sbir

Two of the Small Business Administration's (SBA) proposed changes to the federal SBIR/STTR programs have caught the attention of small business advocates and groups warning of loopholes in the language that they say could negatively impact U.S. companies and affect eligibility.

Unlike last year when a wave of new governors pushed sweeping proposals to re-organize economic development activities and grow the economy, the 2012 legislative sessions brought mostly modest changes for tech-based initiatives. While many programs were level funded or received smaller increases than in previous years, a handful of states increased funds or introduced new initiatives to support economic development efforts.

Registration is now open for the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) 14th Annual SBIR/STTR Conference in Louisville, KY, May 30-June 1. This year's event, titled "The Changing Face of SBIR/STTR," will provide insight into NIH funding opportunities and program changes.

A new program launched in Massachusetts will help companies commercialize technologies developed under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program by picking up where Phase II of the program leaves off, providing financial support, coaching and introductions to potential investors. The Massachusetts Technology Development Corporation will initiate the program with $6 million over the next three years.

After 14 short-term continuing resolutions and years of negotiations, the federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Tranfer (STTR) programs have been reauthorized through 2017. The legislation changes a number of features of SBIR/STTR, including making it possible for companies that are majority-owned by venture capital firms to receive awards. President Obama is expected to sign the bill in the near future.

The Obama administration recently announced two directives to accelerate the commercialization of research and provide small businesses with streamlined access to federal resources. In his announcement, President Obama tied the directives to his administration's recent jobs push, and noted the need to bypass Congress in order to quickly implement the changes.

Compiling SBIR Phase I awards and proposal statistics by state for FY10, SSTI finds the 10 states with the most awards in FY10 were California (851), Massachusetts (517), Virginia (250), Colorado (218), New York (212), Maryland (196), Texas (185), Pennsylvania (184), Ohio (179), and Michigan (125). Colorado moved up two positions to fourth place, dropping New York to fifth place while Maryland fell to sixth place from fifth last year. Pennsylvania edged out Ohio to move up one spot into eighth position, pushing Ohio down one spot from last year to ninth place.

Editor's Note: Last week, the Digest erroneously reported that Congress had approved the extension of SBIR/STTR. This mistake was due to the substitution described in the article below. The actual SBIR extension was approved on May 31, 2011. We regret the error.

For the 11th time in the last 32-months, Congress approved a continuing resolution to extend authorization of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program and the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program. The House version of the Small Business Additional Temporary Extension Act of 2011 (S.990) would extend small business programs "as is" through the end of Fiscal Year 2011. The Senate version would extend the program through May 31, 2012.