated individuals in federal prisons. The Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA), in coordination with the Director of the Bureau of Prisons, will require women's business centers (WBCs) and small business development centers (SBDCs) to provide these services to eligible individuals. The SBA will develop an annual plan to match these centers with incarcerated individuals in minimum, low, or medium security federal prisons, prioritizing centers closest to the facilities. If a matched center cannot provide the services, an association of centers will step in to ensure delivery. The program aims to provide assistance and in-depth training on how to start or expand a small business, including drafting business plans, identifying capital, and connecting with local resources. Services will include presentations on self-employment, a self-study manual on basic entrepreneurship and financial literacy, five two-day classroom sessions, and in-depth one-on-one training for business plan development. Individuals completing the program will receive a certificate, and services can continue after release from federal custody. The SBA will prioritize individuals scheduled for release within 18 months of starting the program. The Administrator may award grants to associations of WBCs or SBDCs to coordinate these services, develop curriculum, train mentors, and establish public-private partnerships. Annually, the Administrator must report to Congress on the program's performance, including the number of individuals served, hours of counseling, certificates issued, demographics, and survey results on participant satisfaction. This ensures accountability and tracks the effectiveness of the re-entry entrepreneurship initiative.