Twenty universities and organizations received $100,000 grants to support R&D and small business innovation under the U.S. Small Business Administration's FAST program. The program is designed to stimulate economic development among small, high-tech businesses through federally-funded innovation and R&D programs such as the SBIR and STTR programs. The project and budget periods are for 12 months beginning Sept. 30, 2010, according to a press release.
Companies that engage in R&D activities — either through performing R&D or funding others to perform R&D — are far more likely to innovate than companies that do not, according to new data from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) 2008 Business R&D and Innovation Survey (BRDIS). NSF researchers found that companies with R&D "exhibit far higher rates of innovation than do non-R&D companies. However, only 47,000 (3%) U.S. companies engaged in R&D activities from 2006 to 2008.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has begun reporting employment and R&D investment figures for companies that perform R&D based on the agency's new Business R&D and Innovation Survey. The inaugural data, based on 2008 results, shows that U.S. companies that perform R&D employed 27.1 million people worldwide 1.9 million of whom were directly involved in research. Domestic employment within these companies totaled 18.5 million, with 1.5 million R&D workers.
In 2007, the federal government dedicated $111.4 billion to R&D, an amount roughly equal to 0.81 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP), according to a recent report from the National Science Foundation (NSF). While research-intensive states, such as California, Maryland, Massachusetts and Virginia are the leading targets for federal R&D spending, several other states attracted a comparable amount of federal funding relative to their economies between 2002 and 2007.
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn recently signed legislation approving a new tax credit to encourage angel investment and extending the state's R&D tax credit one more year. The Innovation Development and Economy Act (SB 2093) allows eligible angel and early-stage institutional investors to take a 25 percent tax credit on investments in small, technology firms. Up to $2 million may be claimed on an individual investment for a $500,000 tax credit. The program is capped at $10 million and will be effective on Jan 1, 2011.
The vast majority of basic research performed in this country is funded by the federal government, so odds are most innovations also stem from our federal research investments, right? The generalization may seem logical but it could never be proven. Let alone following research through to any resulting technologies, it is currently impossible even to tell the number of jobs resulting from federal research investments–supporting people in positions ranging from top of the field faculty researchers to research assistants, lab technicians, and administrative/custodial support staff.
The State of Washington led the country in 2007 in federal funding for industrial research and development (R&D), receiving $3.27 billion, according to the latest numbers from the National Science Foundation (NSF). While 42.3 percent of total federal R&D funding supported industrial R&D, 69.5 percent of federal funding in Washington went to private companies. Arizona, Maine, Connecticut, Nevada and Texas all received more than 65 percent of their federal R&D dollars in industrial support.
The Department of Health and Human Services, with the Department of Treasury, has released detailed guidelines for biotechnology companies interested in applying for the research tax credit introduced in the Health Care bill earlier this year. The Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project Credit provides a 50 percent income tax credit for investments in certified research projects made in 2009 and 2010. A total of $1 billion in credits will be available. Applications for certification must be submitted to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) by July 21 for the primary allocation round.
Gov. Jan Brewer last week signed a measure modifying Arizona's existing R&D tax credit legislation to allow for small businesses to collect discounted refunds on R&D tax credits already earned. The measure is hailed as an important tool for providing small, tech-based companies with access to capital. Read the Arizona Technology Council press release ...
A recent report from the National Science Foundation (NSF) shows that funding for general science and basic research grew by 17.5 percent between 2008 and 2010. The report divides federal R&D funding into 20 categories defined by their function. Basic research comprises 7.2 percent of the proposed FY10 budget, up from 6.2 percent in the actual FY08 budget. Meanwhile, national defense, the leading target of federal R&D funding, dropped from 59 percent of total funding to 57 percent. Read the report ...