For purposes of the Creating High Impact Economic Futures Act, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) Accelerator program means a program that (a) provides education and mentorship lasting no more than twenty-four months for early-stage technology companies that have been recruited to a location in this state and (b) has a defined curriculum and mentorship component designed to accelerate a technology company's development and growth;

(2) Agribusiness or agricultural business entity means any person, partnership, limited partnership, corporation, limited liability company, or other entity engaged in a business that processes raw agricultural products, including, but not limited to, corn, or that provides value-added functions with regard to raw agricultural products;

(3) Area of chronic economic distress means an area of the state which meets any of the following conditions:

(a) An unemployment rate which exceeds the statewide average unemployment rate;

(b) A per capita income below the statewide average per capita income; or

(c) A population loss between the two most recent federal decennial censuses;

(4) Business firm means any business entity, including a corporation, a fiduciary, a sole proprietorship, a partnership, a limited liability company, a corporation having an election in effect under Chapter 1, subchapter S of the Internal Revenue Code, as defined in section 49-801.01, subject to the state income tax imposed by section 77-2715 or 77-2734.02, an insurance company paying premium or related retaliatory taxes in this state pursuant to section 44-150 or 77-908, or a financial institution paying the tax imposed pursuant to sections 77-3801 to 77-3807;

(5) Community betterment organization means any:

(a) Organization performing eligible activities in a community development area and to which contributions are tax deductible under the provisions of the Internal Revenue Service of the United States Department of the Treasury;

(b) County, city, or village performing eligible activities;

(c) Inland port authority created pursuant to the Municipal Inland Port Authority Act;

(d) Agribusiness or agricultural business entity; or

(e) Organization designated as an iHub under the Nebraska Innovation Hub Act in a community development area;

(6) Community development area means any:

(a) Village, city, county, unincorporated area of a county, or census tract which has been designated by the department as an area of chronic economic distress;

(b) Economic redevelopment area as defined in section 77-6906;

(c) Enterprise zone designated pursuant to the Enterprise Zone Act;

(d) Qualified census tract in Nebraska as defined in 26 U.S.C. 42(d)(5)(B)(ii)(I), as such section existed on January 1, 2024;

(e) County with a population of less than ten thousand inhabitants; or

(f) Inland port district created pursuant to the Municipal Inland Port Authority Act;

(7) Department means the Department of Economic Development;

(8) Eligible activities include: (a) Employment training; (b) operations of any inland port authority created under the Municipal Inland Port Authority Act; (c) medical services; (d) operation of an agribusiness or agricultural business entity; (e) recreational services or activities, including, but not limited to, operations for a sports complex or sports venue as defined in section 13-3102; (f) home improvement services and programs; (g) crime prevention activities, including, but not limited to, (i) mental health counseling and advice, (ii) community, youth, and senior citizen centers, and (iii) any legal enterprise which aids in the prevention or reduction of crime; (h) construction or operation of intermodal facilities or a shovel-ready site owned by the qualifying organization or by a city or village in this state; (i) creation or operation of an accelerator program for technology companies; or (j) operations of an iHub;

(9) Inland port authority has the same meaning as in section 13-3303;

(10) Inland port district has the same meaning as in section 13-3303; and

(11) Innovation hub or iHub has the same meaning as in section 81-12,108.