R856-1-4. Eligibility Criteria

  (1) Company must be Utah-based.

  (a) To be considered "Utah-based," a company must:

  (i) be registered with the Utah Division of Corporations as an active, for-profit business entity, in good standing;

  (ii) maintain its principal place of business in Utah; and,

  (iii) not relocate the business or substantial portions of its employees, operations, or management outside of the State of Utah.

  (b) If a company does not meet the criteria in Subsection R856-1-4(1) above, or if it cannot be reasonably determined whether the company meets the criteria, the governing authority, in its discretion and upon approval by a majority vote, may determine whether a company should be considered a Utah-based company for purposes of the TAP grant by weighing the following factors:

  (i) relative size of the entity including the number of employees in Utah and the relative size of operations in the state;

  (ii) whether the company is registered as a domestic, for-profit business entity in Utah and has a business license in the appropriate Utah city or county;

  (iii) whether the company's principal place of business is Utah;

  (iv) likelihood that the company will maintain a significant presence in the state of Utah; and,

  (v) degree to which the company's activities and operations positively impact Utah's economy.

  (2) Company must have fewer than 50 employees, less than $1 million annual revenue and raised less than $5 million in private capitol.

  (3) Company must be developing a technology in a targeted industry sector.

  (a) USTAR will identify the targeted industry sector(s) eligible to receive a TAP grant in the TAP application materials.

  (b) The USTAR governing authority will, according to its discretion and judgment, review and approve the targeted technology sectors to ensure they are strategically selected to align with USTAR's economic development objectives and maximize the potential benefit to the state

  (c) In selecting industry sectors eligible to receive support from TAP, the governing authority may consider the following factors:

  (i) statewide or regional importance of the industry to Utah's economy;

  (ii) relative size of the sector, its stability, and growth potential;

  (iii) characteristics of the state's existing workforce, including education and training;

  (iv) the current availability of other sources of funding or risk capital (public or private) for early-stage companies in the technology sector;

  (v) the potential for the industry sector to develop new jobs and business opportunities in the state; and,

  (vi) Likelihood that research in this sector will result in creation of a company in Utah or IP transfer to an existing Utah company; and,

  (vii) any other factor the governing authority deems relevant, considering the mission of USTAR and the purpose of TAP.

  (4) The company must be developing a technology assessed to be between a TRL of 3-5.

  (5) If the Company is a current recipient of a USTAR grant, that project must be verified as complete by USTAR before the application deadline in order for the awardee to be eligible to apply, unless expressly exempted by USTAR.