Nydia M. Velázquez

Representing New York's 12^th Congressional District

Ranking Democrat, House Small Business Committee

August 1, 2001 (202) 225-2361

Small Business Committee Approves

Technology Transfer Reauthorization

Program links small firms and institutions to develop innovative technology; program is revised and expanded for low-income areas

WASHINGTON - The House Small Business Committee today moved to reauthorize the Small Business Technology program (STTR), which unites small firms with research institutions to design and market new technologies.

Democrats expanded STTR to increase high-tech innovation in low-income communities, expand access to women- and minority-owned businesses, and reduce paperwork burdens on small firms. The Democratic changes to the STTR program include:

• Redirecting the Federal and State Technology Partnership program (FAST) to reemphasize outreach into low-income communities. Regulations drawn up under the 1992 STTR ignored this aspect of FAST.



• STTR reauthorization will require tracking awards to these areas to ensure federal agency compliance with the regulations to reach low-income communities.



• The Small Business Administration will be directed to develop a model agreement for joint projects, streamlining the program so small businesses can spend more time developing technology and less time on bureaucratic paperwork.

In addition, the committee passed these other changes:

• The percentage of federal research dollars reserved for small business will be raised from 0.15 percent to 0.3 percent. This increase was designed to fund more businesses owned by women and minorities, which only total 1.5 percent and 2.8 percent of federal research dollars, respectively. Federal research dollars for 1994 through 1998 total over $1 billion.



• Phase Two development grants will increase from $500,000 to $750,000, greatly increasing the chances of product commercialization.



• STTR will be authorized through 2008.

"It is impossible to overstate the impact technological innovation has had on the economy and on our lives," said Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez, Ranking Member of the Small Business Committee. "Computer and telecommunications innovation, biotechnology and chemical engineering have fueled a boom and changed the way we work and live. Some were unheard of or exotic just ten years ago, and today they have become the norm.

"The Small Business Technology Transfer Program has in part spurred this period of remarkable creativity and growth. Between 1994 and 1998 alone, STTR awarded 864 federal grants for research through five federal departments and agencies. STTR has created inventions emerging in highly evolved technologies, leading to advances in vaccine applications and biotechnology research."

STTR has been instrumental in bringing key innovations to market, including needleless vaccines delivery systems and machinery for duplicating and analyzing DNA and RNA.###