U.S. Representative Sam Graves (R-MO) is a lifelong resident of Missouri's Sixth Congressional District. As a small businessman and a sixth-generation full-time, family farmer, Congressman Graves has spent his life working to make Missouri a better place to live, work, and raise a family.
In Congress, the congressman serves as the chairman of the Small Business Committee. He also serves on the Transportation Committee, where he continues to fight for Missouri roads, bridges, rail lines, and airports. As a father, farmer, businessman, and former state legislator, Congressman Graves knows first-hand the values, hopes, and beliefs of hard-working families in the Sixth District, and continues to work tirelessly for them in the U. S. House of Representatives.
Last week, Congress passed
legislation to reauthorize the Small Business Innovation
and Research (SBIR) and the Small Business Technology
Transfer (STTR) programs, which will help innovative
small businesses make products that will benefit the
government and the private sector.
The SBIR and STTR programs are two of
government’s most effective programs for spurring innovative ideas
among the small business research and development community, leading
to the development of successful companies such as Symantec,
Qualcomm, Genentech, DaVinci and iRobot.
But unfortunately, improvements, and a
full reauthorization, had been put on hold for nearly 4 years.
The last full SBIR reauthorization occurred in 2000 and the
STTR program in 2001. Both programs expired in 2008. Since then,
Congress had struggled in a debate about how to best get R & D
dollars in the hands of more businesses, while keeping the program
true to the twin goals of innovation and commercialization. As a
result, the program had been subject to a series of short-term
extensions — the latest of which expired on December 16th.
The House and Senate Small Business Committees
and House Science Committee worked for the majority of this year to
reauthorize the programs. As Chairman of the House Small Business
Committee, I put reauthorization of this program at the top of my
agenda, and I’m glad that we reached a deal to provide much-needed
certainty for the small firms who want to participate in this program.
This all happened after the Senate gave way to a compromise that was
added to the National Defense Authorization Act, which passed both Houses
of Congress last week. Thanks to the Alliance for Affordable Services
for their support; reauthorization of this program will help many of its members.
Among the many benefits of this six-year agreement
is that it raises Phase I awards from $100,000 to $150,000 and Phase II
award from $750,000 to $1 million. These levels have not been increased
since 1982. Also under the agreement, the SBIR program allocation will
expand from 2.5 to 3.2 percent and the STTR allocation from .3 percent
to .45 percent over the course of the reauthorization, which allows more
access for small businesses to compete for research and development funds.
In addition, the agreement focuses the program
more on commercialization and job creation by instituting a pilot program
that allows more businesses with highly developed projects to compete for
Phase II, and by ensuring a higher standard of success for companies
that receive awards.
The SBIR and STTR programs are a win-win for
America — they will help small businesses across the nation create jobs,
springboard ideas and spur economic growth. As our economy continues
to waiver, it is legislation like this that will aid our economy and
get Americans back on the job.