Copyright State Science & Technology Institute 2002. Information in this issue of the SSTI Weekly Digest was prepared under a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration. Redistribution to all others interested in tech-based economic development is strongly encouraged — please cite the State Science & Technology Institute whenever portions are reproduced or redirected. Any opinions expressed in the Digest do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
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Bill Introduced in Senate to Make SBIR Program Permanent
Significant changes to the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program were proposed on July 31, 1998 by Senator Christopher Bond (R-MO), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business, when he introduced Senate Bill S. 2407, the Small Business Programs Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998.
First, S. 2407 proposes to make the SBIR Program permanent. The SBIR program is currently authorized through FY 2000. At that time, the program will either need to be reauthorized or it will cease to exist. This bill would eliminate the need for continued reauthorization by making the SBIR program permanent.
Second, the bill would increase the allocation of funds to the SBIR Program from federal agencies' extramural R&D budgets from 2.5% to 3.5%. This increase would occur over four years beginning in FY 2001.
Finally, the bill would make a significant change in the program to encourage better outreach to states that receive few awards each year. The bill would permit up to 2% of the SBIR set aside pool of funds to support an outreach program, to promote better commercialization of the R&D awards, and to offset some administrative expenses. The bill stipulates that at least one-third of these non-award funds must be spent on outreach in those states that receive 25 or fewer awards each year.
Congress established the SBIR Program in 1982. Under this program, federal agencies with extramural research and development budgets of $100 million or more are required to set aside no less than 2.5% of that amount for small businesses. There are currently ten agencies that participate in this program.
S. 2407 was co-sponsored by Senators Coverdell (R-GA), Domenici (R-NM), Kempthorne (R-ID) and Snowe (R-ME). The bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Small Business. For more information, visit the Thomas Legislative web page at http://thomas.loc.gov.
DOE Announces Phase I and Phase II SBIR Awards
The Department of Energy (DOE) has released a full list of its FY 1997 Phase I and Phase II award winners for the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.
The SBIR program provides funding directly to small businesses to conduct research and develop-ment for new products, processes and procedures. The following table lists the number of projects funded, by state, for both Phase I and Phase II.
State# of Phase I
Awards# of Phase II
AwardsAL 4 1 AR 1 AZ 4 CA 37 24 CO 19 9 CT 10 5 DE 1 GA 3 1 IL 3 IN 3 1 MA 39 8 MD 8 2 ME 1 MI 3 3 MN 6 NC 2 1 ND 1 NE 1 NH 3 NJ 1 3 NM 6 1 NV 1 NY 9 2 OH 5 3 OK 1 1 OR 2 PA 5 4 SC 2 TN 1 1 TX 7 5 UT 2 VA 7 2 VT 1 WA 8 1 WI 1 WV 1 WY 1 Total 205 83 A complete listing of the successful SBIR proposals is available on the DOE homepage at http//sbir.er.doe.gov/sbir/
People in the News
Before leaving for its August recess, the Senate confirmed Neal Lane to be Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and Bill Richardson to be Secretary of Energy.
On July 31, Lane was unanimously confirmed as OSTP Director, taking over the vacancy left when John Gibbons retired. According to the White House press release on Lane's confirmation, "Dr. Lane also serves as Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and is responsible for providing the President with advice in all areas of science and technology policy and works to coordinate science, space, and technology policy and programs across the federal government. The Director also co-chairs the President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology and serves on the National Science and Technology Council."
Lane has served as Director of NSF since 1993. Prior to that, Lane was Provost of, and physics professor at, Rice University. He was also Chancellor of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs from 1984 to 1986, and Director of NSF's Division of Physics from 1979 to 1980. Lane is a member of the American Association of Physics Teachers and a Fellow of the American Physical Society, and has served on the American Institute of Physics Governing Board.
Richardson, previously the Ambassador to the United Nations, was also confirmed on July 31 to replace Federico Pena as Secretary of Energy.
Conference Reminder
Just a reminder that early registration for SSTI's Second Annual Conference, Science and Technology Programs: Catalysts for Economic Growth, are due August 31. The conference will be held September 24 & 25 in Columbus, Ohio. Full details can be found on SSTI's home page at www.ssti.org or by calling SSTI at 614/421-SSTI (7784).
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