; and (ii) an EPSCoR State that— (I) is a State described in clause (i); or (II) is— (aa) not a State described in clause (i); and (bb) invited to participate in a regional collaborative; (C) the term EPSCoR State means a State that participates in the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research of the National Science Foundation, as established under section 113 of the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 1988 ( 42 U.S.C. 1862g ); (D) the term FAST program means the Federal and State Technology Partnership Program established under section 34; (E) the term pilot program means the Regional SBIR State Collaborative Initiative Pilot Program established under paragraph (2); (F) the term regional collaborative means a collaborative consisting of eligible entities that are located in not less than 3 eligible States; and (G) the term State means any State of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any territory or possession of the United States. (2) Establishment The Administrator shall establish a pilot program, to be known as the Regional SBIR State Collaborative Initiative Pilot Program, under which the Administrator shall provide awards to regional collaboratives to address the needs of small business concerns in order to— (A) be more competitive in the proposal and selection process for awards under the SBIR program and the STTR program; and (B) increase technology transfer and commercialization. (3) Goals The goals of the pilot program are— (A) to create regional collaboratives that allow eligible entities to work cooperatively to leverage resources to address the needs of small business concerns; (B) to grow SBIR program and STTR program cooperative research and development and commercialization through increased awards under those programs; (C) to increase the participation of States that have historically received a lower level of awards under the SBIR program and the STTR program