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Luetkemeyer: SBIR, STTR programs are emboldening our small firms to contribute mightily to the fight
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the House Committee on Small Business is holding a hybrid hearing titled “Overview of the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Programs.”
Ranking Member Blaine Luetkemeyer's opening statement as prepared for delivery:
Good morning to all. Thank you all for being here as we examine the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer, or SBIR and STTR programs.
Innovation is the engine that drives our economy. Technological breakthroughs and the entrepreneurship it spurs build our economy and creates new jobs by finding state-of-the-art solutions to difficult problems and capitalizing on those new products.
This correlation is particularly important in the small business arena. Small businesses tend to be more nimble, responding to the market changes more rapidly than their bigger counterparts. They drive the innovation sector and make us more agile in the world economy.
In this era of globalization, making it easier for small businesses to develop and commercialize new, innovative products is essential not only for America’s competitiveness, but for its national security as well. This is why programs like SBIR and STTR are very important.
These programs, envied and emulated around the world, were created based on the premise that small technology-based firms tend to be highly innovative and inventive, and that this innovation should be better harnessed by the federal government. Binding these newly developed technologies with other federal R&D efforts was seen as a natural extension to both boost small business participation in federal R&D activities and to solve agency institutional problems, whether at the Department of Defense, National Institutes of Health, or Department of Energy.
All too often, good ideas never materialize because of a myriad of obstacles. It could be lack of funding, lack of understanding, or a perceived lack of a marketplace for the truly new and amazing technology. The SBIR and STTR programs bridge the gap between the fantastical and the practical while building our economy and improving the function of the federal government in the process.
The small businesses that participate in these programs are rapidly pushing the boundaries of what is possible in a variety of fields. From supporting our warfighters, to battling cancer and COVID, the SBIR and STTR programs are emboldening our small firms to contribute mightily to the fight.
The current authorization for these programs is set to expire at the end of next fiscal year. Getting a jump on this process is essential, and I am very happy that the Chairwoman worked with me to schedule this hearing. Today, we have an excellent panel of witnesses to discuss these programs and provide the Committee with suggestions to make them better for small businesses and participating agencies alike. I am looking forward to hearing those ideas and working with my colleagues across the aisle and across the Capitol to draft legislation we’ll all be proud to support.
With that, I yield back.
Ranking Member Blaine Luetkemeyer's opening statement as prepared for delivery:
Good morning to all. Thank you all for being here as we examine the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer, or SBIR and STTR programs.
Innovation is the engine that drives our economy. Technological breakthroughs and the entrepreneurship it spurs build our economy and creates new jobs by finding state-of-the-art solutions to difficult problems and capitalizing on those new products.
This correlation is particularly important in the small business arena. Small businesses tend to be more nimble, responding to the market changes more rapidly than their bigger counterparts. They drive the innovation sector and make us more agile in the world economy.
In this era of globalization, making it easier for small businesses to develop and commercialize new, innovative products is essential not only for America’s competitiveness, but for its national security as well. This is why programs like SBIR and STTR are very important.
These programs, envied and emulated around the world, were created based on the premise that small technology-based firms tend to be highly innovative and inventive, and that this innovation should be better harnessed by the federal government. Binding these newly developed technologies with other federal R&D efforts was seen as a natural extension to both boost small business participation in federal R&D activities and to solve agency institutional problems, whether at the Department of Defense, National Institutes of Health, or Department of Energy.
All too often, good ideas never materialize because of a myriad of obstacles. It could be lack of funding, lack of understanding, or a perceived lack of a marketplace for the truly new and amazing technology. The SBIR and STTR programs bridge the gap between the fantastical and the practical while building our economy and improving the function of the federal government in the process.
The small businesses that participate in these programs are rapidly pushing the boundaries of what is possible in a variety of fields. From supporting our warfighters, to battling cancer and COVID, the SBIR and STTR programs are emboldening our small firms to contribute mightily to the fight.
The current authorization for these programs is set to expire at the end of next fiscal year. Getting a jump on this process is essential, and I am very happy that the Chairwoman worked with me to schedule this hearing. Today, we have an excellent panel of witnesses to discuss these programs and provide the Committee with suggestions to make them better for small businesses and participating agencies alike. I am looking forward to hearing those ideas and working with my colleagues across the aisle and across the Capitol to draft legislation we’ll all be proud to support.
With that, I yield back.
