By Gwen Green (gagreen@ualr.edu)
Aug. 21, 2008
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Senator Mark Pryor will meet today with Arkansas small business owners engaged in innovative research and development at a roundtable hosted by the Arkansas Small Business Development Center at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Discussion will center on re-authorization of the federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. SBIR and STTR provide more than $2 billion in federal grants and contracts to small business owners annually.
In the 2007 fiscal year, 15 SBIR awards went to Arkansas companies, according to the State Science and Technology Institute (www.ssti.org). View a list of Arkansas winners at http://asbdc.ualr.edu/technology/awards.
SBIR/ STTR monies support business and product strategies that meet federal research and development needs. Eleven federal agencies, including the U.S. departments of Agriculture, Defense, Energy and Transportation, National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation, set aside part of their research and development budgets specifically for SBIR. Five of these agencies also fund projects through STTR, which requires small businesses to partner with non-profit research institutions. Without reauthorization from Congress, the SBIR program will sunset, or phase out, Sept. 30, followed by STTR in 2009.
Senator Pryor serves on the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, which has approved a bill (S. 3362) reauthorizing SBIR/STTR. The bill awaits action by the entire Senate after the body's August recess. The House has taken similar action, but the Senate and House reauthorization bills differ markedly. For instance, the Senate bill would extend SBIR and STTR for 14 years, while the House version (H.R. 5819) would extend the programs only to 2010.
Previous and potential recipients of SBIR and STTR awards will weigh in on the two pieces of legislation at the roundtable, said Mildred Holley, technology programs manager at ASBDC. "I currently have small business clients who are conducting SBIR/STTR Phase 1 research or who plan to apply for program funding. Their ideas are not bankable at this stage. SBIR and STTR dollars make it possible to prove feasibility and advance their research," she said.
In addition to assisting new and existing small businesses, ASBDC (http://asbdc.ualr.edu) assists entrepreneurs whose business focus is on innovation, new technology development or new applications of existing technology. Services include consulting, research and training. All services are available at low or no cost through the ASBDC's partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration and higher education institutions across Arkansas.
Sept. 17, ASBDC will host a SBIR/STTR Phase 1 Proposal Writing Workshop at UALR. For more information, contact Holley at (501) 683-7716 or go to http://asbdc.ualr.edu/sbir.
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