• Home
• Small Business
• Education
• Workforce Development
• Energy
• Media and Events

E4 Small Business

Strengthening Our Economy Through Small Business Innovation Act of 2008

I am introducing legislation to expand and improve federal support for small businesses. The bill will increase total federal spending on, and the size of, grants for small business innovation research. It will also prioritize grants for work on energy, water, transportation and domestic security issues, which are key national priorities and areas where Wisconsin has a competitive advantage.

American small businesses generate approximately half of our nation’s payroll jobs and most of our new employment opportunities. Studies also have shown that small businesses are the greatest source of net new employment in inner cities, generating 80 percent of the total employment in these urban areas. Small businesses also drive product innovation, translating their cutting edge efforts and those of our research institutions into products that improve our lives and our economy.

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs were established to promote small business innovation and commercialization prospects as well as to enhance opportunities for women-owned and socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses. These programs allocate a small percentage of federal agency research and development budgets to small businesses. These programs have a proven record of success.

In a recently completed comprehensive study of the SBIR program conducted by the National Academies of Science, the National Research Council found that the SBIR: is “sound in concept and effective in practice”; increases innovation; encourages participation by small companies in federal research and development programs; provides support for small firms owned by minorities and women; and resolves research questions for federal agencies in a cost-effective manner. The report also specifically noted that additional funding “could be employed effectively by the nation’s SBIR program.” My legislation would act on these recommendations.

My bill:

• Reauthorize the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs for an additional 14 year period.
  


• Substantially increase federal R&D funding for small businesses over a three year period from 2.5% to 10% of federal funding for the SBIR program and from 0.3% to 1% for the STTR program.
  


• Increase the levels of phase I and phase II awards beyond adjustments for inflation to $300,000 and $2.2 million, respectively, to strengthen project commercialization prospects.
  


• Prioritize grants for R&D in key areas: energy innovation; transportation; domestic security; and water quality and security.

The cost of the legislation is fully offset.