§ 6 — Establishment of center

Section 6. The corporation shall establish a center, and take any and all actions necessary or appropriate thereto, including disbursing available funds from the center fund to meet the project costs and start-up expenses of such a center, only after (a) formulation of a detailed plan for the creation and operation of such a center; provided that the plan shall be supported by independently verifiable information; and provided further that the plan shall include but not be limited to:(1) a detailed description of the proposed center, including an analysis of all lands, structures, facilities, machinery and equipment reasonably necessary for the successful operation thereof; an analysis of the feasibility of utilizing surplus state real property for such a center; and a statement of the proposed project costs reasonably associated with establishing such a center, with a detailed breakdown of such project costs, including and estimate of the cost to the commonwealth of the debt service on any bonds or notes issued or to be issued in support of such a center;(2) a statement of the proposed annual start-up expenses, project costs and current expenses of the center for the first five years of its existence, including a detailed breakdown of such costs and expenses, with a reasonable projection of that portion of said costs and expenses which the corporation expects to meet through assistance provided by participating businesses, rates, rents, fees and charges imposed upon users and support from any other source; and(3) a description of the assistance to be provided to the corporation in support of the center by participating businesses and participating institutions, with evidence of such assistance and the terms and conditions thereof, if any;(4) a description of the public benefits to be engendered by the center, including particularly an analysis of increased and enhanced employment and educational opportunities;(5) a description of the proposed activities of the center, including the proposed utilization thereof by participating businesses and participating institutions;(6) a proposal for a capital outlay appropriation from the commonwealth in support of the establishment of the center and such annual maintenance appropriations as may reasonably be required for the successful operation of the center; and(b) the board has approved the establishment of the center described in the plan, having found and incorporated in its minutes that:(1) the center as proposed in the plan will substantially further the basic purpose of this chapter to provide for the establishment and operation of centers for the education of qualified persons in a developing technology offering substantial employment opportunities in the commonwealth;(2) there is no reasonable expectation that the center as proposed in the plan will duplicate the actual or proposed facilities or programs of a post-secondary educational institution or consortium of such institutions located within the commonwealth, or, to the extent that a possibility for such duplication may be found to exist, the center as proposed in the plan may reasonably be characterized as enhancing or supplementing the ability of such an institution or consortium of institutions to conduct such actual or proposed facilities or programs;(3) the establishment and operation of the center as proposed in the plan are beyond the financial means of any single post-secondary educational institution or consortium of such institutions located in the commonwealth, either because the capital costs or operating costs associated therewith are prohibitive or because the capital costs or operating costs associated with maintaining such a center at a level consistent with developing technology are prohibitive;(4) The corporation has received appropriate commitments from participating businesses and participating institutions to support the center and to maintain a continuing effort to support the center; provided, that the commitments from participating businesses for project costs and start-up expenses shall be for support which, in the aggregate, is equivalent in value to the amount of the proposed disbursement from the center fund and which support includes provision of the equipment and machinery necessary and appropriate to establish the center as provided in the plan; provided, further, that the commitments from participating businesses to maintain a continuing effort to support the center shall include commitments to provide the equipment and machinery necessary and appropriate to ensure that the center is maintained at a level consistent with developing technology; provided, further, that the commitments from both participating businesses and participating institutions to maintain a continuing effort to support the center shall include commitments to provide qualified individuals from among the employees thereof to serve from time to time as instructors at the center; provided further, that the provision of equipment, machinery, instructors and support of any other kind by participating businesses and participating institutions shall be at no charge to the corporation; and provided, further, that the value of said equipment, machinery, instructors and other support shall be determined by the executive director of the corporation.(c) submission by the board of the plan and findings formulated pursuant to this section to the governor, the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives, the chairman of the senate committee on ways and means and the chairman of the house committee on ways and means.