news

Rep. Paul Tonko (NY-21) voted today to expand a popular and successful small business program that will create new jobs and increase support for innovation in research and technology. The Enhancing Small Business Research and Innovation Act of 2009 will help spur job creation by providing increases in grant programs that will help entrepreneurs innovate new technological advancements.

“Small businesses are the engine that will reenergize America’s economy, in which research and innovation have greatly contributed to advances in science and technology,” said Rep. Tonko. “We need to ramp up the development of new, breakthrough ideas that will advance our economy, create jobs, and provide for greater economic security in the future.”

The bill modernizes the government’s largest small business research and development programs, the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program and the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program, more than doubling the amount of the grants small businesses can apply for and helping them engage in cutting-edge research.

The Small Business Research and Innovation Act will broaden the pool of businesses that participate in the programs by reaching out to rural entrepreneurs, veterans, minorities and women. The bill will make it easier for small businesses to find financing, allowing them, not Washington bureaucrats, to decide how to raise capital. It also puts a greater emphasis on helping smaller firms bring their products to market.

Rep. Tonko added, “At a time when our national unemployment is at 9.5%, we should do everything in our power to strengthen small businesses that generate 70 percent of new jobs in our country.  It is important that we continue to favor small, innovative businesses. There’s simply no more effective way to boost our economy than to support the small business innovation that creates new jobs, new technologies and new American industries.”

Since 1992, the SBIR and STTR programs have awarded 65,000 grants to small companies that are leading research efforts to cure diseases, strengthen national defense and reduce our dependence on foreign energy sources. Without action by Congress, these programs will expire later this month.

# # #