SSTI Digest

The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation has favorably reported, with amendments, Senate Bill 1325, the Technology Administration Authorization Act for FY 1998-2000. The bill was originally introduced by Senator Frist (R-TN) in October of 1997.

The Bill authorizes appropriations to the Department of Commerce for activities that fall under the auspices of the Technology Administration (TA). Total funding of $681,400,00 in FY 1998, $683,836,000 in FY 1999, and $688,610,000 in FY 2000 has been authorized in the bill.

The bill authorizes $192.5 million for the Advanced Technology Program (ATP) in FY 1998, $204 million in FY 1999, and $210.12 million in FY 2000. The bill authorizes $113.5 million for the Manufacturing Extension Program (MEP) in FY 1998, and $114.37 million in FY 1999 and 2000.

The U.S. Senate Science and Technology Caucus, chaired by Senator Bill Frist (R-TN), held a roundtable discussion last week on the future of American innovation and competitiveness, specifically how to maintain America's science and technology edge in the world marketplace.

The roundtable participants included representatives from MIT, Harvard Business School, and the Council on Competitiveness. The discussion focused on building a workforce with proficiency in science and technology and the government's role in encouraging innovation and research.

The U.S. Air Force has announced that its Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Program topics for FY99 will be released in mid-June. The Air Force is pre-releasing its topics before the Department of Defense's Pre-Solicitation in order to provide small businesses the maximum amount of time to ask technical questions. This early release offers the additional benefit of giving companies enough time to start marketing and networking.

According to the topic authors, technical points of contact, and SBIR awardees, marketing research is extremely important to the success of a proposal. These early marketing discussions have often proven invaluable in preparing the SBIR proposals. Small businesses have also often learned of other types of solicitations against which they can propose.

A recent study found that 90 percent of industry participants benefitted in some way by participating in the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Engineering Research Center (ERC) Program. Nearly a quarter of all firms reported having developed a new product or process as a result of their interaction with an ERC, and two-thirds reported that their firm's competitiveness had increased.

Industry participants reported five main benefits: access to new ideas, know-how, or technologies; technical assistance; interaction with other firms participating in the program; access to ERC equipment and facilities; and, hiring ERC students and graduates.

Not all companies received every type of benefit, but of the benefits realized by particular companies, among the highest-valued were the employment of ERC students and graduates, gains in intellectual property, and access to specialized equipment and facilities.

The Clinton Administration has unveiled a new initiative entitled Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing (PATH) which it believes could save consumers $11 billion a year in energy costs by 2010 and reduce annual carbon emissions by nearly 24 million tons.

PATH joins the federal government, industry, and state and local government in a coordinated strategy to identify promising housing technologies and move them to market. Each group will play a critical role in the partnership:

SSTI has received funding from the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense and the National Institute for Standards & Technology (NIST) to complete a study of state SBIR/STTR programs. The project is for the SBIR Working Group of the U.S. Innovation Partnership. As part of the study, SSTI will be interviewing state SBIR/STTR assistance providers and federal SBIR program managers over the next several weeks on a range of issues.

The final report, to be completed in August, will include an inventory of the services and assistance provided by the states, a description of how state programs have evolved based on their experience with the federal SBIR/STTR programs, measures for determining the impact of state SBIR initiatives, and recommendations on how states may best interact with the federal programs, with particular emphasis on commercialization of SBIR technologies.

Price Waterhouse recently announced that venture capital investments in the first quarter of 1998 hit $3.6 billion, just slightly below the all-time high of $3.7 billion set in the fourth quarter of 1997. Compared to the first quarter of 1997, investments increased 54%. These findings were released in the Price Waterhouse Venture Capital Survey, a quarterly report of venture capital investments throughout the United States.

The following listing shows the amount of venture capital dollars invested by region in the first quarter of 1998 by Region, Investment Amount, and % of Total:

Ross Youngs, president of Univenture, Inc. of Columbus, Ohio, has been named the National Small Business Person of the Year. Youngs was selected from a field of 53 Small Business Administration (SBA) small business winners representing the fifty states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Guam.

The national entrepreneur award is a highlight of SBA's national Small Business Week celebration. Small Business Week, now in its 35th year, honors the contributions of the nation's small business owners. Winners are selected on their record of stability, growth in employment and sales, sound financial reports, innovation, and the company's response to adversity, and community service.

Youngs founded Univenture ten years ago after developing a lighter, cheaper and more environmentally friendly product for displaying and storing compact discs. Today, Univenture is a $15 million dollar business that employs 119 people.